{"id":9105,"date":"2023-02-01T15:20:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-01T14:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rickzullo.com\/?p=9105"},"modified":"2023-03-05T21:46:24","modified_gmt":"2023-03-05T20:46:24","slug":"the-language-of-wine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/the-language-of-wine\/","title":{"rendered":"The Language of Wine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Back in November of 2008, I stumbled into a great little cicchetteria<\/em> in Treviso. I was only passing through town for one day\/night to catch a cheap flight (19 Euros!) for Prague the next morning. I ordered some type of fishy Venetian bruschette<\/em> and asked the gruff bar owner for a local vino to accompany my lite bites<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

He barked at the bartender across the room, \u201cGive the ragazzo americano<\/em> a Malbec!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRagazzo?\u201d I thought. I was 42 years-old at the time, and way past my \u201cragazzo\u201d days. And Malbec? I had always associated it with Mendoza, Argentina, not Veneto, Italy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Malbec. Originally a French grape used mostly for blending, then later made famous as a stand-alone varietal in Argentina<\/strong>. Italy\u2019s Veneto region has its own spin on this robust uva<\/em>, it\u2019s just that they spell it a little differently. Malbech with an \u201ch\u201d at the end.<\/p>\n

This got me thinking about the language of wine, and what terms are used to define the different types. In France, they usually refer to a wine by its region of origin. In the U.S., wines are usually classified by the grape.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Italy? Well, like many things Italian, to a foreigner there seems to be no apparent sense of logic or order. Sometimes it\u2019s named according to the region, sometimes it\u2019s the grape, sometimes it\u2019s the estate\u2026 and sometimes it\u2019s the gods.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

Drops of Jupiter<\/h2>\n

Probably the most recognized Italian wine outside of Italy is Chianti<\/strong>. This refers to the region in Tuscany, of course, but it\u2019s also grown in other parts of Italy where it’s known by the grape, Sangiovese. Estimates suggest that up to 10% of all grapes grown in Italy are of the Sangiovese varietal, or one of its subspecies, such as Sangiovese Grosso, which is the grape used to make the prestigious Brunello di Montalcino<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The word Sangiovese can be interpreted as il sangue di Giove<\/em>, or the blood of Jupiter <\/strong>(a.k.a. Zeus, in Greek traditions). The blood of a god? This seems like a pretty good starting point from which to make a wine. No wonder it\u2019s so good!<\/p>\n

Italian winemakers have a flair for the dramatic<\/strong>, apparently. How about the white wine from Campania called Lacryma Christi<\/em>, the tears of Christ? Or something more subtle and suggestive, like Nebbiolo<\/em>, referring to the weather conditions. The deep fog, la nebbia<\/em>, that settles over the Langhe valley in late October, coaxing the fruit into perfect ripeness.<\/p>\n

\u200bThe Language of Wine<\/h2>\n

What are some other ways that winemakers try to confuse us? And why do they change the name of the wine or grape instead of agreeing to a standard that consumers can understand? I guess that\u2019s part of the mystique of wine<\/strong>. Wine is part agriculture, part manufacturing, and part alchemy, I would say. <\/p>\n

These delectable nectars can take on a fabled status. For example, a few years back, Dan Beuttner and The National Geographic identified several \u201cBlue Zones\u201d around the world where the populations boasted a disproportionate number of centenarians<\/strong>. Not surprisingly, one of these locations is in Italy<\/a>, in the mountainous region of Sardinia. <\/p>\n

Researchers found that the long-lived people in this area drank an average of \u200btwo glasses of their local wine, Cannonau<\/em>, every day<\/strong>, usually just after 5:00pm, with friends and a small bite to eat. <\/p>\n

But is there anything \u201cmagical\u201d about this particular wine? Is there an ingredient, some undiscovered molecule (i.e. resveratrol), that imparts longevity on the wine drinker? <\/p>\n

As it turns out, this is the same grape known as Grenache or Garnacha in other parts of Europe. So nothing really special or magical about the grape<\/strong>, it seems. Could be the \u201cterroir,<\/em>\u201d but\u2026<\/p>\n

Maybe the wine is just one ingredient in a larger recipe<\/strong> that includes clean mountain air, close friendships, organic food, and walking up and down the mountain every day like a goat. In other words, an overall lifestyle<\/a> rather than one magic ingredient. (Didn\u2019t stop me from ordering a case of Cannonau last week, though\u2026 you never know!)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

I remember once back in the 1980s my grandfather told me how he missed the wine that his dad used to make. He called it Zinfandel<\/em>. I was only a teenager then, but even I knew that \u201cZinfandel\u201d was a cheap, sweet, pink concoction that could barely be called wine<\/strong> at all. I couldn’t understand how my grandfather could be nostalgic for something so unappealing, even by my low standards at the time. It turns out that he was referring to a \u201cred\u201d Zinfandel, or what I now understand is actually Primitivo<\/em><\/strong>. Genetically, they are the same thing. And rather than being a \u201cprimitive\u201d grape, the word refers to the harvest time. In other words, it\u2019s the “first” (primo <\/em>in Italian) grape to be harvested every season.<\/p>\n

\u200bWines on Tour – Est Bonum<\/em><\/h2>\n

You might be aware that one of the more famous wines around Rome goes by the odd name of Est! Est!<\/strong>Est!<\/strong> But there\u2019s also a great story behind it (of course).<\/p>\n

A Bishop name Johannes Defuk was part of the entourage of Henry V of Saxony, who was en route to meet the Pope to be crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. And Johannes had a servant called Martino, who had the enviable job of traveling a few days ahead of the group to sample the wine<\/strong> in the taverns along the way. If the wine was good, he was to write on the wall outside the tavern \u201cEst\u201d (which means [it] is in Latin, short for \u201cest bonum” [it] is good – meaning the wine was good). <\/p>\n

So Johannes would only stay in the places marked by his servant. In Montefiascone, Martino found wine so incredibly good he wrote: “Est! Est!! Est!!!” with the increasing exclamation marks. Well, Defuk \u200bextended his stopover in Montefiascone for three drunken days<\/strong>, and he even \u200brelocated there at the end of his royal mission, possibly for the sole purpose of over-drinking. <\/p>\n

His tombstone, in the church of San Flaviano, says “Est Est Est pr nim est hic Jo De Fuk do meus mortuus est” which more or less means, “Here lies my master, dead from too much Est<\/strong>.\u201d <\/p>\n

Wine is interesting to discuss, but it\u2019s much more interesting to taste, especially when you can taste it \u201cin situ<\/em>.\u201d In September, I\u2019ll be traveling with a small group from Rome to the Amalfi Coast. And yes, we\u200b will enjoy some great local wines<\/strong> with our meals all along the way. <\/span><\/p>\n

I’ve even \u200bmade the “effort” of \u200btraveling ahead of you \u200bto select only the best vini<\/em>, just like our friend Martino. Prego<\/em> (You’re welcome).<\/span><\/p>\n

What we\u2019ll drink in Rome<\/span><\/strong>:White: Frascati, Grechetto, Est! Est! Est!Red: CesaneseWhat we\u2019ll drink on the Amalfi Coast<\/span><\/strong>:White: Lacryma Christi, Greco di Tufo, FalanghinaRed: AglianicoIf you\u2019d like to learn more about the tour, click on the banner below.  And if you think you\u2019d be interested in joining me, \u200bget in touch and we can discuss it\u2026 perhaps over a glass of wine.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bAlla vostra salute!<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Back in November of 2008, I stumbled into a great little cicchetteria in Treviso. I was only passing through town for one day\/night to catch a cheap flight (19 Euros!) for Prague the next morning. I ordered some type of fishy Venetian bruschette and asked the gruff bar owner for a local vino to accompany […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9121,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[130,172,178,63],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9105"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9105"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9105\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12277,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9105\/revisions\/12277"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}