After all, in a country where wine flows like water, drinking is a true art. And, like any art form, it has its own set of rules and etiquette. Photo by Gina Mussio. Italians take their wine seriously. Wine is meant to go with food, after all, so it is often simple… and relatively cheap! Plus, it tends to be a local variety. While less historically popular than wine, beer is another appropriate alcohol for lunch or dinner. The famous Italian brands Morena, Moretti and Peroni have been around for a while.
Much more excitingly, however, is that microbrews are becoming trendy, with small, local craft brewers popping up around the country. There are now more than breweries nationwide. Italian craft brewers typically use high-quality, local ingredients, applying much of the experience gained from wine-making to their beer brewing.
Hundreds of little plates to share with friends during a classic Italian aperitivo! While wine is common, this is also an especially popular time to have a cocktail. Most Italian cocktail bars will have your classic, internationally-known mixes alongside signature, regional ones.
Aperol — A liquor nearly identical to Campari, Aperol is much less bitter and has a lower alcohol content. A refreshing Negroni Sbagliato. Photo by Geoff Peters. Negroni — Perhaps the easiest to make for its ratio, this drink is made of one part gin, one part red vermouth and one part bitters, traditionally Campari.
Sbagliato — A negroni sbagliato, or negroni incorrect, has a fantastic story to go with this fantastic drink. They say that a bartender in Milan at the famous Bar Basso accidentally grabbed prosecco instead of gin, mixing equal parts prosecco, red vermouth and bitters. Perfect for an aperitivo or even a brunch, the negroni sbagliato is still as popular as ever. Americano — The bright red Americano is made with part Campari and part red vermouth, with just a splash of soda water.
Its name is supposedly a nod to the American customers who seemed to like the drink so much, but is enjoyed by many an Italian during happy hour, too! Perfect with stews and braises, these are the wines to drink while waiting for Barolo and Barbaresco to mature.
Chianti Classico refers to the classic, historic growing area of this iconic Italian red wine. Produced with slightly stricter regulations than regular Chianti, these wines pair easily with a multitude of meals. The Italian red grape Barbera makes delicious wines with bright acidity and soft tannin. Hailing from Piedmont, these delightful red wines are crowd-pleasers. Dolcetto is another red wine from Piedmont. With more noticeable tannin than Barbera, but not quite as much as Nebbiolo, wines from Dolcetto strike a nice balance.
Ask your local wine merchant for a dry Lambrusco from Emilia Romagna to pair with your next antipasti. Slightly fizzy with a pleasing bitterness, these red wines are delicious on a hot summer day.
Be sure not to confuse the grape Montepulciano with Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, which is a Sangiovese-based wine made near the town of Montepulciano. Fill the form below to receive your FREE sample chapter! I was in Italy and had a red wine at a friends home. It was a red that they bought for everyday drinking. He said most Italians drink this wine for everyday use. Unfortunately, by the time I turned in the article, the magazine had taken a hit in advertising and no longer had the pages necessary to run the piece.
It seemed a shame to scrap the story after having invested roughly international e-mails towards it's completion. So I'm running it here. When in Rome Roam through the centro storico of any major city after dusk and you'll see countless young Romans, Milanese and Bariese, vino in hand. Knowing that what the next generation of Italian wine lovers are drinking this year may be what the world's Italophiles will be drinking next year, we polled a small cross-section of locals on their current quaffing preferences.
While individual tastes inevitable vary, some trends did emerge. Southern grape varietals, such as Falanghina, Primitivo, Aglianico and Nero d'Avola, are enjoying their moment, and Franciacorta, the Chardonnay-based, sparkling wine from Lombardy, has its advocates among the Champagne-loving Italians.
But her friends typically go for a glass of Falanghina, from the southern Italian region of Campania. In Italy when we go out for a drink, one takes whatever is poured by the glass, and merchants prefer to serve falanghina because it's cheap, but also suitable for all. It is a wine that everyone can drink and that is wrong for no one. About one or two times in a day. I prefer the red wines, especially Primitivo, Negroamaro and Nero d'Avola.
I think that among my friends Nero d'Avola is the most popular.
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