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The profound bond linking Orvieto with its wine goes far back in time. Wine in Orvieto has always been an intimate part of daily life in the town, as well as playing an important role in the official history and social life of the Municipality, a tradition that can be traced back in an unbroken line to the Etruscans... |
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In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance Orvieto
wine regained the reputation it had enjoyed during the Etruscan
period thanks to the Bishops, Cardinals and Popes who dwelt on the
cliff or around it for varying lengths of time...
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The production and marketing of wine has always been
one of the few profitable items in the economy of Orvieto. In the
past, the wine “industry” was the second mainstay after pottery
(particularly important since Etruscan and Roman times).
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On August 7, 1971 by a Decree of the President
of the Republic of Italy the Controlled Place Name
attribution (DOC = Denomination of Controlled Origin), which now
identifies the Orvieto wines, was officially recognized and the
respective Regulations for production were approved, subject over the
years to various changes. The last one, dating to August 8, 2003,
radically changed the traditional percentages of grapes in which
Procanico or Trebbiano (from 50% to 65%) prevailed, with Verdello
(from 15% to 25%); Grechetto, Drupeggio and Malvasia Toscana (from
20% to 30% with no more than 20% of Malvasia).
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While the white wine is best known, the
“Orvieto” red is not to be slighted. It has always been produced
on the Cliff and above all in the hilly area near Sugano. The records in the Colletta Statutes
testify that in the fourteenth century red wine represented 14% of
the total wine brought into the town, in spite of the pronounced
fondness for white wine.
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Were the Greek, Etruscan or Roman wines really
like those of today? Is there any way we can reduce the time gap and
compare the two?
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