Wines of Italy

WINES OF ITALY
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Wines of Italy
Introduction
In a global perspective, Italy is the only nation that has been synonymous with wine. For instance, this country has hosted the vast variety of wines for many years. Last year, Italy was ranked the highest global distributor and producer of wine while France came in the Secord place. Furthermore, the Italian wine industry has significant economic benefit to the Italian government. For example, it has been estimated that Italian wine and grapes business contributes at least fifty million Euro as revenue for Italian authority. Additionally, the local citizens consume an average of 42 liters per person annually (Lisman, 2013, 10). Far from that, the Italian agriculture is also saturated with grapes vine plantations. For instance, it is estimated that the Italian nation has more than one million cultivated vineyards found in every part of the country (Lisman, 2013, 7).
History of Wine in Italy
Consequently, the Greeks were the initial individuals who discovered the potential of Italy as a wine producing region. Therefore, when the Greeks occupied the region presently termed as Sicily, they were fascinated with the fertile land that is located in the southern region of Italy, and they decided to import vines for immediate cultivation in early 800 BC. They called their new settled land Oenotria that also translated to the land of wine (Meloni and Swinnen, 2013, 247). The Greeks believed that Dionysus who is known as the god of wine had spotted the current Italy has the perfect region for generating wines.

On the other hand, the Roman Empire also facilitated the ultimate spread of wine culture to the rest of the Europe. The expansion of the Roman kingdom instigated a high demand for wine. For instance, when the Romans conquered the Carthaginians the Greek benefited from increased wine exportation (Meloni and Swinnen, 2013, 246). They majored in wine production through cultivating large scale vineyard, and also established slave-based farming that was beneficial.
In 92 A.D, the Greek emperor had to force the farmers to destroy huge track of vineyards in the quest of finding space for food production in the kingdom (Estreicher, 2006, 239). In this same period, the Roman law had abolished viticulture, and this made the demand for wine to escalate. For example, the entire Europe could trade wine for slaves and the wine industry started to increase regionally (Meloni and Swinnen, 2013, 248). There is a small group of people known as Etruscans who habited the present central Italy called Tuscany. They used unique technology in their winemaking methods that were better and different to the native Greek wine production system. The newly created wine was desirable and of high quality. Therefore, the Etruscan revolutionized the wine industry, and their systems are still used to date. In recent history, the Italian wine had gained a bad of reputation of being substandard in quality. This was in the early twentieth century. Hence, it forced the authority to establish the wine regulation system. For instance, the wine industry was subjected to various regulations such as the Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOCG) that significantly improved the reputation and quality of the Italian wine (Estreicher, 2006, 298).
Concepts of Viticulture
Contrarily, Viticulture has always been closely associated with wine production. Therefore, it is the systematic science that studies how grapes produced and strategically grown. Viticulture involves a series of activities that are carried out within a vineyard. The person in charge of conducting viticulture program such as applying fertilization, canopy management, irrigation system check up, controlling diseases and pests is known as a viticulturist (Popa and Popa, 2003, 142). The viticulturists are prominent people in the wine production because they understand vineyard management and they can identify the suitable grape vines required for effective wine production.
In viticulture processes, various concepts are required for effective wine production. For instance, the quality of grape vine will depend on how it has been cultivated. Hence, climate, soil, and slope are significant concepts in viticulture methods. Firstly, the climate is a paramount aspect in any grapevine species cultivation. The amount of rainfall and temperature can significantly impact the quality of grape vine. For high-quality grape vines production, an annual 690 millimeters of rain and an average of 22-degree Celsius is required (Popa and Popa, 2003, 145). Secondly, grape vines always flourish in hillsides slopes compared to flat surface ground. This is because the hillside terrain ensures that the grapes vines gain enough sun rays intensity while the sun falls at an angle that is perpendicular to the hill itself (Popa and Popa, 2003, 145). However, the flat surface causes the sunshine to saturate at all angles, and this dilutes the grape vines. Lastly, the quality of soils should allow the grape vine plant to form a turgid root system. Hence, poor soil quality will affect the health and growth of the grape vines (Popa and Popa, 2003, 146). However, different species of grape vine flourish in various types of soil. A high-quality soil is needed for grapevine production and should have qualities like good drainage, aeration, moderate fertility or loose texture.
Type of Wines
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in Italy has official documented more than 350 species of grapes. The wine products in Italy are either classified as white, Super Tuscans, Vino cotto, or black wine. Furthermore, the popularly grown grapevine plants in Italy include Merlot, Glera, Sangiovese, Pinot Grigio, Barbera, Nero d` Avola, catarratto and Montepulciano (Italian Wine Center, 2010, 1). In Italy, there many firms that deal with wine. For instance, CAVIRO Company controls 7% of the wine industry, the Bacardi is the second wine producing company with a 0.8% power of the industry share, while the rest smalls companies occupy the remaining 92% of wine industry share (Lisman, 2013, 5). The different samples of both white and red wine dominate the Italian wine sector. In white wine, products such as Asti, Frascati, Soave, Gavi, Verdicchio, Pinot Grigio and Orvieto are very popular (Italian Wine Center, 2010, 1). In red wine, brands like Barbaresco, Amarone, Chianti, Barbera, Lambrusco, Barolo, Brunello di Montalcino, Lambrusco and Valpolicella and Montepulciano d` Abruzzo are in high demand both locally and on the global platform(Italian Wine Center, 2010, 1).
Wine Laws
Simultaneously, due to increased demand for Italian wine globally, the government has put in place policies that will root out the unhealthy competition, maintain a consistently high-quality wine, and obtain high tax return from the wine sector (McCarthy, 2016, 1). The wine business was totally uncontrolled in Italy until the 20th century when the reputation of their wine start to be popular. Firstly, The Denomination of Origin Law that is also used in France requires the producer to define the mechanism of viticulture used, vine type utilized, processing involved, bottling system used and also properly state the aging status. Secondly, Indicazione Geografica Tipica is another wine law that was adopted in 1992 (McCarthy, 2016, 1). This law is also known as Typical Geographical Indication (IGT). Under this law, the wine label should highlight the specific region of the product, the varietal species of vine used and the vintage status of the wine. Thirdly, Denominazione di Origine Controllata Law that is also referred to as Denomination of Controlled Origin (DOC) is the policy that requires the winemakers only to use the approved fertilizer, and cultivation methods (McCarthy, 2016, 1). For instance, the government dictates the alcohol content, bottling specification and aging status required in the industry. Lastly, Denominazione di Origine Controllate e Garantita law that is also named Denomination of Controlled and Guaranteed Origin (DOCG). This law incorporates both the DOC and ICT policies (McCarthy, 2016, 1). For instance, it states that the wine producers should have wine labels that highlight net contents, the zone of origin, place of bottling, the name of the grower, and alcohol strength. The bottles are also required to have an official government seal of approval that proves that the wine has undergone safety analysis test conducted by government inspectors.
Local and Global Market
Besides, the Italian wine industry has significant economic benefit to the Italian government. For example, it has been estimated that Italian wine and grapes business contributes at least fifty million Italian Euro (Lisman, 2013, 10). Additionally, the local citizens consume an average of 42 liters per person annually. Therefore, the domestic market for wine is high in Italy because they are available in various places such as hotels, malls, and restaurants. In a global perspective, the ideology that wine has significant health benefit made the demand for Italian wine to rise. For instance, in 2013, a group of Chinese delegation signs a contract with Italian winemakers in a famous deal called V in Italy. The deal ensured that Italian wine would saturate the Chinese market (Lisman, 2013, 9).
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Italian wine is also distributed to another part of Europe and the largest consumer of Italian products remains to be the United States (Lisman, 2013, 7). So far, Italy is ranked the high global producer of wine while France comes in Secord place in the global market. Therefore, wine is very paramount for the Italian civilians both has consumption product and business item.
Reference List
Estreicher, S.K., 2006. Wine. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.Italian Wine Center.(2010). Top Ten Most Planted Grape Varieties in Italy.
Retrieved from. http://italianwinecentral.com/top-ten-most-planted-grape-varieties-in-italy/
Lisman K. John.(2013). The Italian Wine Industry: Progress and Lesson.
Retrieved from.http://islandora.wrlc.org/islandora/object/1213capstones%3A234/datastream/PDF/view
Meloni, G. and Swinnen, J., 2013. The political economy of European wine regulations. Journal of Wine Economics, 8(03), pp.244-284.McCarthy Sharron.(2016). Italian Wine Law.
Retrieved from. http://centinestyle.it/pdf/ItalianWineLaws.pdf
POPA, D. and POPA, A., 2003. CONCEPTS OF VITICULTURAL SOIL MANAGEMENT IN RESPECT OF ECOLOGICAL STRATEGIES. Journal of Environmental Protection and Ecology, 4(1), pp.141-146.