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  • Spanish Wine Regions

Italian Wine Regions

Italy has twenty wine-growing regions, ranging from Trentino-Alto Adige in the north to Sicily in the South. These twenty regions produce some of the finest wines in the world, but only the finest wine in Italy get the classification of DOCG. DOCG, short for Denominazion di Origine Controllata e Garintia, is an assurance that the wine with this mark is made using the same soil, variety of grape and techniques as some of the best wines Italy has ever produced. Only thirty four wines have achieved DOCG status. And of those thirty four wines, more than one third come from just two regions: Piedmont and Chianti.

Piedmont is in northwestern Italy in the shadow of the Alps, and is bordered on the west by France and in the north by Switzerland. The Alps shelter Piedmont from the Mediterranean climate, giving it the most temperate weather in Italy. Piedmont is famous for its Barolo and Barbaresco wines, both full-bodied reds. Piedmont also produces the Dolcetto, a sweet red wine that has not been successfully planted elsewhere. Piedmont encompasses the Asti region, home to some of the world's best sparkling wines.

Tuscany is the polar opposite of Piedmont, being located in western central Italy right along the Mediterranean Sea. Besides having more DOCG wines than anywhere short of Piedmont, Tuscany boasts 80% of Italy's DOC wines (roughly equivalent to France's VDQS). Despite Tuscany's many fine wines, all most people care about is the Chianti. There are seven varieties of Chianti, of which Chianti Classico is generally considered the best. Any Chintia can be labelled as the variety (Chianti Classico, say, or Chianti Rufini) or just as Chianti. All seven go equally well with fava beans.