Contemporary Age

The industrial revolution, which affects all sectors, also changes the world of wine thanks to the discovery of new refrigeration techniques. The nineteenth century sees the consolidation of the distinctive and extraordinary position that wine occupies in Western civilization: the peasant tradition begins to be accompanied by the contribution of illustrious scholars who work for the creation of wines of ever better quality and goodness. In 1866 L. Pasteur in his writing “Études sur le vin” affirms that wine is the healthiest and most hygienic of all drinks. As for Italy, the contemporary age, in addition to profound changes in cultivation and wine production, brings the birth of new wines such as Barolo and Spumante in Piedmont and Chianti in Tuscany. The first classifications of wines and production territories also began, initially in France, especially in Bordeaux, Champagne and Burgundy and later also in the rest of Europe. With the advent of wars, there was a setback but already after the first postwar period, mass production of wine began again, making more and more use of new technologies. Starting from the second half of the twentieth century, the spread of the rules relating to the origin of wines and the definition of the production areas began. However, the problems regarding wine fraud increase: chemical additives added to mask or vary the flavors and fraud on the origin of wines, produced in places other than those declared.