Jeroboams Education is a new series on our blog providing you with the lowdown on the most iconic wine producing regions of the world. Led by our super buying team, Peter Mitchell MW and Maggie MacPherson will introduce you to the key facts and a little history of all the regions you recognise but perhaps don’t know too well. To help really further your education, why not drink along? Browse our Central Italy selection.

Introduction

Central Italy is the heartland of Sangiovese and includes the regions of Tuscany, Umbria, Marche, Abruzzo and Lazio.  With Tuscany covered in a separate document, we will be concentrating here on the last four of these.

Next door to Tuscany, the small land locked region of Umbria is still little-known outside of Italy yet deserves far greater recognition. It is an achingly beautiful province, with some of the country’s finest food and some hugely characterful wines, epitomised by the mighty Sagrantino grape. Orvieto, for much of the last 40 years something of a vinous joke, is now making some seriously good wine as the high quality Grechetto grape is re-planted there, replacing the ill-advised Trebbiano that replaced it in the 60’s.

Over the Apennines, for years there was little wine of quality, with poor cooperatives dominating production.  More recently, Abruzzo and the Marche have seen great improvements and in the white Verdicchio and Pecorino and the red Montepulciano, they have grapes of real character capable of producing intense and high-quality wines.

Lazio’s wine production remains large but mostly of little interest. Along the coast some passable and a handful of exceptional Bordeaux varietal wines are made, whilst Frascati and Est!Est!Est! have some international recognition. Both however, with a few exceptions, produce bland wine from over cropped Trebbiano and Malvasia Candia and although some producers are now making something more interesting, the majority is destined for an undemanding Roman market.

History

Wine has been made along the Adriatic coast and in Umbria for well over 2,000 years, however for the vast majority of this time it was of little importance outside of its local market. Lazio, as the home of Rome, was of more importance with wines from the Colli Albani to the south of the city being highly regarded and widely consumed by the 2nd century. This was perhaps the high point for the reputation of wines from Lazio.

In the middle ages, this part of Italy was less important, but wine production continued both for domestic consumption and export, notably wine from the Marche which was exported through Venice by the powerful merchants there.  The second half of the 20th century has seen international demand wax and then wane for Frascati and Orvieto and decent international recognition for Montepulcaino d’Abruzzo, but it would be fair to say that few wines from central Italy enjoy great international repute and can command high export prices. As with the rest of Italy, until recently few wines were estate bottled and sold, the majority being made at co-operatives and sold by merchants and, at least in this part of Italy, estate bottling is still very much in the minority.

The Regions of Central Italy

Map of central Italy