VINIDA - Exploring the diversity of Italy
While pallet-loads of Prosecco and Primitivo are consumed, bottles of Barolo and Brunello are cherished, hundreds of DOCs and DOCGs* are completely unknown.
Together with France, Italy shares the title of the largest wine producer by volume in the world. Italy is also the best represented on the Danish market with 1-out-of-5 bottles opened in Denmark produced in Italy. While pallet-loads of Prosecco and Primitivo are consumed, bottles of Barolo and Brunello are cherished, hundreds of DOCs and DOCGs* are completely unknown.
That’s perfectly normal, of course. It’s near impossible for anyone to wrap their heads around the entire range of Italian wines; largest regions will always dominate on shelves and the most famous places will always dominate discussion. But the other side really deserves a look-in as well, Italy has hundreds of defined wine DOC(G)s for a reason: it reflects the diverse patchwork of climatic and soil conditions as well as the complex history of the Apennine peninsula. It also reflects the immense number of autochthonous grape varieties: of the 1368 commercially grown grape varieties around the world 377 originate from Italy** compared to 204 coming from France and 84 from Spain.
In this tasting we will scratch the surface of this vast topic and taste eight wines, some of which made in regions you might not have heard of and made from grape varieties barely anyone has heard of, but really ought to be on your radar. The aim is to taste some wines most otherwise probably wouldn’t as well as build understanding and thus confidence to branch out and consider alternatives to the best known names***.
This tasting will be presented in English by Domen Prešern DipWSET of Roots Vin (domen@rootsvin.dk).
This tasting is open for everyone, but as we sometimes will be very detailed, it does give a better experience, if you have some basic knowledge of wines. A good help is to study this “cheat-sheet” kortlink.dk/2pdep and kortlink.dk/2pdfs, to get a basic understanding of wines, their appearance, aromas, flavours and structure.
It is possible to order a quick snack meal served at 18:10. Options will be sent.
The presentation will be in English
This event is organised by Poul Tang poul.tang@m.ida.dk – 51 71 52 40.
*DOC and DOCG are the Italian equivalent of the French AOC, the local name for the pan-European “Protected Designation of Origin”. Every DOC(G) defines a relatively small area, one or a handful of permitted grapes and a stylistic range wines should conform to. While different producers within a DOC(G) produce different wines, there exists a similarity between them. Italian regulations require a little blue or gold strip of paper to be affixed to the neck of a certified bottle.
**Count per Wine Grapes; Robinson, Harding and Vouillamoz.
***It’s worth highlighting why all this matters to the consumer. The primary reason is obvious: lesser known grapes and origins are often better value for money. There’s also a lot to be said for experiencing diversity in wine in the first place as the heterogeneity of the wine world is a lot of what makes wine inherently interesting. But there’s something to be said about the medium-term benefits of higher levels of interest in minor grape varieties and regions. While the collective understanding of how the most widely planted varieties work in a variety of viticultural and winemaking settings is good, lesser planted ones inherently come with more potential for learning. In the context of climate change forcing everyone to fundamentally rethink what they plant where and how they make grapes into wine, helping compound a better real-world understanding will help improve the wines we enjoy in the 2040s and 2050s. Wine is special in that it exists on two fundamentally different timelines: the moment of the tasting and drinking experience on the one hand and the many decades associated both with the lifespan of a vineyard and potentially bottle-ageing.
Tastings fall 2025 - search for VINIDA
19.9.2025 VINIDA - Exploring the diversity of Italy
31.10.2025 VINIDA - Germany beyond Riesling
14.11.2025 VINIDA - Great value gems from the Loire Valley
5.12.2025 VINIDA - Champagne and other Méthode Champenoise* sparkling wines
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