Orvieto is an Italian wine

Italian wine

Italian wine is wine produced in Italy, a country which is home to some of the oldest wine-producing regions in the world. Italy is the world's largest wine producer, responsible for approximately one-fifth of world wine production in 2005. Italian wine is exported largely around the world and has...

 region located in Umbria

Umbria

Umbria is a region of modern central Italy. It is one of the smallest Italian regions and the only peninsular region that is landlocked.Its capital is Perugia.Assisi and Norcia are historical towns associated with St. Francis of Assisi, and St...

 and Lazio, centered around the commune

Comune

In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...

of Orvieto

Orvieto

Orvieto is a city and comune in Province of Terni, southwestern Umbria, Italy situated on the flat summit of a large butte of volcanic tuff...

. It is primarily known for its white wine

Wine

Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...

s made from a blend of mostly Grechetto

Grechetto

Grechetto or Grechetto Bianco is an Italian wine grape of Greek origins. The grape is planted throughout central Italy, particularly in the Umbria region where it is used in the Denominazione di origine controllata wine Orvieto. It is primarily a blending grape, though some varietal wine is also...

 and Trebbiano

Trebbiano

Trebbiano is the second most widely planted grape in the world. It gives good yields, but makes undistinguished wine at best. It can be fresh and fruity, but does not keep long. Its high acidity makes it important in Cognac production...

, which is sold under the Denominazione di origine controllata

Denominazione di Origine Controllata

Denominazione di origine controllata is a quality assurance label for food products, especially wines and various formaggi . It is modelled after the French AOC...

(DOC) Orvieto and Orvieto Classico. Blended red wine and eight varietal

Varietal

"Varietal" describes wines made primarily from a single named grape variety, and which typically displays the name of that variety on the wine label. Examples of grape varieties commonly used in varietal wines are Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Merlot...

 reds are sold under the Rosso Orvietano DOC. The region has been producing wine since the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

, when Orvieto wine was known as a sweet

Sweetness of wine

The subjective sweetness of a wine is determined by the interaction of several factors, including the amount of sugar in the wine to be sure, but also the relative levels of alcohol, acids, and tannins. Briefly: sugars and alcohol enhance a wine's sweetness; acids and bitter tannins counteract it...

, golden yellow wine. Today's white Orvieto is dry, but a semi-sweet style, known as Orvieto Abboccato, and dolce (sweet), are also produced in small quantities.

Geography

The Orvieto zone is located in the southwest corner of Umbria, centered on the commune of Orvieto in the province of Terni

Province of Terni

The Province of Terni is the smaller of the two provinces in the Umbria region of Italy, comprising one-third of both the area and population of the region. Its capital is the city of Terni...

. It extends southward into the Viterbo province

Province of Viterbo

The Province of Viterbo is a province in the Lazio region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Viterbo. It is bordered to the north by the Province of Grosseto and Siena, by the north-east with the Province of Terni and Rieti, in the west by the Tyrrhenian Sea and south by the Province of Rome.It...

 of Lazio and north to the border between Terni and the province of Perugia

Province of Perugia

The Province of Perugia is the larger of the two provinces in the Umbria region of Italy, comprising two-thirds of both the area and population of the region. Its capital is the city of Perugia...

. The Orvieto Classico region is located around Orvieto in the area dominant by tufa

Tufa

Tufa is a variety of limestone, formed by the precipitation of carbonate minerals from ambient temperature water bodies. Geothermally heated hot-springs sometimes produce similar carbonate deposits known as travertine...

 limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 and volcanic soil.

History

Viticulture

Viticulture

Viticulture is the science, production and study of grapes which deals with the series of events that occur in the vineyard. When the grapes are used for winemaking, it is also known as viniculture...

 was introduced to the Orvieto region by the early Etruscans

Etruscan civilization

Etruscan civilization is the modern English name given to a civilization of ancient Italy in the area corresponding roughly to Tuscany. The ancient Romans called its creators the Tusci or Etrusci...

, who carved out cellar-like caves

Wine cave

Wine caves are subterranean structures for the storage and aging of wine. They are an integral component of the wine industry world wide. The design and construction of wine caves represents a unique application of underground construction techniques....

 from volcanic soil that could house wine production with long, cool fermentation

Fermentation (wine)

The process of fermentation in wine turns grape juice into an alcoholic beverage. During fermentation, yeast interact with sugars in the juice to create ethanol, commonly known as ethyl alcohol, and carbon dioxide...

 and produced the type of sweet wine that was popular in the ancient world. From the Middle Ages to the mid-20th century, the Orvieto region was known for the sweet dessert wine

Dessert wine

Dessert wines are sweet wines typically served with dessert.There is no simple definition of a dessert wine. In the UK, a dessert wine is considered to be any sweet wine drunk with a meal, as opposed to the white fortified wines drunk before the meal, and the red fortified wines drunk after it...

 made with the noble rot

Noble rot

Noble rot is the benevolent form of a grey fungus, Botrytis cinerea, affecting wine grapes. Infestation by Botrytis requires moist conditions, and if the weather stays wet, the malevolent form, "grey rot", can destroy crops of grapes...

, Botrytis cinerea. Unlike most botrytized wine, such as Sauternes

Sauternes (wine)

Sauternes is a French sweet wine from the Sauternais region of the Graves section in Bordeaux. Sauternes is made from Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc, and Muscadelle grapes that have been affected by Botrytis cinerea, also known as noble rot. This causes the grapes to become partially raisined,...

, where the grapes are introduced to the Botrytis cinerea

Botrytis cinerea

Botrytis cinerea is a necrotrophic fungus that affects many plant species, although its most notable hosts may be wine grapes. In viticulture, it is commonly known as botrytis bunch rot; in horticulture, it is usually called grey mould or gray mold.The fungus gives rise to two different kinds of...

fungus while they are on the vine, the grapes of Orvieto were exposed to the fungus after harvest

Harvest (wine)

The harvesting of wine grapes is one of the most crucial steps in the process of winemaking. The time of harvest is determined primarily by the ripeness of the grape as measured by sugar, acid and tannin levels with winemakers basing their decision to pick based on the style of wine they wish to...

, when they packed into crates and barrels and stored in humid grotto

Grotto

A grotto is any type of natural or artificial cave that is associated with modern, historic or prehistoric use by humans. When it is not an artificial garden feature, a grotto is often a small cave near water and often flooded or liable to flood at high tide...

es carved out of the tufa stone. Made primarily from the Trebbiano sub-variety Procanico, which produces smaller berries than the Trebbiano used in Tuscan wines, these sweet wines were deep gold in color, described by the poet Gabriele d'Annunzio

Gabriele D'Annunzio

Gabriele D'Annunzio or d'Annunzio was an Italian poet, journalist, novelist, and dramatist...

 as "the sun

Sun

The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...

 of Italy in a bottle". While the production of fully botrytized wine is rare, in ideal vintage

Vintage

Vintage, in wine-making, is the process of picking grapes and creating the finished product . A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certain wines, it can denote quality, as in Port wine, where Port houses make and...

 years some producers will make a sweet muffato from partially botrytized grapes.

Wine

White Orvieto is composed primarily of Grechetto and Trebbiano and a blend of Malvasia

Malvasia

Malvasia is a group of wine grape varieties grown historically in the Mediterranean region, Balearic islands, Canary Islands and the island of Madeira, but now grown in many of the winemaking regions of the world...

, Drupeggio, Verdello

Verdello

Verdello is a comune in the province of Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy. It has a population of 6,494....

 and Canaiolo Bianco grapes. Grechetto is valued for the fruitiness and weight that it brings to the wine; some of the most highly rated examples of Orvieto have a high concentration of Grechetto. The wine today is radically different from the historical sweet Orvieto, with off-dry and sweet wines accounting for less than five percent of total production. In addition to the traditional grape varieties listed, some Orvieto producers have begun experimenting with non-DOC Vino da Tavola wines made from Riesling

Riesling

Riesling is a white grape variety which originated in the Rhine region of Germany. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet and sparkling white wines. Riesling wines are usually varietally...

 and Sauvignon blanc

Sauvignon blanc

Sauvignon Blanc is a green-skinned grape variety which originates from the Bordeaux region of France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French word sauvage and blanc due to its early origins as an indigenous grape in South West France., a possible descendant of savagnin...

.

Rosso Orvietano

The Rosso Orvietano DOC covers the entire Orvieto zone and is used for the blended red wines made from Aleatico

Aleatico

Aleatico is a red wine grape. Ampelographers suspect that Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains may be a mutation of the Aleatico cultivar. Aleatico is notable for being the primary grape in the cult wine Aleatico di Portoferraio made in Elba. It is grown most commonly in the Puglia and Lazio region of...

, Barbera

Barbera

Barbera is a red Italian wine grape variety that, as of 2000, was the third most-planted red grape variety in Italy . It produces good yields and is known for deep color, low tannins and high levels of acid...

, Cabernet Franc

Cabernet Franc

Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone - as in the Loire's Chinon...

, Cabernet Sauvignon

Cabernet Sauvignon

Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Canada's Okanagan Valley to Lebanon's Beqaa Valley...

, Canaiolo

Canaiolo

Canaiolo is a red Italian wine grape grown through Central Italy but is most noted in Tuscany. Other regions with plantings of Canaiolo include Lazio, Marche and Sardegna. In Umbria a white berried mutation known as Canaiolo Bianco exist...

, Cesanese, Ciliegiolo

Ciliegiolo

Ciliegiolo is a variety of red wine grape from Italy, named after the Italian for 'cherry'. It is a minor component of traditional blends such as Chianti, but interest has revived in recent years...

, Colorino

Colorino

Colorino is a red Italian wine grape variety planted primarily in Tuscany. The grape is known for its deep dark coloring and is used primarily as a coloring agent in red blends. In the history of Chianti it played a minor role, mostly for its affinity and use to the governo winemaking technique...

, Dolcetto

Dolcetto

Dolcetto is a black wine grape variety widely grown in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy. The Italian word dolcetto means "little sweet one", but it is not certain that the name originally carried any reference to the grape’s sugar levels: it is possible that it derives from the name of the...

, Merlot

Merlot

Merlot is a darkly blue-coloured wine grape, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name Merlot is thought to derive from the Old French word for young blackbird, merlot, a diminutive of merle, the blackbird , probably from the color of the grape. Merlot-based wines...

, Montepulciano

Montepulciano (grape)

Montepulciano is a red Italian wine grape variety that is most noted for being the primary grape behind the Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita wine Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Colline Teramane and the Denominazione di origine controllata wines of Rosso Conero and Rosso Piceno.It should...

, Pinot Nero and Sangiovese

Sangiovese

Sangiovese is a red Italian wine grape variety whose name derives from the Latin sanguis Jovis, "the blood of Jove"...

. Red varietal wines are also permitted under their DOC as long as they contain at least 70% of Aleatico, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Canaiolo, Ciliegiolo, Merlot, Pinot Nero and Sangiovese. The advent of the Indicazione Geografica Tipica

Indicazione geografica tipica

Indicazione geografica tipica is the second of four classifications of wine recognized by the government of Italy. Created to recognize the unusually high quality of the class of wines known as Super Tuscans, IGT wines are labeled with the locality of their creation, but do not meet the...

(IGT) classification has given Orvieto producers the ability to experimented with non-DOC wines and sell them under one of Umbria's IGT classifications.

External links

• Bella Umbria - Orvieto location map
• Into Wine - Orvieto
• Italian Made - Orvieto DOC
• Info and news regarding Orvieto wines - Orvieto wine