Vino Italiano

Italian wine history is a mix of the ancient and the modern.

When the Mycenaean Greeks first hit Sicily and southern Italy in the 8th Century BCE, Italians were already making wine. Of course, being classical Greeks, they said, “Oh cool. Do you know about this … and this … and this?” and Italian winemaking began to blossom through the centuries. So much so that by 92 ACE the Roman Emperor Domitian had to rip up vineyards to make room for food production. That’s how great the demand for wine in the Roman Empire was. Understandably, Italian wine production declined as Rome did and experienced a rebirth during the Renaissance. However, it wasn’t until 1963 that the Italians launched their system of wine classification — almost 30 years after France and Spain.

Italy is one of those European countries which (for now) sit entirely in the grape growing sweet zone. Its location allows them to have wine regions up and down the Apennine Peninsula and out into its surrounding islands. As a result, it has a wine culture as diverse as its internal cultures.

This Wednesday, we look forward to seeing you at this free walk-up tasting of Italian wines. Please stop by any time in the hour and a half.