Colli Etruschi Viterbesi

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• The altitude of the vine-growing land ranges from 19 to 663 metres above sea level, with a general exposure oriented toward the west and south-west.
• The volcanic soils derive from the activity of the Vulsino and Sabatino volcanoes, whose eruptions began approximately 800,000 years ago with lava flows and the formation of scoria cones.
• The permeability of the volcanic rocks present in the area is consistently rather high, both through porosity — as in the tuffs, lapilli, and sands — and through fracturing, as in the lavas.
• The soils date to the Quaternary and can be attributed to two principal geological units: the sedimentary formations of the Pliocene and lower Pleistocene, and the volcanic formations.
• The climate of the area is temperate Mediterranean in character, with mean annual rainfall ranging from 775 to 1,214 millimetres and a mean temperature of between 13.7 and 15.2 °C.

• At Gravisca, the ancient port of Tarquinia, and at the ancient settlement of Statonia, vineyards were already capable, around 540–530 BC, of yielding production sufficient to sustain a significant export trade.
• In February 1401 the judge Pietro di ser Nerio Ciocii granted a parcel of land ad pastinandum on the condition that the cultivator work it diligently and render one third of the vineyard's produce.
• The Statute of Viterbo of 1251 set the start of the harvest no earlier than the feast of Santa Maria in September and exempted imported wine from toll payment, given the city's insufficient local production.
• The grape varieties suitable for the production of white wines are Trebbiano toscano — locally known as Procanico — Malvasia del Lazio, Malvasia bianca lunga, Grechetto, Trebbiano giallo — locally known as Rossetto — and Moscato bianco — locally known as Moscatello.
• For red wines the traditional grape varieties are Montepulciano — locally known as Violone — Sangiovese, Grechetto rosso — locally known as Greghetto — Canaiolo nero — locally known as Canaiolo — and Merlot.

• The Colli Etruschi Viterbesi or Tuscia Sangiovese wine displays a ruby-red colour with violet highlights, a characteristic and refined nose, and a dry, harmonious palate with good structure and length.
• The Colli Etruschi Viterbesi or Tuscia Moscatello passito wine has a golden-yellow colour tending toward amber of varying intensity, an intense and complex nose with a musky character, and a sweet, harmonious, aromatic, velvety palate.

• The hilly topography and the westerly/south-westerly exposure together create a breezy, well-lit environment that is particularly well suited to the cultivation of vines.
• For white wines, the combination of soil characteristics and climatic factors leads to the production of significant quantities of aromatic precursors that enhance the typical aromatic profiles of the various grape varieties.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.

All appellations in Italy

Sources

• eAmbrosia register (EU) — File number PDO-IT-A0703