REGIONS

CENTRAL/SOUTHERN ITALY :
      The Marches, Umbria, Latium, Abruzzi, Apulia, Campania, Sicily

• NORTHEAST :
        Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Trentino-Alto Adige
• NORTHWEST :
        Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna
• TUSCANY

Central / Southern Italy

The Marches: Home to Verdicchio, an often excellent dry, inexpensive white wine made from grapes of the same name. Castelli di Jesi & Matelica is a producer to look for.

Umbria: Here you'll find another dry, crisp white wine, Orvieto, named for the town of the same name. Originally only made in a semi-sweet style, the wine must be at least 50% trebbiano. Torgiano is a fine red wine appellation of the same name; the grapes are of a Tuscan Chianti genre. Rosso Riserva was recently made a DOCG. Another well-regarded Umbrian DOCG is the elegant red wine Sargrantino de Montefalco, made from the local grape of the same name. This wine is also vinified in a Passito style.

Latium: The area around Rome is known for Frascati, a dry white wine made from trebbiano and malvasia.

Abruzzi: Only three types of wine here! Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, a big red wine made from the grape of the same name (not to be confused with the town in Tuscany!), Cerasuolo, a ligher red wine with cherry flavors made from the same grape, and Trebbiano d'Abruzzo, a white wine made from trebbiano.

Apulia: To the south, more wine is made in Apulia that any other zone. The wines here tend to be big, rich and alcoholic, made from primarily aleatico, negra amaro and malvasia nero.

Campania: Campania is the high-quality appellation of the south. Wines include the full-bodied tannic Taurasi DOCG, made from the aglianico grape, Lacrima Christi (tears of Christ), most often seen as a golden-colored wine, but also in red or sparkling styles and Greco di Tufo,from the greco grape, one of ancient Greek origin.

Sicily: This southernmost island is most well-known for the dessert wine Marsala, but also produces two other rich, sweet, amber-colored wines: Moscato Passito di Pantellaria and Malvasia delle Lipare. The state-controlled winery, Corvo, while not a DOC, nonetheless produces good-quality and ever-improving wine. Regaleali grows its grapes at high altitudes to counteract Sicily's warm temperature; its best red wine is called Rosso del Conte

Northeast

Veneto: The northeastern most region of Italy is home to three important wine regions once known as Tre Venezie (Three Venices) because they were all part of the Venetian kingdom. Veneto is third in production after Apulia and Sicily, and the home of some of Italy's more recognized wines. Wines from the area surrounding the town of Verona include the white Soave, the sparkler Processo and the reds Valpolicella, and Bardolino.

Wines labeled Valpolicella are among Italy's lightest and fruitiest, blended from corvina, rondinella and molinara grapes. Passito is the Italian term for dried grape wine, and Valpolicella has two versions. Recioto della Valpolicella is made from raisined grapes in a sweet style. The dry version, one of Italy's most full-bodied wines, is called Amarone.

Bardolino uses the same basic grapes as Valpolicella. It may be light and red, or pink (a style called chiaretto). The white wine Soave, is made from garganega and trebbiano grapes, and although generally dry and still, does exist in sweet (recioto) and spumante styles. Soave is second only to Chianti in volume among DOC wines, and Prosecco is the second most requested sparkler after Asti. The area Breganze, with some vineyards in the foothills of the Alps, and some on the gravelly plain to the north of the city of Vicenze, produces a variety of international and Italian grapes.

Friuli-Venezia Giulia: The second of the Tre Venezie, Friuli, borders on Austria to the north and Slovenia to the east. Although Italy is known in the wine world for its red wines, the white wines of Friuli are responsible for this region's reknown. The best wines are from a series of hillsides called colli: Colli Orientali del Friuili (east), Colli Grave del Friuli (west) and Colli Gorziana (Gorzia hills). Wonderful whites include Pinot Grigio,Pinot Bianco Tocai Friulano, Ribolla Gialla, Sauvignon Blanc and Gewurztraminer. Friuli also produces lighter-styled red wines from Pinot Nero (Pinot Noir), Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Trentino-Alto Adige: This northernmost region, bordering Austria, is divided into the mainly German-speaking Alto Adige (South Tyrol) in the north to the Italian-speaking Trentino in the south. The northern portion produces some of Italy's best white wines including Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Pinot Bianco, Rieling and M'ller Thurgau with some reds, notably, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and the local Schiavo and Lagrein. In Trentino to the south, wines include some excellent Chardonnay and the interesting red variety, Teroldego.

Northwest

Piedmont produces what most describe as Italy's best red wines. Within Piedmont, there are 38 DOC/G zones and 43 distinct types of wine. Several of the well-known DOCG wines come from Piedmont. Barolo DOCG is a rich and powerful wine made from the nebbiolo grape, and coming from the region of the same name. Barolo having four years of wood aging is specified as Riserva (five years in wood earns a Riserva Speciale designation). Barbaresco DOCG is also made from nebbiolo and named for the town and the area of the same name. Slightly smoother than Barolo, and less brash in its youth, it is another benchmark of big, rich Italian red wines. Gattinara DOCG is the third top-rated Piedmont wine. It is also made from Nebbiolo, and named for the small region in which it is made, but it is a lighter-style than the previous two. Barbera is the most widely planted grape in Piedmont, and wines are bottled by the name of the grape, and not an area. Barbera is fruity, tannic and high in acid. Another wine named for the varietal, not the region, is Dolcetto, another lighter-style red that the Piedmontese often enjoy with a first course. The best examples of this gamay-like wine are from Alba (near Barolo) and Asti.

On the bubbly side, Asti Spumante and Moscato d'Asti DOCG offer sparkling and Petillant/Frizzante wines made generally from muscat grapes and by charmat method. Grignolino, a light, fruity dry ros' wine is sometimes found in styles that are a bit "petillant" as well.

The noteworthy white wines produced in the area include Arneis and Gavi (Cortese).

Lombardy: Lombardy is Italy's most popular and industrialized region. Among the wine-producing areas here are Valtellina, with lean-style wines made from chiavennasca (a synonym for nebbiolo), and Oltr'po Pavese, which boasts the most production in any DOC zone and claims more then one-half of Lombardy's red and white wine production. Franciacorta, is a small appellation of very high quality that is best known for M'thode Champenoise sparklers.

Emilia-Romagna: This region's most famous wine is Lambrusco. Although most of what is shipped to the U.S. is the sweet, bulk type, the best examples can be excellent. Lambrusco may be frizzante or dry and flavorful, and red and white styles exist made from various red and white grapes of the same name. A notable white DOCG wine also hails from Emilia-Romagna. Called Albana di Romagna DOCG, is has been so classified since 1987. This wine is vinified from the grape of the same name in styles ranging from dry to semi-sweet.

Tuscany

In the heart of Italy lies its most well-recognized region: Tuscany. Chianti is a large wine zone extending through much of Tuscany. All of the zone is DOCG status, and it is divided into seven districts. Two of these have readily-available wines on the world market: Chianti Classico (Classico refers to the defined area--not to a reserve or superior bottling) and Chianti Ruffina. In addition to their district of production, Chianti wines vary in style according to aging. Reserve wines, often aged in French oak, may be released after two or more years at the winery.

Chianti is always a very dry red wine, with very concentrated fruit character, most often made entirely from the sangiovese grape. Chianti goes well with food, and can range in style from light to full bodied with tart cherry and violet aromas and flavors. Chianti can age ten or more years in a good vintage.

The second great red wine of Tuscany is Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, from the town of the same name just south of the Chianti district. Brunello is a local term referring to the grape variety sangiovese. These wines are of superior quality and limited production. Intense, concentrated and tannic, they tend to require long aging (up to 20 years), although some producers are now making a more approachable style. Rosso di Montalcino is a less expensive, ready to drink version from either young vines or slightly inferior fruit.

Three more Tuscan wines of note include:

• Vino Nobile di Montepulciano DOCG: From the town of the same names, these wines are made from basically the same grapes and same blend as Chianti, although the sangiovese clone in this district is Prugnolo Gentile. Vino Nobile di Montepulciano was the first DOCG, and there are some excellent examples.
• Carmignano DOCG: This is a dry red wine made from Chianti-like blends, although Cabernet Sauvignon can also be used.
• Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG: Tuscany's best white wine, it is vinified from the grape variety of the same name. A fresh wine with an almond flavor and slightly oily texture, it is best drunk young.

What is a Super Tuscan?

The Super Tuscan phenomenon began in the 1970's when some producers decided to get attention by creating a new style of wine. The wines are called Super Tuscans either because they are produced outside the Chianti zone, or because their grape blends include varieties (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Franc) that do not conform to the DOC requirements for Chianti, or because they are 100% Sangiovese which previously was prohibited in the Chianti area. Although the blends differ from producer to producer, what these wines do have in common is their expensive price tags. The most famous Super Tuscans, such as Sassicaia  and Solaia, can induce collectors to spend upwards of $200 a bottle in a good vintage. The wines can vary widely in style from Chianti-like to Bordeaux-like to California Cabernet-like, depending on the blend.