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exploring taste—santa margherita gruppo vinicolo
1855~1885
development of a
scientific approach
In the second half of the nineteenth century, French
chemist Louis Pasteur demonstrated the action of
yeast and its central role in fermentation, laying the
foundations for modern oenology. During those
years, ampelography was born, the science that
classifies and studies the morphological charac-
teristics of grapes, and agronomy took a scientific
approach. Focus on research led to the perfection of
many great Italian reds including Barolo, Brunel-
lo and Chianti, according to the Ricasoli formula.
Meanwhile, in France, in 1855 the first classifica-
tion of Bordeaux wine became official.
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europe devastated
by disease
The end of the nineteenth century is remembered
for the spread of terrible vine diseases such as pow-
dery mildew, phylloxera and perenospora across
Europe, which led to the destruction or serious
damage of almost all vineyards. The phylloxera in-
sect came from America, attacking the roots of the
1850 plant and causing its rapid death. The only remedy
was to graft European vines on the rootstock of
American vines, which were immune to the para-
site. In Italy, royal schools of viticulture and oenol-
ogy were founded in the seventies, starting with
those in Asti and Conegliano Veneto.
the birth of
modern viticulture
1900~1940 The twentieth century marked incredible prog- 1940~1970 During the Second World War, the economic
ress in agronomic and oenological knowledge,
leading to the profound transformation of tradi-
tional techniques. Novelties included the gradual
rationalization of plants with vines reorganized
in evenly spaced rows to facilitate production.
Chemical products were introduced for treat-
ment and better performing cultivars and grow-
ing techniques were selected. Many wineries des-
tined to become Italian protagonists in the sec-
ond half for the twentieth century were founded
during this period.
heritage—a short history of wine
move from the countryside
and the rise of doc/docg
crisis drastically impacted agriculture and then
in the ’50s many farmers left the countryside,
abandoning their vineyards. In 1963, the DOC
(Denominazioni di Origine Controllata) classifi-
cation system was born, based on the vital link
between wine and its location, and towards the
end of the ’70s DOCG (Denominazione di Orig-
ine Controllata e Garantita) certification was
also introduced. In 1967, the very first Vinitaly
fair was held in Verona, dedicated to national
wine production.
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