Italian Steps - Drinks - Cultural notes

Fact File

• Cin cin, the Italian phrase often used when drinking a toast, is said to have derived from the sound of glasses 'chinking'.



• It's usual to have un aperitivo, an aperitif, such as prosecco, a dry fizzy white wine, before a meal, even at home. Aperitifs can be made out of some very unusual ingredients, such as artichokes and even wormwood, which has been used for centuries for its medicinal benefits and even as insect repellent!



• Italy's most popular drink is Campari. This bitter aperitif was developed in 1860 by Gaspare Campari and made world-famous by his son, Davide. The company still keeps the recipe confidential today.



• Italy produces more wine than any other country in the world and it's estimated that, on average, every Italian consumes around 58 litres per year.



• Wine festivals are very important occasions in the winemaking regions, and are held every September. One of the most famous is hosted in Greve, Chianti, home to Italy's most famous wine.



• The Italians aren't big beer-drinkers, although they often drink it with pizza. The national lager, Peroni birra, is worth a try or Moretti Birra Friulana, brewed by the Moretti family for 5 generations. English and Irish style pubs, serving beer, are now becoming trendy and growing in popularity. Service is at tables rather than at the bar.



• Grappa, the well know Italian liqueur, is distilled from the skins and pips of the grapes left over after winemaking. It has an alcoholic content of at least 40% and, not surprisingly, is known as acqua ardente, firewater.



• After dinner, Italians like to indulge in un digestivo, digestive. The aniseed-flavoured liqueur Sambuca is a favourite, often served with a coffee bean called una mosca, a fly, in it.



• While Italians certainly enjoy a drink, they very rarely drink to excess and getting drunk in public is unusual. There is a much more relaxed attitude to drinking in Italy, with no age limit for drinking alcohol. In fact, children are introduced to wine, mixed with water, at the age of seven or eight.



• The terms and conditions governing trade and the exportation of the famous Vino Nobile di Montepulciano were established in 1350. However, the oldest document referring to the wine of Montepulciano dates all the way back to 789.



• Produced for over a century just north of Siena, Brunello is a highly-prized vino rosso, red wine, while Gavi, from the Piedmont region, takes the title of the country's most expensive vino bianco, white wine.