Today and tomorrow some Italian wineries will be opened to let you taste how good are Italian wines.
For the Italian people wine is culture.
I used this specific word because no other word can be better explain what wine means in Italy.
Each Italian region has its own typical wine and it depends on the area you are in, you can find red wine or white wine produced by following different methods. The wine production comes from the past. In fact if you think about the mithology, you can remember that there was a god representing the wine: Bacchus.
The wine in the past
In the Roman period, for what concerns the vine plantation, Pliny wrote that Italy had the supremacy because our country overtook the riches of any other country known at that time just with this production. Now you can understand how much wine is important to us. This importance dates back to ancient time.
Wine was already in the past the second drink after the water. Properzio said that wine was the stress cure for excellence. Horace stated that wine could dismiss troubles from your mind, those troubles which let your forehead pleated. Seneca tought that wine could relax yourself, ease off and nurse the sadness. These ancient men are really smart, aren’t they?
Drunkenness dissolves troubles
(Seneca)
Italian habits
Italians are used to drink wine in some particular moments of the day. When you go at the restaurant the common drink, right after the water, is the wine. Normally sparkling drinks, such as Coca-Cola or Fanta, are ordered only by children.
The Italian dining table is bare without a bottle of wine. We drink wine at lunch and dinner. Also at the aperitif we usually order a glass of wine, but it depends on the habits of the area too.
When you are at the restaurant you can order different quantities of wine. There are:
- a liter;
- half-liter;
- one fourth (called quartino, i.e. little one fourth).
Remember that: if you are going to eat food with a strong flavour the best wine is the red one; otherwise if the food is light, such as seafood and fish, just order the white one. Never forget it!
Which is the worst thing you can do with wine? Dilute it with water. Italian people will recognize you immediately as a person coming from abroad.
Welcome to the wineries
As the wine is so important, there are many events related to it all the year round.
On 24th and 25th May there is one of the most Italian famous wine event: Cantine aperte (i.e. open wineries).
This event is organized by Movimento Turismo Vino (i.e. Wine tourism movement), a non-profit association born in 1993. Nowadays the members are about 1,000 and among them are the most excellent Italian wineries. Members are accepted according to specific requirements.
The aims of Movimento Turismo Vino are:
- promote wine culture
- support the growth of wine tourism in Italy
- qualify the wineries tourist services
- enhance the wine areas.
The most important event organized by Movimento Turismo Vino is Cantine aperte on the last Saturday of May. Each region has different wineries suggesting some activities on this day.
Are you interested in Italian wines?
Here below other articles on our blog talking about wine:
- What to know about Italian Prosecco Wine
- Piedmont wine region: Langhe-Roero and Monferrat
- The land of Verdecchio wine
- Would you like to taste a glass of Lombardy’s wine?
- It’s time to taste good wine in Le Marche region
- Are you a wine lover? (Umbria)
- Winter food and wine traditions in Umbria
- What to eat in Lazio?
- Franciacorta grape harvesting
- Enjoy Collio
I really like your writing style, fantastic information, appreciate it for putting up :D. “Kennedy cooked the soup that Johnson had to eat.” by Konrad Adenauer.
Thank you so much Darius!