L'Italo-Americano

www.italoamericano.org 10 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2021 L'Italo-Americano A glass of Italian red: who hasn't relaxed after a l o n g d a y a t work with one? I t a l i a n w i n e s are the epitome of quality and ver- satility, of tradition and ele- g a n c e : t h i s i s n o t o n l y b e c a u s e o f t h e w o r k a n d skills of our winemakers but also, as it happens in much of the Mediterranean basin, because wine is something we've been making for mil- lennia. Blessed with the perfect climate, Italy's connection with the vine and the grape began around the year 1000 B C , c o u r t e s y o f t h e P h o e n i c i a n s a n d t h e Greeks, even though traces o f r a r e l o c a l p r o d u c t i o n were found by archaeolo- gists. The Phoenicians were traders coming from mod- e r n L e b a n o n , w h o m a i n - tained their dominion on the Mediterranean for cen- turies: while traveling and t r a d i n g , t h e y w o u l d a l s o introduce wine to the people they came into contact with, i n c l u d i n g t h o s e l i v i n g i n Sardinia and Sicily, where they imported wine in large quantities. W i n e m a k i n g , h o w e v e r , and vine cultivation on a large scale, was introduced i n t h e p e n i n s u l a b y t h e A n c i e n t G r e e k s , w h o brought along new varietals and adapted them to the soil and climate of our South. T h e g l o r i o u s p e o p l e o f Hellas, fathers of western civilization along with our ancestors the Romans, were c e n t r a l t o t h e h i s t o r y o f winemaking in Italy, espe- c i a l l y i n o u r s o u t h e r n regions where, still today, some of the varietals they introduced are still used. Historians acknowledge the f i r s t r e g i o n s c u l t i v a t i n g g r a p e s a n d m a k i n g w i n e w e r e C a l a b r i a , Campania, and Sicily, but they don't quite agree on the order: for some, the mother- land of wine was Calabria, f o r o t h e r s , i t w a s S i c i l y , f r o m w h e r e w i n e m a k i n g spread throughout the coun- try. In any case, by the 7th century BC, wine was com- monly made and consumed b y t h e E t r u s c a n s , i n Tuscany, northern Latium, and Emilia-Romagna, and by the Celtic populations of the North. Of course, when we talk about the history of wine in the Belpaese, it's difficult not to think immediately of the Romans. Great produc- ers of this golden or ruby- red nectar, they also made it common throughout their large empire, transforming i t i n t o a p a n - E u r o p e a n drink. But the Romans - and the Greeks - didn't drink wine the way we do, as they would always mix it with water, probably because of i t s h i g h a l c o h o l c o n t e n t , much higher than that of modern wines. It is likely, experts say, that their wine- making techniques were rel- atively rough and yielded a strong product when com- pared to the smooth silky t a s t e o f m o d e r n I t a l i a n w i n e s : w a t e r , i n o t h e r w o r d s , w a s e s s e n t i a l t o enjoy your daily glass of red. So essential in fact that, during banquets and gather- ings, there was a person, the m a g i s t e r b i b e n d i o r r e x convivii, who would estab- l i s h t h e r i g h t p r o p o r t i o n between water and wine - it was usually 65%/35% ratio - a n d h o w m a n y g l a s s e s could be consumed during the meal. But what, perhaps, is more striking about wine i n R o m a n t i m e s i s h o w ubiquitous it was: everyone, from the Emperor all the way to the slave, drank it, in a f a s h i o n t h a t v e r y m u c h remained common in Italy a n d a c r o s s a l l Mediterranean countries. Indeed wine in the Belpaese is, still today, a drink for all, that transcends wealth and social class. In order to cater to peo- p l e o f a l l e c o n o m i c a n d social extraction, there were d i f f e r e n t t y p e s o f w i n e s , some of better quality and pricier, other a tad more low key and cheaper, which were often mixed with honey and spices to make them more p a l a t a b l e . B a c k t h e n , t h e best wine was Falerno, a red from the South, but wine c o m i n g f r o m C a s t e l l i Romani, near Rome, was also appreciated. A f t e r t h e e n d o f t h e Roman Empire, viticul- ture stopped being central f o r s o m e c e n t u r i e s . T h e B a r b a r i a n s w e r e n ' t t o o interested in wine, prefer- ring mead and beer to it, and winemaking became an activity limited to monaster- ies and convents. Even if t h e s e w e r e y e a r s o f l i t t l e t r a d e a n d c o n s u m p t i o n , vinification techniques were g r e a t l y i m p r o v e d b y t h e monks. With the Renaissance, w i n e c a m e b a c k i n v o g u e a n d a p e r i o d o f t h r i v i n g d e v e l o p m e n t a n d t r a d e began: Italy returned to be the largest exporter of wine - a record it had lost during t h e M i d d l e A g e s - a l s o thanks to new commercial sea routes, and many wine- making houses were found- ed around the country. But it was a short-lived victory: with the fall of the Medicis in Florence, Italy fell almost entirely under the dominion and the Spaniards and the Habsburg, who cared very little about winemaking. W h i l e I t a l i a n s k e p t o n c o n s u m i n g w i n e l a r g e l y t h r o u g h o u t t h e 1 8 t h a n d 19th centuries, export was incredibly limited. Things didn't get better during the first half of the 20th century w h e n t w o w o r l d w a r s destroyed many vineyards and tragically reduced the number of men working in t h e m . I t w a s o n l y i n t h e 1960s that things started p i c k i n g u p a g a i n , w i t h a return to local cultivars and the introduction of technol- ogy to improve the wine- m a k i n g p r o c e s s . T u s c a n y was the first region to adopt new methods, followed by Piemonte, Friuli and, then, the rest of the country. Today, Italy is the largest wine producer in the world, with 47.2 mhl, and the sec- ond exporter after France. FRANCESCA BEZZONE A classical mosaic celebrating grapes and wine. The Greeks and the Phoenicians brought wine to Italy, but it was the Romans who made it a European thing (Photo: Sytilin Pavel/Shutterstock) Wine and Italy, a bond steeped in history HERITAGE HISTORY IDENTITY TRADITIONS PEOPLE

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