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The cellar Social Valtiglione, based in Montegrosso d'Asti, was incorporated on 05 \ 03 \ 1957. WINERY OF SOCIAL VALTIGLIONE
The contributing shareholders came from the municipalities of Vigliano d'Asti and Asti Montegrosso and, in the early years, were very numerous.
There were about 300 conferences, mainly producers of Barbera grapes and vinified and marketed GRIGNOLINO coming through an extensive sales network.
The wine was sold in bulk to be bottled.
Over the years he felt the need to improve more and more, as also the considerable increase in customers.
We put special attention to the product itself, requiring the names of the wines of origin to ensure their authenticity.
We currently produce: Barbera d'Asti DOCG, Barbera del Monferrato DOC Piemonte DOC Barbera, GRIGNOLINO D'ASTI DOC, Monferrato Dolcetto DOC.
The parcel owned by members of our conference is about 70 acres of grapes and the amount awarded varies from 10,000 to 20,000 quintals quintals per harvest.
The vines have an average age of more than thirty-five and are characterized by clay-calcareous soil and a subsoil consisting of yellow sands "Astiani".
This type of terrain, combined with good fertility and good exposure to the sun, it is essential for the production of quality fruit wines
The wines have great structure, elegant and soft at the same time and are suitable for aging.
SOME 'OF HISTORY OF WINE Astigiano
On 22 November 1946, at the Chamber of Commerce of Asti, Piedmont seven entrepreneurs founded the "Association for the Defence of wines Barbera d'Asti and Asti Freisa", with the aim of "ensuring the authenticity" and spread "with distinguishing marks "on domestic and foreign markets.
At the quick increase followed the election of members of collegial bodies and the first president, Arturo Marescalchi Casale. Professor Rose was given the design of the brand.
We are at the dawn of the Italian economic boom. In collaboration with the Chamber of Commerce was intense for qualifying initiatives and the promotion of the sector: Wine Fair (important in the '49 bicentennial of Vittorio Alfieri), the first Wine Competitions, meetings of the Academy and Vine Wine, the establishment of the Order of the wine tasters (today ONAV).
In Asti '52 took place on the first national congress of the wineries and the first medical conference on wine.
Excellent vintages of Barbera were celebrated with two new carnival masks (Spumantino and Barberini) and the festival of Bacchus, also cited by the Times.
1964 was a great year and also a turning point for the Barbera, which instead of being used as a blending wine was bottled "pure", with great success. The wine-makers pledged to improve the organoleptic characteristics.
In 1963, after long debate and the fundamental contribution of Vittorio Badini Confalonieri president of the Consortium, was finally adopted the law on the doc, which prompted many companies to join the Consortium.
At this time, "Gold" also the first edition of Douja d'Or (1967), which organized by the Chamber of Commerce of Asti become one of the most renowned wine competitions at national level, and together with the Palio and the Festival of Festivals in the years ahead be calling a lot of tourists.
Starting in '76, under the guidance of the Director Renato Ratti and with the collaboration of Professor. Luciano Usseglio Tommaset Director of the Institute for Experimental wine of Asti, the Consortium worked hard to improve the quality of wines and promote it on foreign markets.
These were the years of war between Italy and France the wine, the French-Italian Conference on Community trade of wines organized by the Chamber of Commerce of Asti, Asti and twinning of Valence.
Succeeded to the presidency of the Consortium Fiorenzo Playful, Paul Ricagno, Romulus Dezzani, Michele Chiarlo.
In 1980 the regional government passed the law sull'anagrafe wine and the promotion of quality wine, which fostered the creation of regional wineries, including that of Vignale Monferrato.
In autumn 1983 was implemented on a national press advertising campaign in favor of the two Barbera: "historic" and "lively". On the streets of Piedmont wine you read "The Barbera is here."
The work on the quality and the debate among the producers led to amendments to the specification, and the launch of new products.
The year 1986 was the scandal of methanol, which brought a serious damage to the image even in a workmanlike wines produced by thousands of honest producers.
All members, with President Paul Ricagno, pledged to regain credibility and the market.
At the same purpose, consortiums, associations with Asprovit and Wine and the Piedmont Region of funding, the campaign promoted the "Rose of Barbera" (the four petals represent the Barbera d'Asti, Monferrato, Alba and Hills), supporting it with tastings, meetings and promotions.
The operation, at the great vintage of 1988, was successful. The commitment to quality has always been more alive.
The use of the barrel and the selection of vineyards were a turning point began the Renaissance of the Barbera.
In 1989 the Association sponsored the first Auction Barbera "Historical Vines", which promoted the great wine and took place at the castle of Costigliole d'Asti.
In the mid-'90s, following the progressive attribution of the doc to many other wines produced in the area pertaining to the Consortium, it assumed its current name.
The 2007 and 2008 mark the achievement of important goals: Barbera d'Asti and Barbera del Monferrato Superiore DOCG conquer.
THE HISTORY OF WINE
The origins
The news of the appearance of life on our planet are conflicting, it seems that it was among the first plants to grow naturally (wild vines grew already around 300,000 years ago) and it is likely that the fermentation process was discovered by ' man in a totally random. According to Professor Patrick McGovern, who heads the University of Pennsylvania MASCA (Molecular Archaeology Laboratory at the Center for Applied Sciences Archaeology Museum), the fermentation would be a kind of magic and the first wine tasting should go back to the Neolithic period (8500-4000 BC) when people tasted the juice of naturally fermented wild grapes. The wine is nothing more than a refinement of this natural process. McGovern speaks of a "Noah's case, identifying the location of origin of viticulture at the source of the Tigris River, in eastern Turkey, originated here as agriculture. In the Bible we read that the first vineyard was planted by Noah, survived the great flood in this area, on the slopes of Mount Ararat.
According to many scholars, the Vitis vinifera, the vine variety from which the wine originates, is a native of India and from there it spread first to Asia and then in Europe.
The first example of a fermentation process to obtain an alcoholic drink dates back to 7000-6000 BC and comes from China, here are the terracotta pots were discovered bearing traces of a fermented liquid made from millet, rice, beeswax and bunches of wild grapes. In Persia, now Iran, since 5400 BC is a wine produced exclusively vinified grape juice without additional elements and is believed to own a resort Persian Shiraz, has given its name to the grape, one of the most popular in the world.
More information about the origins of viticulture come to us from the north of the Caucasus, more precisely from the territory corresponding to the current Georgia and Armenia.
Even the etymology of the word "wine" is still uncertain, according to some scholars would derive from the Sanskrit root "Venas" (love), the same as Venus, Venus, according to others stems from the Sanskrit root "vi" (twisting), which indicates thetwisted kind of plant, according to others still from the ancient Hebrew "jin" would have the greek "oinos", hence the Latin "vinum".
From the fertile lands of Mesopotamia through trade between the peoples of ancient wine begins his journey to come down to us.
The Sumerians symbolize human existence with a grape leaf and drinking wine straight from the pitchers, with a rudimentary sucking straw.
The Egyptians
The Egyptians were the first to perfect techniques of viticulture and begin the wine trade.
Hieroglyphics dating back to 2500 BC describe how they produced the wine of the Pharaohs: the vintage wine-making, its conservation in the two-handled amphora from the narrow neck (closed with a clay cap drilled to let out the carbon dioxide) until transport on the Nile. Amphora containing wine were found inside the funeral of King Tutankhamen (1339 BC), was placed on them a seal bearing the area of origin, vintage and producer, as a form of primitive DOC
The Egyptians, with their long caravans of ships plied the seas carrying large loads of grapes and wine to market them in the main centers of the Mediterranean. From Egypt the practice of wine making spread among Jews, Arabs and Greeks.
The Greeks
Archaeological remains from before 1600 BC, preceding the Mycenaean culture, testify that the wine was already being used for religious and ritual purposes.
For the Greeks, the wine was a symbol of friendship between the men and the state of intoxication caused by it approached the human dimension of the divine. Greek mythology provided a god of wine, Dionysus, who would reveal to men the secrets of the beverage. The wine was thus regarded as a sacred drink, special gift of the gods. The cult of Dionysus, already widespread in the Mycenaean age, was born in Thrace, Phrygia or Lydia and then spread to the Romans, where he became the god Bacchus. In the Dionysian orgies of the Greeks and Romans in the Bacchanalian, the followers of the god and drank excessively indulged in excesses of every kind and priestesses of the cult, the Bacchae, launched themselves into frenetic dancing half-naked. Become too licentious and opportunities for criminal actions, these feasts were banned by the Romans in 186 BC but they were reintroduced in the imperial era for their playful nature.According to the will of Dionysus, the wine should always be mixed with water, because the product at that time had a fairly high alcohol content.
As told by Homer, the screws were grown on pergolas, but were dropped to the ground, where the branches and mats protected from direct contact with the ground. The harvest was made in mid-September. Men and women, after having filled the basins of grapes of acacia wood, proceeded to crushing. Fermentation took place in large clay pots scattered out of resin and pitch and deeply buried to reduce damage caused by perspiration. After six months he proceeded to filtration and decanting, the wine was poured into earthenware jars or bottles. Hesiod says, however, that the harvest took place in early October and the grapes, before being crushed, was exposed to the sun to increase its sugar component.
The Greeks drank wine for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and drinking was considered a collective ritual. An opportunity to do so was the symposium organized on the occasion of a wedding, family celebration or a religious festival. The guests, at least until the fourth century, had to be strictly between three and nine, as the number of the Graces and the Muses, while the woman was not, at least until the Hellenistic period. Plato, the symposium has dedicated one of his Dialogues, tells how, after eating a meal with wine mixed with water, a cup of watered wine was passed in a circle so each diner could drink his fill and drink. This was followed by other toast. The guests were adorned their heads with wreaths of myrtle or ivy (a plant sacred to Dionysus, which is also adorned the cups). Part of the wine was also offered to Zeus, the "spirits of the heroes" and Zeus Saviour.
A demonstration of the importance of wine in the Hellenic culture are numerous references regarding the use of this beverage in the Odyssey. Guest of Alcinous, king of the Phoenicians, Odysseus recounts his adventures in the land of the Cyclops, where everything comes up without crops and the vines bear huge clusters. He tells of the terrible Polyphemus, who was imprisoned with his men and had cibato some of his companions, and how he managed to defeat precisely because of wine. After offering a wine to drink pure black Cyclops, which was usually diluted with 16 parts water, they fell down drunk and Ulysses took the opportunity to hit him in his sleep and escape.Odysseus then took his leave from the Phoenicians with a toast, full of hope for a return to his homeland and his family. Later we read of how to Ithaca, Ulysses, in the treasury, to preserve not only gold, bronzes, textiles, olive oil, but also vessels of old wine, soft drinks.
The Greeks, around 730-720 BC, who introduced viticulture in Italy, bringing quality screws in their colonies of Magna Graecia and defining the term "Enotria" (from the greek oinos: Wine), Wine Country, Italy South.
In Sicily, the Greek settlers planted some varieties still grown, such as Malvasia, Greek el'Aglianico. From Sicily the screw began his journey to Europe, spreading to the rest of southern Italy and then in the center at first and then at the Sabines, the Etruscans.
The Etruscans
Before the seventh century BC the Etruscans imported wine from overseas, and its consumption was reserved solely for the aristocratic class, as shown by remains found in tombs of princes. Probably they started making wine about 650 BC, as witnessed by numerous amphorae for storage and transportation of the precious beverage produced on site, also found in the tombs of the lower classes. The paintings often depict scenes of funerary banquet with the participants lying on triclinium intent on drinking, women lying beside her husband. The wine is obviously of some importance in the ritual passage to the afterlife.
According to legend, was the Etruscan king Lars Porsenna Montepulciano to found and planted the first vines. What is certain is that it is near the Tuscan town was found a kylix (wine cup) that is represented Flufluns, the Etruscan Bacchus, together with an intent to maenad cottabo game, in which the wine was the protagonist.
Pliny gives us an inventory of Etruscan grape varieties grown in 540 BC areas Populonia Gravity (ancient port of Tarquinia) and ancient Statonia (in the territory of Vulci): The Sopina the Etesiaca the Talponia, and the Alpiane Conseminia.
The Gauls
The Etruscans were skilled growers and were probably the first to export wine and screw up in Gaul. Livy in his History says that the Gauls came to Italy from your local wine that attracted an Etruscan Chiusi Arrunte that had made them try to convince them to cross the Alps and revenge so Locumone of his king, who had seduced his wife."They consulted after the Gauls came to the conclusion that the fresh fruit flavor in this region, attracted to the same wine. Who was a heady pleasure, opened the mind to spirituality. Came from the Alps and took possession of every acre. Those that it was cultivated by the Etruscans, became their Massilia civitas ... "(Titus Livius Historia Romana V 33).
Also according to Plutarch was the love of the Gauls to the Etruscan wine to encourage them to cross the Alps
What is certain is that the Etruscan wine were exported on a large scale across the Alps and in the course of excavations at Bibracte, capital of Aedui, Burgundy, were discovered about 400 jars of wine clearly of Etruscan dating back five centuries before the great defeat Gaul by Caesar (58 BC). Each jar bears a label or stamp factory or customer ordered the service cock, have been discovered up to 250 different brands.The Gauls drank wine at banquets and Druids placed him in the horns of initiation of young warriors.
Following the Gauls decided to cultivate their own vineyards and also began to produce containers to store and drink wine, copying the imported model. The wine, therefore, also became a vehicle with the peoples of Mediterranean barbarians.
The Romans
Also, thanks to the Etruscans and Sabines, viticulture spread to the Romans. Initially, the wine was considered a rare and precious so that Romulus, during a ceremony, as an example of restraint by refusing to drink more than one cup. Plutarch and Pliny refer to certain laws introduced by Numa Pompilius, second king of Rome of Sabine origin, to avoid the waste of this product: the introduction of pruning and the prohibition of spilling wine on the funeral pyres and for women to drink during the funeral libations. The cultivation of the vine soon became very prosperous in the early years of the screw is now widely grown in Italy, so that in 90 AD, to address a worrying crisis of overproduction, Domitian issued an edict that requires farmers Peninsula to eradicate half of the vines and prevent new installations.
Although it may seem strange, some historians argue that their wine has been one of the factors that contributed partly to the birth of that Roman Empire, the Romans were well aware of the fact many properties of the drink, including the bacteria, and for this they used to bring large quantities during the war campaigns and use it to comfort the legionnaires, Plutarch tells how Caesar has distributed wine to his soldiers to eradicate a disease that was decimating the army.
Even the use of wine in cooking dates back to Etruscan and Roman period. Ancient recipes were found that describe how to maintain long-foods, especially meat, tasteless, making them tastier, thanks to techniques of marinating and soaking in the wine.
The wine of the Romans was very different from what we are accustomed to drink today.It was long aged and to make it more stable and more suitable for the storage and transport, were added honey and resins. The wines were stored in large earthenware jars, sealed with pitch, replaced by a later period in wooden barrels, at first made from tree trunks and then purpose-built. The Roman wine had to be thick, bitter, with a strong alcohol content and very aged. Falerno, for example, you could not drink before age 10 years and remained good up to 30. It was therefore essential to dilute wine with hot or cold, but snow. Depending on the quality of wine in one hand you could also add three parts water. They used a lot then "cuts" between different wines: a sweet wine of Chios, greek, for example, to mitigate the harshness of Falerno. The beverage of choice was the mulsum, a mixture of honey and wine with which you opened the sumptuous banquets of the great patrician families. The pure wine (the merum) was reserved only to the gods.
The wine and the Mediterranean culture
The Greeks and Romans made sure that the vine and wine become the very symbol of the Mediterranean culture, it was thanks to the Roman Empire's viticulture spread to the rest of Europe.
The Roman legion, after the conquest, had in fact ordered to plant vineyards and winemaking techniques to teach the indigenous peoples. The cultivation of vines spread to France, Spain, Germany, Great Britain and Northern Africa. The wines of the Rhine, Moselle and Gaul can be considered the ancestors of Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne.
With the fall of the Roman Empire and the barbarian invasions, Italy suffered devastating damage to agricultural production and in particular the wine, because of looting and a tragic succession of famines and epidemics.
The wine in the Middle Ages and the Christian religion
The wine sinking much of its symbolic power in the deep Christian roots, which bind to the figure of Christ and the value that he attributed to him during his lifetime.
Biblical quotations from the numerous incidents reported in the Gospels, wine and spiritual values related to it occur hundreds of times, reflecting the great importance in the history covered in this drink, particularly in Christian history.
In Genesis, Old Testament, the vine is presented as a symbol of prosperity and love of God, and, as mentioned above, according to the Bible Noah after the flood was to plant the first vineyard. Ecclesiastes (cap.31, v.39) reads: "Sanitas est corpus et animae sobrius POTUS" (the drink is tempered health of soul and body).
Jesus likes to drink wine, and his first miracle is the transformation of water into wine at the wedding in Cana. It's the last supper that the wine becomes a symbol of Christ's blood "poured out for us and for all for the forgiveness of sins."
In 1200, the Dominican Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church, wrote about the significance of wine in the Mass: "The sacrament of the Eucharist can be celebrated only with the wine of life ... because the wine made from grapes is a sense the image of the effects of the sacrament, by which I mean the joy of the spirit, for it is written that the wine makes glad the heart of man. "
During medieval viticulture survived only thanks to the monasteries that became centers of real wine, created to meet the needs of wine, a symbol of Christ's blood and therefore a prerequisite to the Eucharistic celebration.
According to some scholars medievalistica, the boundaries of winemaking time even ended up with almost everywhere coincide with the boundaries of the Respublica Christiana, since the screw was disappearing completely in those countries of the Mediterranean where he had established the religion of Allah, which condemnedspecifically the consumption of alcohol.
Around and from the seventh century A. D. the Mediterranean Sea was transformed into a real separator between two cultures, as well as being a region sandwiched two continents and the wine was a symbol of this division.
Christian Europe is opposed to Islamic Africa and lays the foundations for this type of culture extends over time and become the basis for the historical and ideological baggage of today the whole Western world.
The wine may be considered as a distinctive feature of Western European civilization.
The elegant wine knowledge of the Romans were, however, now been lost. Was not used more old wines, just products that were consumed and were therefore often highly acidic.
The wine was classified according to the squeezing.
The first, lighter, gave the best product at the tables of the rich. This wine was sweetened with honey and seasoned with spices from the East.
The second pressing, more vigorous, producing a wine of inferior quality, consumed mainly by the clergy. Finally, a third pressing of grapes, with the addition of water, was obtained by the 'watercolor, "drink of the people.
It dates back to 789 the first reference to the vineyards of Politianus Mons, in an act of donation to a church in a vineyard located in the castle of Policiano. According to a document mentioned by Repetti in his Historical and geographical dictionary of Tuscany, in 1350 the wine of Montepulciano is already protected by provisions that govern the sale.
During the medieval period, the wine continued to be used as a drug to treat a wide variety of diseases through the dissemination of the works of Galen (second century AD), which recommended the use, and later, thanks the Liber de Vinis Arnold of Villanova (XIII century), which recognized the therapeutic properties of wine.
In the tenth century, with the battlements, spread the use of planting a vineyard of fine wine for consumption around the walls of the feudal lord.
And it's beginning in the tenth century the rich and intensive cultivation of the vine in Monferrato.
A thousand years after the
After the Thousand and improve general living conditions, thanks to massive estates, monasteries enrich and expand their properties. Viticulture devoted more time and attention and produce quality wine is almost a way of life for some religious orders like the Benedictines.
The expansion of vineyards in Piedmont went on and came to occupy many of the hilly towns of Alba, Asti and Bra. The wine of this area soon became known, so that, to protect the quality of the grapes, harvest in the calls of the thirteenth century, it was decided the ban on harvest before September 29. It was during this period that he began to reflect the different types of grapes, depending on their characteristics and what they produce.
Start it in recent years more intensive production by a new social class emerging, the merchant bourgeoisie, which sees the possibility of rich profits in the cultivation and marketing of wine.
Wine consumption increases due to population growth, the rise of new urban nuclei and numerous economic and wider availability of wider social classes. Even the poor are no longer content to drink ordinary wine, the simple "Vernaccia" (the wine then most widely quoted by Dante), but aspire to a higher quality.
In Liber commodorum ruralium, the main agronomic traits of the Middle Ages, the Bolognese jurist Pier de 'Crescenzi (1233-1321) mentions for the first time the ancestor of Nebbiolo, describing it thus: "It is another species of grapes black which is called "Nubiola" which is delightful to the sleeves and is beautifully ... and vinous wine is excellent and very powerful ... and keep, and is much admired in the city of Asti and in those parts. " Pier de 'Crescenzi also recalls the introduction of a new culture system that "to span" the vine is supported by a pole dry and trimmed short.
Another much appreciated was the wine of Asti Moscato, his prized grapes were also preferred by the principles, as shown by the accounts of the castle of Achaia August 15, 1307.
The Renaissance
In the Renaissance period makes its way a new philosophical concept aimed at recovering the Earth's human dimension. We return to use everything that can give pleasure to the body and, in this view, also knows his wine renaissance. Many works of art will be dedicated to or inspired by the vine and its fruit: the song dedicated to Bacchus and Ariadne of Lorenzo the Magnificent, the ritual of toasts in the etiquette of Monsignor Giovanni Della Casa, the drunkenness of Noah painted by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel, the Bacchus by Caravaggio teenager ...
The new interest in wine in the Renaissance period is expressed in the writings of Sante Lancerio, "bottles" of Pope Paul III, observant and wine expert enough to be considered the first true Italian wine. In a letter, in two reports and travel in an unpublished manuscript, the quality of wines (only rediscovered and published in 1876), describes Lancerio tastings conducted for and with the pope (Pope Paul III, Alessandro Farnese, remained in power since 1534 in 1549, educated at the court of Lorenzo the Magnificent, a lover of women and wine, was one of the greatest patrons of the Renaissance, fostered a great development and building of Rome commissioned Michelangelo the Last Judgement. He went down in history for the excommunication of Henry VIII, the inauguration of the Council of Trent and the approval of the Jesuit order).Lancerio analyze appearance and smell, taste and aftertaste of about 50 types of wine, using a rich and precise terminology, worthy of a modern sommelier. He classifies wines to drink with the seasons, time and mood, identifying the most suitable for each class. Lancerio find good French wines, though biased in the territory of origin, but does not like the Spanish, who prefers the wines are the Italians, headed Malvasia, Greek island of Ischia, Vernaccia di San Gimignano and Nobile di Montepulciano, described as "wine by gentlemen. " Lancerio is also the first to talk about pairing food and wine, setting a progression in the banquet: we start with light wines until you reach the thick red for roasts, to conclude with the Ippocrasso, a wine flavored with spices alreadyknown in medieval times for its tonic properties.
An example of the banquets were lavish Renaissance is offered by the reception for the wedding of the Duke of Ferrara Alfonso II d'Este, Princess Barbara of Austria (December 5, 1565).
According to the fashion of the time, proposed a banquet theme, the myth of Neptune, and was set up with a truly spectacular facility: the tablecloths were superimposed so as to recall the waves of the sea, the napkins were folded in the shape of fish and dishes were specially produced in the shape of a shell.
The wine in the seventeenth and eighteenth century
In the seventeenth century, gained a better preservation of the wine through the use of glass bottles closed with corks. The bottle was blown by hand, in the early days and had a rounded shape with a slender neck, then became cylindrical. Before that were used for wine flasks of leather, and wood, metal receptacles more or less valuable.
As for the wines of Piedmont, in the archives of the town of Nizza Monferrato was found a letter dated 1609 the dukes of Mantua, who wished to announce the upcoming visit of some of their officers in the land of Monferrato to "taste the wines from these vineyards , and in particular the wine Barbera. " In a 1633 inventory of the assets of the Count of Arborio Gattinara Mercurio, chancellor of Emperor Charles V and maximum dissemination of the wines of Gattinara, describes the wine produced in their stronghold of Valencia (Dolcetto, Nebbiolo, Malvasia, Muscat ...) and loss provisions on the types of casks to be used to better preserve them.
It seems that even Louis XIV (1638-1715), the "Sun King", liked to taste wine and cheese from Piedmont.
At the end of the seventeenth century, in the homonymous region of northern France, Champagne was born. Its inventor was the Benedictine monk Dom Perignon, winemaker of the abbey of Hautvillers. The climate and soil of the Champagne region tended to make sparkling wines, Dom Perignon made this flaw a great value. Selecting superior quality grapes and subjecting them to two fermentations, in the vat and then in bottles, sealed for the first time with corks, got a brand new wine that soon conquered the most refined palates.
Also during this period developed the best grapes of the Bordeaux region.
In the eighteenth century the taste wines requires dark, intense and long-fermented, it says so on the market, thanks to skilful English merchants, the Port, a full-bodied wine with long aging, produced in the Douro Valley in Portugal.
The Nineteenth Century
As far as Italy is strange to remember how it was precisely those great men whom we owe the unity of the country to increase the quality and reputation of its wines.
Major characters in the history of Italy have also felt the desire to become tenants.
First and foremost, King Charles Albert, who during the nineteenth century in Verduno built an impressive wine cellar for the production of Barolo, led by the celebrated wine Staglieno.
To Count Camillo Benso di Cavour, the greatest statesman of Italy, it must be the international fame of Barolo, which he used for diplomatic purposes and therefore called "wine of kings and king of wines".
In 1832, after buying the castle of Grinzane, the count had planted in the surrounding area about two hundred thousand Nebbiolo vines, trying to constantly improve the techniques of cultivation and wine making with the help of the famous French winemaker Odart count.
A historic turning point in Italian viticulture is due to a more responsible for the unification of Italy: the Baron Bettino Ricasoli. Appointed as successor to the Prime Minister Cavour, the Ricasoli was soon forced to resign for his relentless work and returned to the family castle of Brolio in the Chianti region, decided to devote himself to improving the historic vineyards of the family (already in 1600 Chianti Brolio was required to Amsterdam and London). Al Barone is credited with having covered the Chianti blend, making this prestigious wine internationally.
In 1856, finally resolved the problem dell'inacidimento wines thanks to the discovery made by a young French chemist, Louis Pasteur. Observing the microscopic yeast added to wine, he discovered that he was "inspired" by tiny animals, bacteria, and to eliminate "bad" (responsible dell'inacidimento) without harming the good ones (which are needed for processing into wine ) was sufficient to heat the wort to a certain temperature. This process, called "pasteurization" in his honor, is still used to sterilize many foods.
In the second half of the nineteenth century, moreover, the industrial development allowed rapid production and dissemination of standard size bottles.
Towards the end of the nineteenth century, the screw came almost to extinction across the continent because of a parasite came from America, the phylloxera, which attacks the roots of the plant. The only solution was to graft European vines on the root of a creeper, which is not affected by phylloxera.
The Twentieth Century
During the first half of the twentieth century, the vine was hit by dangerous new diseases, downy mildew el'oidio, which attack leaves and bunches.
The wine production collapsed due to destruction of two world wars.
Post-war recovery began, however, marked by problems of adulteration, fraud and overproduction.
Only in the 60s began the process of renewal of Italian wine, leaving the crops "promiscuous" and modernized the cellars. It is then passed to the renewal of the vineyards and the same grape varieties.
This revolution, which began in Tuscany and Piedmont followed, is ongoing and always interested in new regions of the peninsula.
The important technical progress achieved in both viticulture and wine-making allow for increased use of these assets in new areas of the world, including the new countries which appeared on the wine market with quality wines include Australia and the United States (California).