Wine enthusiasts at one time scorned the wines of Sicily, Calabria, Basilicate and Apulia, all in southern Italy.
They considered them inferior to Tuscan, Friulan, Piedmontese and Veronese wines due to their dark colour, coarse texture and high alcohol.
Viticulture and wine making techniques change, and some regions such changes can be dramatic.
Since Italy joined the European Union, significant amounts of funds were granted to viticulture. In the case of Italy field research was encouraged to find out the most suitable clones of traditional varieties, given terroir conditions, modern equipment was designed and manufactured to improve quality, funds were allocated to purchase French oak barrels, and young talented wine makers were sent to French, American, German and even Australian universities to study oenology.
All of the above helped a great deal; towards changing wine quality in aforementioned provinces.
In Apulia, the heel of Italy, higher altitude vineyards were planted with chardonnay, sauvignon banc, pinot blanc and local varieties. Yields were reduced by careful pruning, irrigation now allowed under European Union riles is controlled to stress vines, and the harvest occurs early to preserve desirable acidity.
Primitivo, the forerunner of zinfandel in California, negroamaro and malvasia nera were tamed both in vineyards and in the winery. Now red grapes are pressed to obtain no more than 700 litres per 1000 kg. of grapes. The remaining juice is blended into secondary wines. Negroamarao, a bitterish tasting grape shows a lot of potential if aged in small cooperage for one to years, and bottle-aged for one. The same is true for primitivo. In the past winemakers used to press too hard, and aged for too long causing wines to lose fruit while aging.
In addition to local grapes, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot, malbec and even pinot noir are allowed.
Primitivo di Manduria, and Salice Salentino enjoy D O C status for red, and aleatico di Puglia, castel del monte, locortondo, and lizzano for white.
Imported grapes may be blended in small quantities, and varietal wines from these grape varieties must be marketed as IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipico) wines.
Basilicata, sandwiched between Calabria and Apulia has one red grape variety – aglianico del vulture, entitled to D O C status. A wide range is produced under red-vecchio if aged three years, riserva five years, sparkling red or sweet. In the past the wine was very dark and heavy. Modern versions are full bodied and vibrant red in colour. It enjoys good popularity among tourists and exports are increasing.
Calabria to the west, which forms the toed of the Italian boot is mountainous and has a range of terroirs.
Gaglioppo for red wines and greco di tufo for whites show a lot of promise. Ciro is the most famous red wine, and Greco di bianco white.
Modern Ciro is full-bodied, smooth, aromatic and refined, providing the winemakler follows appropriate technology. Here, as elsewhere in sotuehrn italy, the name of the winery is important.
Sicily, the biggest island in the Mediterranean, has so far progressed most in improving quality. Previously Sicily was best known for quantity, and exported in bulk to mainland and France for blending. Today many wineries bottle their wines, and well-established, large mainland wineries started buying land and building wineries.
They realize the potential.
Here, nero d’avola a native grape, is most promising, although cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot, syrah, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc and viognier have also been planted for experimental purposes.
Recent tastings of nero d’avola from Sicily have proved, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that if not over cropped, it can yield extraordinary wines of depth and finesse. Giacomo Tachis, one of the most respected Italian winemakers, now retired, and working as a consultant believes in nero d’avola. It yields very flavourful wines when artfully blended with cabernet sauvignon and merlot.
Chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, inzolia, cataratto, and viognier, made as varietal or blended, aromatic, dry, fresh, youthful and eminently suitable to enjoy with food or on their own. Malvasia and muscat wines of Sicily are unsurpassed.
New vineyards are planted on high altitude (600 to 700 metres above sea level) to take advantage of cooler weather, better drainage and diurnal temperature changes.
Here are some southern Italian wines I recommend:

Castelomonte Cent’are Nero d’Avola, Carlo Pelegrino, Sicily
Negroamaro Salento, Mezzamondo, Apulia
35th Parallelo Salice Salentino Reserva, Apulia
35th Parallelo Nerod’Avola/Shirz, F. Martini, Apulia

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Winemaking started as a simple craft millennia ago.
Grapes were harvested, crushed and pressed. The resulting juice was fermented and decanted, then it was consumed.
Soon people started to think of refining this rough-textured, but intoxicating beverage.
Eventually, barrel aging was discovered to render wines smoother ad more complex in taste. In the last 30 years advances in winemaking progressed more than in the previous millennia.

Some are listed below:
Tannin powder – flour, beans of tannin and chips are used during fermentation to add structure, mouth feel and stability of colour to red wines.
Barrels are made suing staves of different provenance
Bags of chips or chucks of wood wrapped in cheesecloth are used to improve flavour, and longevity of the wine
Different levels of toasting barrels contribute to a range of flavours, i.e medium toast contributes flavours of hazelnut, and maple syrup. In addition to these sweetness is also contributed.

Medium plus toast imparts coffee, pepper, tobacco, smoke flavours.
Heavy toast contributes roasted, smoky aromas of coffee, and persistence of flavour.
Untoasted American oak imparts vanilla and coconut flavours, light toast spices, brioche, fresh almond and cocoanut.

French is tight-grain and generally contributes the following characteristics in the finished wine – refined and elegant mouth feel, a hint oak to support the flavour of the wine, and “juiciness” that contributes to the appeal.
Untoasted French oak barrels stabilize red colour; light toast vanilla, gentle spices, cloves, cinnamon, roundness, richness; medium toast coffee, and chocolate; medium plus toast – toasty aromas, coffee, caramel, length on the palate.
In France, winemakers use the wood of following forests – Limousin, Troncais, Allier, Vosges, Jupille.

Canadian, Hungarian, Russian (Krasnodar), Nagorno Karabakh (Armenia), Romanian, and Slovenian oak barrels are also used by many winemakers in Portugal, Italy, the U S A, and other countries.
Occasionally, new staves are inserted into old and exhausted barrels to prolong their usable life.

Some winemakers use concrete egg-shaped fomenters; others use polyethylene tanks, yet others prefer portable stainless steel tanks.
American, particularly Californian, winemakers use the services of laboratories to remove a percentage of alcohol from a high-alcohol wine. It has been established that the same wine at different alcoholic strengths tastes different. The optimal point is called the “sweet point”.
Sometimes volatile acidity may be too high ad detectable by taters, and occasionally even by ordinary consumers. Volatile acidity levels are lowered by specialized procedures in laboratories.

Generally young and university-educated winemakers shun wild yeasts normally are on the skin of grapes. They perform unpredictably and occasionally stop fermentation, called “stuck fermentation”. Generally, wild yeasts are killed by the addition of sulphur dioxide. Cultured, i.e specially bred yeasts are more resistant to sulphur dioxide.
Packaging has been transformed, as are enclosures. Traditionally, cork was used, and still prefered by the majority of winemakers. Less expensive wines are enclosed with plastic corks of different formulas.
Some winemakers prefer glass enclosures, and of late many New World wineries (particularly New Zealand and Australia) and some European ones use specially designed, improved screw caps.
In the last few years, tetra pack has gained some popularity. The same can be said for PET (polyethylene threpthalate), but glass is still the most widely used material for packaging.

Tetrapack causes wines to become oxidized, and experts claim tetra pack packaged wines should be consumed within a year.

Guest Writer – Hrayr Berberoglu E-mail or interested in his books?.