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Wine Making Kits: Italy |
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Italy is the largest producer of wines in the world. It is also the largest wine exporter. The northern regions have a cooler climate, much resembling the climate in Bordeaux in France. In the south, climate is warmer and dryer. For our wine kits, we prefer the northern grapes. We use exclusively quality grapes from the five regions in the map. Click a region for more information. |
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The Italian wine laws |
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Italy has made laws governing its winemaking since the days of early Romans. In 1716, the Grand Duke of Tuscany (Toscana in Italian) introduced the idea of delimited zones. If a wine was labeled Chianti, the grapes had to be both grown and vinified within a prescribed zone. There were similar zones for other wines, most of them less known today. In 1963, the Italian parliament passed a law creating the now very wellknown "Denominazione di Origine Controllata" (DOC). It was modelled after the French "Appellation Contrôlée". The major purpose of the law, which became effective in 1966, was to improve Italian wines and guarantee a high and consistent quality. Later, an even more demanding regulation, "Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita" (DOCG), was introduced. Further comphrehensive regulations were passed in 1992. At present, Italy governs its winemaking with the most stringent laws in the world. |
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| Terms on wine bottle labels | |
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Vino da Tavola means of course table wine. The only requirement for this marking is that the colour of the wine is stated together with the trademark and the name of the producer. Indicazione Geografica Tipia (IGT) means that the wine is typical for a certain area. It means that the grapes have been grown in the area and that the vinification took place in the same area. The IGT areas are larger than the DOC/DOCG areas and the IGT designation is less restrictive. Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) means that the wine has "controlled denomination of origin". There are government regulations about what grape varieties that can be used, where they are grown, where the wine is produced and how. These wines are tasted and evaluated before they are allowed to be released. Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) adds further restrictions on top of the DOC ones. Wines must be sold in containers less than 5 litres and bottles must bear a "state mark" guaranteeing origin and quality. It is not unusual that bottles are numbered. |
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| Quality grape concentrates | |
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One of the specific rules governing Italian wine production is that it is not allowed to add sugar in order to increase alcohol content. Since the sugar content of the grapes varies from year to year, there is a market for grape concentrate of controlled origin which the wine producer can add to his grape must those years when the sugar levels are low. Oe use the same controlled origin concentrates for our winekits to ensure a high and consistent quality governed by the strict Italian wine laws. Hambleton Bard manufactures homebrew wine making kits, beer kits, high alcohol kits and turbo yeast. We have specialized in homebrew supplies of high quality and often a bit extreme. We produce all sorts of homebrewkits: superfast , very high alcohol, super quality ones and extreme turbo yeast types. Contact us for beer kits and beer making kegs, CO2 systems for homebrew and a complete home winemaking range. How to make moonshine, info on wash fermentation etc - read more on our tips pages. |
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