Italian wine, incredibly varied

Italian wine makes the hearts of true wine lovers beat faster. Because Italy has quite a lot to offer. Hundreds of forgotten grape varieties, a patchwork of very own wine regions, ancient traditions and a host of winemakers who have thoroughly modernized their business in recent years. Italian wine is more exciting than ever, there is so much to discover.

It is not easy to summarise Italy in a few words, because as a wine country it is incredibly diverse. Wine has been produced throughout the country for over 2,000 years. You can find a vineyard in every corner of Italy. Each region has its own grape varieties and local specialities.

The wines of Northern Italy

The most famous Italian wines are made in the rich North. Such as the Amarone and the Prosecco from Veneto and the Barolo and the Barbaresco from Piemonte. Less well-known is Valle d'Aosta; a small region on the border with Switzerland with the highest vineyards in Europe. On the border with Austria lies Alto Adige where excellent mountain wines are made, for example from the Lagrein grape. Further east, on the border with Slovenia, you can drink eccentric wines from innovative winemakers in Friuli.

Vine growing in Central Italy

Tuscany dominates in the centre of Italy. A beautiful, large wine region where Chianti from the famous Sangiovese grape has made a spectacular leap in quality in recent years. In the shadow of Tuscany, Umbria and Marche are on the rise with affordable wines from lesser-known grapes such as Verdicchio and Montepulciano-grape.

The emerging South of Italy

The biggest changes are currently taking place in the southern provinces of Italy. In the Campania region around Naples, remarkable quality wines are made from age-old quality grapes such as Aglianico, Greco and Fiano. Puglia, in the 'heel of the boot', produces robust and affordable red from Negroamaro, Primitivo and Uva di Troia. In Calabria, the 'foot of the boot', purple-red wine is made from the Gaglioppo, but also lush sweet Italian wine from the Greco.

Wine from the Italian islands

The two Italian islands of Sardinia and Sicily are also illustrative of the renaissance of Italian wine. Especially Sicily. It has reinvented itself with beautiful dry wines such as the red powerhouses of the Nero d'Avola and white from the many indigenous grapes of the island. In Sardinia, the Spanish, Byzantines and Arabs have left their mark on wine growing. An incredible diversity but still too small-scale for large-scale export.

Italian grape varieties

The number of indigenous Italian grapes runs into the hundreds. Most of them are still virtually unknown in our country. That makes Italy such an exciting wine country.