Colli Etruschi Viterbesi (known to the locals as Tuscia) is a DOC of the Lazio wine region in central western Italy. Created in September 1996 (just one day after its eastern neighbor Colli della Sabina), the title covers a range of styles as extensive as the region in which they are made.
The area covered by the Colli Etruschi Viterbesi DOC takes in almost 40 communes, including some of those which also produce Tarquinia, Aleatico di Gradoli and Lazio's most famous wine, Est! Est!! Est!!! di Montefiascone. The area even overlaps with the western edge of the Orvieto DOC, which spills over the border from Umbria into Lazio.
Nestled in the foothills of the Appennino centrale (central Apennines), these communes are at the very heart of the Italian Peninsula: about 50 miles (80km) from both the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic coasts, and as far from the low alps of northern Lombardy as from the baked plains of southern Puglia.
The basic Colli Etruschi Viterbesi wines on which this wide portfolio is based are the standard rosso (red), bianco (white) and rosato (rose) blends. The bianco is typically blended from Trebbiano and white Malvasia grapes; the rosso is based on a classic central-Italian blend of Sangiovese and Montepulciano grapes, in which the former – the most widely planted red-wine grape in Italy – takes the lion's share. In Colli Etruschi Viterbesi Rosato, Sangiovese plays a stronger part thanks to its minimum 85% presence in these wines.
Not only do the Colli Etruschi generate fresh-styled, early-release novello reds (similar to the nouveau of Beaujolais) and semi-sparkling frizzante versions of almost all their wines, there are also several varietal wines made here. These are made from Merlot, Procanico, Violone (Montepulciano by its local name) and Moscato Bianco (known locally as Moscatello). A varietal wine is also made from red Grechetto Rosso, which is not to be confused with its Grechetto Bianco counterpart used just over the hill in Orvieto. Add to these the various sweet styles formalized under the DOC laws (dry secco, semi-sweet amabile and intense, dried-grape passito), and the choice seems as endlessly entertaining as it is confusingly Italian.
