![]() ![]() ![]() Wines have intense graphite-like minerality, with herbs, citrus, a viscous body, and often a note of grapefruit pith on the finish.Learn more about wine maps and how to use them to plan your trips. Cortese (white): A lean, dry white wine that’s most known labeled as the region Gavi.This wine offers red cherry fruit and floral strawberry notes with a frame of bolder gripping tannings. Nebbiolo (red): The grape of Piedmont’s most famous wine region called Barolo, but the wine is also known by several other regional names (Langhe Nebbiolo, Barbaresco, Gattinara, Roero, etc).Moscato d’Asti (sparkling): A delicately floral sweet wine that explodes with aromas of mandarin orange, honeysuckle, orange blossom and pear.Look out for Dolcetto d’Alba and Dolcetto di Dogliani Superiore. Wines often have bolder, crunchy tannins. Dolcetto (red): A juicy red wine with lower acidity that bursts with flavors of black plum, boysenberry, violet and sometimes mocha flavors.Seek out Barbara d’Asti and Barbera d’Alba. Wines have low tannin and plenty of quenching acidity. Barbera (red): A juicy red wine with dominant flavors of tart cherry and licorice with a subtle dried herbal note (like oregano) on the finish.There are several regions that use Merlot in Veneto (it’s one of the most planted grapes) including Colli Euganei, Colli Berici, Breganze and Vicenza. Merlot (red): Merlot is planted nearly all over Italy and has a large presence in Veneto where wines offer red cherry fruit in a more elegant style.A great wine to try is Valpolicella Superiore Ripasso. Wines offer tart red cherry, cinnamon, carob and green peppercorn flavors. Corvina (red): Corvina is the most important of a blend of 3 grapes (Corvina, Rondinella, and Molinara) used in Valpolicella and Bardolino.These wines are dry and lean with notes of preserved lemon, honeydew melon, and a touch of green almond on the finish. Garganega (white): A grape found mostly around Soave and Gambellara (and labeled as such).Keep your eyes peeled for wines labeled with the sub-regions of Colli Asolani and Valdobbiadene Conegliano or Prosecco Superiore. Prosecco (sparkling): The most famous sparkling wine from Italy is grown mostly in Veneto around the region of Valdobbiadene.Think lemons, yellow apples, mango, notes of tarragon and a refreshing salty sea breeze. Inzolia, Grillo and Catarratto (white): Three white wine grapes typically used for Marsala but also make for great, more full-bodied, chardonnay-like whites.Pairs excellently with rich roasted meats and veggies. Nero d’Avola (red): A bolder red wine variety with fruity flavors of plum, raspberry sauce and licorice with fine tannins with a somewhat smoky, spiced finish.Map of Italy’s wine regions is available as a 12×16 print here. There are 51 wines listed below and if you’ve tried them all, you’ll gain a profound understanding of Italian wine… just remember to take decent notes! Italian Wine Exploration Map Below you’ll find a list of Italy’s 20 major regions, their vineyard plantings (from 2010), and their major varieties or wine blends along with a few tasting notes to describe them. If you tasted a new Italian wine each week, it would take you 20 years to taste your way through Italy.įortunately, each of Italy’s 20 regions specializes in just a few primary wines and this is where you can start. To put it into perspective, if you tasted a new Italian wine each week, it would take you 20 years to taste your way through Italy. (Denominazioni di Origine Protetta) or regional wine quality denominations (DOC + DOCG), many of which have multiple styles, and you have an even larger number. With the existence of biotypes or subvarieties (genetically the same but with morphological and physiological differences), many believe this number is much higher. The book Wine Grapes identifies 377 unique indigenous wine grapes in Italy. Getting into Italian wine is a neverending adventure of new wines to taste. ![]()
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