Italy

Italy is home to some of the oldest wine-producing regions in the world.  Etruscans and Greek settlers produced wine here long before the Romans started developing their own vineyards in the second century BC.  Roman grape-growing and wine making was prolific and well-organized, pioneering large-scale production and storage techniques like barrel-making and bottling.  Two thousand years later, Italy remains one of the world's foremost producers, responsible for approximately one-fifth of world wine production in 2005.

Important wine-relevant geographic characteristics of Italy include the fact that Italy is a peninsula with a long shoreline, contributing moderating climate to coastal wine regions, as well as extensive mountains and foothills providing many altitudes for grape growing and a variety of climate and soil conditions. Grapes are grown in almost every part of Italy, with more than 1 million vineyards under cultivation.

Italy’s most popular wines include Barolo, Barbaresco, Brunello and Chianti Classico.  The Sangiovese grape is Italy's claim to fame.  It produces Chianti Classico, Rosso di Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino, Rosso di Montepulciano, Montefalco Rosso, and many others.  The term "Super Tuscan" describes any Tuscan red wine that does not adhere to traditional blending laws for the region. For example, Chianti Classico wines are made from a blend of grapes with Sangiovese as the dominant varietal in the blend. Super Tuscans often use other grapes, especially cabernet sauvignon, making them ineligible for DOC(G) classification under the traditional rules.