9

I

’m sitting in an old farmhouse

in the hills near Verona. Outside,

the rolling landscape is blanketed

with grape vines, some trained

the traditional way on tall pergolas,

and interspersed with old cherry trees.

Inside, Nonna has just dished up plates

of wilted wild greens and hot slices of

succulent pink cotechino. Everything

plays out with glasses of the farmer’s

own deep-purple Amarone in hand.

Italy is home to 20 main wine regions,

seven of which are found in the cooler

north of the country, ringed by France,

Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia. Each

of these regions is home to local grape

varieties and wine styles that have evolved

over centuries, moulded by that region’s

climate and geology, history and culture

• and perhaps most of all by its food.
  Take the Amarone we’re drinking in
  this farmhouse in Valpolicella, in the
  Veneto region. It is made from local red
  grapes corvina, rondinella and molinara,
  partially dried on racks before being
  fermented, a speciality of the district. The
  drying process concentrates the flavour
  and sugar in the grapes, producing
  powerful, rich but savoury wines, like
  regular Valpolicella reds made from the
  same grapes but with the flavour turned
  up to 11. They’re wines that are perfect

with local rich, spicy, cured pork products

such as cotechino. Amarone is also great

with another local speciality, horse steak,

as I discovered in a restaurant in Verona.

Travel a couple of hours west to

Piedmont, though, and the landscape,

grapes and food are quite

different. The nebbiolo

grape is king here; grown

on the steep hills of

Barolo and Barbaresco

in the Langhe region,

it produces deceptively

pale-coloured red wines

with mouth-hugging

tannins. Here, the food

match of choice is lardo:

silky cured pork fat sliced

thin and draped over the

tongue to melt. Oh, and

truffles. Lots of truffles.

Go north-east and

things are different again.

Up in Alto Adige, in the

foothills of the Dolomites,

the climate is cooler and

the Austrian influence is

strong. The region is also

known as Südtirol, and

the red wine made here

from the lagrein grape is

intensely purple but fresh,

medium-bodied and tangy. You’re more

likely, however, to find the crisp, fragrant

white wines that predominate here, with

many produced from Germanic grape

varieties such as gewürztraminer.

White grapes also predominate

in Friuli, towards the

Slovenian border, in rich

and textural blends, and

as sometimes-cloudy,

amber-coloured (so-called

orange) wines, made by

fermenting full-flavoured

local white grapes such

as ribolla gialla and

Friulano on skins.

And it’s a white grape

that’s responsible for

prosecco, northern Italy’s

biggest commercial success

story of recent years. This

sparkling wine, made in

the Veneto region, is now

guzzled in export markets

around the world.

The best place to drink

it, though, is in Venice,

mixed with Campari and

a dash of soda, late in the

afternoon, with a dish of

salty fishy fried snacks on

the table in front of you.●

Top drops of

the region

2016 Alois Lageder Pinot

Grigio, Alto Adige $37

Pure, mouth-watering,

green-apple-crunchy

example of the pinot grigio

grape.Imported by

redandwhite.com.au

2015 Vietti Perbacco

Nebbiolo, Piedmont $50

Lovely perfumed, savoury

introduction to the truffle-

friendly joys of nebbiolo.

Imported by

redandwhite.com.au

2013 Tedeschi Amarone

della Valpolicella,

Veneto $120

Superb example of Amarone:

rich, powerful, complex.

Bring on the cotechino.

Imported by

enoteca.com.au

Italy’s north has diverse terrain and

climates, but it may be its food that most

inluences its wine, writes MAX ALLEN.

True north

WINE

68 GOURMET TRAVELLER

PHOTOGRAPHY GETTY IMAGES

Northern Italy

Serralunga d’Alba,

in the Barolo wine

zone, Piedmont.