What are the Best Wine Regions to Visit in Italy?
Italy is one of the most important countries in the world of wine. This is, quite simply, a fact. One wine fact that should tell you exactly how important is the following – Italy was responsible for approximately 20% of the world’s wine production in 2005. Wine grapes are grown in almost every part of Italy, and it has more than a million vineyards. The whole world knows about Italy’s importance as a centre of cuisine – certainly within Europe it is in permanent competition with France for the title of the most significant country both in food and in wine. There is no perfect way of separating the two, as more than anything it comes down to personal taste. Also, unlike many countries, Italy is as significant a producer of red wine as it is for white.
One of the most important wine producing regions of Italy is the Lazio region near Rome. As well as the nation’s administrative capital, Rome is important to the country’s massive production of wine – among the wines produced in this region is the legendary white wine Frascati. Known in Italy as the wine of the Popes and the People, Frascati is made from some combination of Malvasia and Trebbiano grapes.
Another hugely important wine producing region of Italy is Tuscany. This northern region is a producer of some of the country’s most famous wines, in particular the well known red wine Chianti – which interestingly is more famous for its name-check from the character Hannibal Lecter in the movie Silence of the Lambs than anything else. However, it has more reason to be famous than just that, as it is also one of the world’s most popular red wines. It can be bought for less than ten dollars a bottle – and this will get you a very potable bottle – but there are many more sophisticated Chiantis that sell for higher prices.
In the Emiliana-Romagna region there are perpetually large numbers of visitors interested in trying out the region’s famously delicious food. As you will no doubt be aware, in Italy it is at least as important to have a good bottle of wine on the table as it is to have a plate of good food, and as a consequence this region provides some excellent wines to go with that food. One of its most famous is the red wine Lambrusco.
Finally there is the Veneto region. Close to the famous city of Verona, name checked by William Shakespeare more than once, the Veneto region is more famous for its white wine Soave than anything else. This crisp white wine is recognised as a perfect accompaniment to white meats and white fish, and is highly popular in Italy and beyond as a great dinner wine, much in the same way as Chardonnay is for the French wines. The region is not a purely white wine-devoted area though and some of Italy’s best Merlots and Valpolicella are made here as well.
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