Ticino (wine region)
Roman era | |
Years of wine industry | VITI: since 1948; DOC: since 1997; |
---|---|
Part of | Swiss wines |
Precipitation (annual average) | 1500–2200 mm |
Size of planted vineyards | 1,040 ha |
No. of vineyards | 3,869 |
Grapes produced | 6'816'620 Kg |
Varietals produced | Merlot (and Bondola) |
No. of wineries | 264 |
Official designation(s) | DOC, VITI |
Comments | All data as of 2005 |
Geographically the wine region is located on the south side of the
The terroir varies from acid soil in the northern part to limestone in the southern part.
The top quality wines of the region have the appellation del Ticino DOC or ticinese DOC, sometimes linked with a VITI label, and the wines in the medium category use della Svizzera Italiana or nostrano.
History
Until 1906
The first traces of
Until the 18th century, grapes were grown as a secondary product in extensive vineyards, from which light wines were produced, using a form of sharecropping. The wine was produced in some local varieties, of which only Bondola survived. They were mainly red wines, but some were mixtures of red varieties with some white varieties.
The 20th century: the Merlot era
Because of new grapes diseases (e.g. phylloxera), the canton government decided to give a new direction to the wine industry: they instituted the cattedra itinerante (moving chair) to teach modern viticulture and winemaking methods, and to substitute new high-value grapes for the local grapes. After a few years of studies and selections, in 1906 the canton decided to seed and recommended Merlot as the main variety of grapes for the canton.
Another change was the operation of the railway of
In the Sopraceneri region of northern Ticino, the local variety Bondola still survives in some vineyards and is used to produce some wine.
Late 20th and 21st centuries
In the late 20th century, the wineries looked for quality wines, and because of new world wines, the demand of Merlot wine increased. Thus a golden era of wines of Ticino began. Unfortunately, in the first years of the 2000s there was overproduction, so now the TicinoWine (association of wineries in Ticino) tries to find and target new markets for the local wine.
Appellation and classification
In Ticino the grapes and wines are classified in three categories:
First category: Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC)
These are the best wines and production is limited to 1.0 kg/m2 for red grapes and 1.2 kg/m2 for white grapes. The appellation is Denominazione di Origine Controllata, normally Ticino DOC or Ticinese DOC and eventually other geographic denominations.
The wine can be made with
Second category: vino da tavola o nostrano
They have the denomination Vino da tavola bianco/rosso or nostrano svizzero or della svizzera italiana.
Third category
The third denomination is simply Vino rosso or Vino bianco, without an explicit geographic denomination (other than Swiss or of Switzerland), with year and grape variety.
VITI
The VITI label was introduced before the appellation, to distinguish the better wines. Now only wines of first category (DOC) are allowed to use the VITI label, but it is not widely used on top quality wines.
Geography and terroir
Ticino is the
Grapes are seeded in all districts of Ticino. The soil varies from acid soil in the northern part to limestone in the southern part, with some local geographical variation because of moraines, alluvium, etc. The region is very wet, but with few rainy days and many sunny days, so normally the vineyards are grassy, which limits erosion.
Valtellina
Wine from Brusio in Val Poschiavo (another Italian-speaking part of the Grisons, distant to Moesano) is generally considered to belong to the Italian wine region of Valtellina.
See also
- History of Wine
- Italian wine
- Lombardia (wine)
References
- ISBN 88-8281-193-X.
- ^ "Olio d'oliva ticinese". Culinary Heritage of Switzerland. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
Non si sa esattamente chi abbia portato l'albero di olivo in Ticino. Si crede che i legionari che avevano partecipato alle campagne galliche di Giulio Cesare, una volta in pensione, abbiano piantato degli olivi sul lago di Como. È possibile che si siano spostati anche più in là, verso il Ceresio, ma non è mai stato dimostrato. Tuttavia, il lago di Como e quello di Lugano sono molto vicini e a quei tempi non c'era un confine nazionale come al giorno d'oggi. È anche possibile che l'olivo sia stato selezionato partendo dagli olivi selvatici (oleastri).
Further reading
- Christen, Alessandro (1995). Introduzione del vitigno Merlot nel Canton Ticino: una cronaca. (published also in German)
- Merlot del Ticino, 1906–2006. Salvioni Edizioni. 2006. ISBN 88-7967-134-0.
External links
- TicinoWine, the promotion body for Ticino quality wines
- Official cantonal site about agriculture and wine: rules for DOC plus various documentation and data