Every region of Italy, from the Veneto to Sardinia, produces wine. Many Italian wines are consumed locally; you won’t find too many wines from Le Marche, for example, in grocery stores near Naples, let alone across the Atlantic. Touring Italy’s wine regions is an excellent way to sample wines you will never find back home.
Italian vacation farms, called “agriturismi” in Italian, are wonderful places to stay if you’re interested in wine. An agriturismo is a farmhouse or large estate home that offers both guestrooms and information about the products grown or made on the property. You might find a few chickens running about, but you’re much more likely to see how wines, cheeses or olive oils are produced. Many agriturismi also have a restaurant on-site. You’ll probably need a rental car if you plan to stay in an agriturismo, as, by necessity, most are located in rural areas. Pick up a map of the region you plan to visit in a local bookstore; Italian travel brochures and websites tend to be long on photographs and descriptions, but short on practicalities.
Let's look more closely at some of Italy's most renowned wine regions.
Piedmont
When you see the bustling city of Turin (Torino), it’s hard to believe that Italy’s best wines come from this area – the city sprawls across a valley floor and practically vibrates with energy. There’s nothing agricultural in sight. As you travel southeast, however, you’ll find yourself in a wine lover’s paradise. Piedmont is home to 33 Denominazione di Origine Controllata and Denominazione di Origine Controllata Garantita wines. Many of Italy’s most prestigious wines, including Barbaresco, Barolo and Asti, are made here.
If you’re looking for the best of the best Piemont wines, head for the Langhe district near the town of Alba. Made from nebbiolo grapes, Barolo wines have graced the tables of kings, popes and connoisseurs for centuries. You can spend a night or two at a Barolo winery; consider booking a stay at the agriturismo of E. Pira e Figli, where Chiara Boschis makes Barolo, Barbera d’Alba and Dolcetto d’Alba wines (website in Italian only).
To visit a tasting room on a daytrip, stop by the Regional Wine Cellar of Barolo in the town of the same name. The wine cellar is closed on Thursdays and from mid-December to mid-February each year.
Many Barolo wineries also offer tastings and tours, usually on a pre-arranged basis. Azienda Vitivinicola Damilano, which produces the award-winning Barolo Cannubi Damilano 2003, accepts reservations for tastings and tours by telephone, fax or email.
For a taste of the real Italy, rent a Vespa motor scooter from the Langhe Tourist Office and zip around the countryside. Your Vespa wine excursion includes an overnight stay, cheese tasting, dinner and a winery tour. If you prefer to take a slower approach, pick up a hiking and trekking map from the Langhe Tourist Office.
Tuscany
Tuscany is Chianti, Vino Nobile and Brunello country, and wine tourism is big business here. The growing popularity of the super Tuscan wines has brought even more attention to the area. If you visit Tuscany, you can drive along one of 14 wine trails, or “strade del vino,” each of which focuses on a different wine-producing area or type of wine.
Many visitors to Florence tour the Chianti Rùfina e Pomino Wine Road, which actually consists of four routes that take you through the rolling hills east of Florence. Bike tours of this area are especially popular.
Perhaps you’re more interested in Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. Fortunately, there’s a wine trail just for you, called, as you might expect, La Strada del Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. If you’re visiting the area by car, you can look for signs along the route. The wine trail is divided into five parts, two of which concentrate on the town of Montepulciano itself. Dozens of wineries, wine shops and restaurants line the wine trail. You can find at least 30 agriturismi in the area; choose one to visit at lunchtime or spend a day or two in this inviting area.
If you prefer white wines, head to the Strada del Vino Vernaccia di San Gimignano, home to Italy’s oldest DOC wine (now a DOCG). Found near the tower-studded town of San Gimignano, this wine trail takes you past vineyards that have been planted since Dante’s time. Don’t have time to drive around? Stop by the Vernaccia Wine Museum in San Gimignano. Here you can learn about the region’s winemaking tradition and taste the local specialty for yourself – the museum has a wine shop where you can pay to try wines from the area. There are over two dozen agriturismi near the town, most of which produce wines; consider booking a room and learning more about Tuscan winemaking.
When it comes to Italian wine history, everything begins here, in southern Italy. In ancient times, Greek colonists brought grapes to the hills around Neapolis – today’s Naples – and cultivated the vines in Campania’s fertile volcanic soil. Roman emperors and farmers alike enjoyed wines made from the grapes we now call greco, falanghina and fiano. Pliny the Elder, who perished in the eruption of Vesuvius of A. D. 79, wrote about the falernian wines he enjoyed. Today, this grape is known as Falerno del Massico.
Although Campanian vineyards have always yielded generous harvests, the region did not make winemaking headlines until the early 1990s. With a large local population available to consume whatever wines they produced, Campanian winemakers had little incentive to reduce bulk production in favor of quality wines.
Today, things are different. Campanian wines are firmly on the map, thanks to producers like Mastroberardino and Montevetrano. The number of award-winning wines from Campania increases every year. In fact, Gambero Rosso’s Italian Wines 2007 gave its “White Wine of the Year” award to Pietracupa’s Cupo 2005, a Campanian Fiano di Avellino.
As interest in Campanian wines continues to grow, so, too, does accessibility to Campanian wineries. Feudi di San Gregorio, for example, has opened a restaurant and botanical garden at its winery in Sorbo Serpico and a wine bar in the city of Nola. Feudi di San Gregorio also offers an overnight wine experience at its Lucanian vineyards in Basilicata and its Sorbo Serpico property.
For a completely different, yet utterly Campanian, experience, try a bed and breakfast or agriturismo in Furore, a town overlooking the Amalfi coast, just four miles from the town of Amalfi. St. Alfonso Farm House offers rooms and meals, along with priceless views of the jagged coastline and hillside vineyards. Your dinner will include DOC wine made from the farm’s own grapes. If a bed and breakfast is more your style, Holidays Fico d’India, also in Furore, has pleasant, clean rooms, a sunny terrace with hillside views and a charming breakfast room. If you plan to drive to Fuore, which is probably the best way to see the Amalfi area, brush up on your manual transmission driving skills before you leave home.
If you’re driving north from Naples to Rome, consider taking the coast road instead of the A-1 autostrada. Include a stop at Villa Matilde in Cellole in your travel plans. The winery, which made Wine & Spirits’ Top 100 Wineries 2007 list, is right on the SS-7 quater coastal road, between Mondragone and Minturno. You can tour the winery, eat lunch at Villa Matilde's restaurant, and take a case of the winery's award-winning Falerno del Massico wine with you.
Italy's Wine Heritage
With two thousand years of history behind them, Italian winemakers take great pride in their work. Touring Italy's wine regions will connect you with Italy's winemaking traditions.
Every region of Italy, from the Alto Adige to Sicily, produces wine. Many Italian wines are distributed only locally - for example you won’t find too many wines from Piedmont, in wine shops near Rome, let alone across the Atlantic. Visiting Italy’s wine regions is an excellent way to taste wines you might never get a chance to experience back home.
Italy has agricultural B&Bs, “agriturismi” in Italian, which are wonderful places to stay if you’re interested in wine. An agriturismo is a farmhouse or large estate home that offers both guestrooms and information about the products grown or made on the property. You might find a few chickens running about, but you’re much more likely to see how wines, cheeses or olive oils are produced. Many agriturismi also have a restaurant on-site. It's a good idea to rent a car if you plan to stay in an agriturismo, as most are located in rural areas. GPS systems, which most rental companies offer at a small additional charge, and which have the most updated maps available are probably the best way to find your way around Italy's winding roads. Many maps you'll find at airports and bookstores are outdated or won't have the small dirt roads Italy is so famous for.
Here are some of the highlights of Italy's most renowned wine regions.
Piedmont
When you see the bustling city of Turin (Torino), it’s hard to believe that Italy’s best wines come from this area – the city sprawls across a valley floor and is overflowing with historic architecture and open-air piazzas. There’s nothing agricultural in sight. As you travel southeast, however, you’ll find yourself in a wine lover’s paradise. Piedmont is home to 33 Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) and Denominazione di Origine Controllata Garantita (DOCG) wines. Many of Italy’s most prestigious wines, including Barolo, Barbera, Barbaresco, and Asti, are made here.
If you’re looking for the best of the best Piemont wines, head for the Langhe district near the town of Alba. Made from nebbiolo grapes, Barolo wines have graced the tables of kings, popes and connoisseurs for centuries. You can spend a night at a local agriturismo (there are hundreds in the area) and ask your innkeeper to set up tasting appointments at a couple of wineries for you. It is considered polite to make tasting appointments either before or after lunch and not too early in the morning; tastings are by request only at most wineries so make sure to call ahead.
To visit a tasting room on a daytrip, stop by the Regional Wine Cellar of Barolo in the town of the same name. The wine cellar is closed on Thursdays and from mid-December to mid-February each year. For a great panorama on clear days, visit the look-out points in La Morra and Verduno - two towns about 10 minutes outside of Barolo.
For a taste of the real Italy, rent a Vespa motor scooter from the Langhe Tourist Office and zip around the countryside. The office is located in the historic city center of Alba (look for the brown and white info / Ente Turismo Langhe Roero signs). They have a variety of special offers which usually include an overnight stay, cheese tasting, dinner and a winery tour. If you prefer to take a slower approach, pick up a hiking and trekking map while there.
Tuscany
Tuscany is Chianti, Vino Nobile and Brunello country, and wine tourism is big business here. The growing popularity of the super Tuscan wines has brought even more attention to the area. If you visit Tuscany, you can drive along one of 14 wine trails, or “strade del vino,” each of which focuses on a different wine-producing area or type of wine.
Many visitors to Florence tour the Chianti Rùfina e Pomino Wine Road, which actually consists of four routes that take you through the rolling hills east of Florence. Bike tours of this area are especially popular.
Perhaps you’re more interested in Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. Fortunately, there’s a wine trail just for you, called La Strada del Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. If you’re visiting the area by car, you'll see signs along the road. The wine trail is divided into five parts, two of which concentrate on the town of Montepulciano itself. Dozens of wineries, wine shops and restaurants line the wine trail. You can find at least 30 agriturismi in the area; choose one to visit at lunchtime or spend a day or two in this inviting area.
If you prefer white wines, head to the Strada del Vino Vernaccia di San Gimignano, home to Italy’s oldest DOC wine (now a DOCG). Found near the tower-studded town of San Gimignano, this wine trail takes you past vineyards that have been planted since Dante’s time. Don’t have time to drive around? Stop by the Vernaccia Wine Museum in San Gimignano. Here you can learn about the region’s winemaking tradition and taste the local specialty for yourself – the museum has a wine shop where you can pay to try wines from the area. There are over two dozen agriturismi near the town, most of which produce wines; consider booking a room and learning more about Tuscan winemaking.
When it comes to Italian wine history, everything begins here, in southern Italy. In ancient times, Greek colonists brought grapes to the hills around Neapolis – today’s Naples – and cultivated the vines in Campania’s fertile volcanic soil. Roman emperors and farmers alike enjoyed wines made from the grapes we now call greco, falanghina and fiano. Pliny the Elder, who perished in the eruption of Vesuvius of A. D. 79, wrote about the falernian wines he enjoyed. Today, this grape is known as Falerno del Massico.
Although Campanian vineyards have always yielded generous harvests, the region did not make winemaking headlines until the early 1990s. With a large local population available to consume whatever wines they produced, Campanian winemakers had little incentive to reduce bulk production in favor of quality wines.
Today, things are different. Campanian wines are firmly on the map, thanks to producers like Mastroberardino and Montevetrano. The number of award-winning wines from Campania increases every year. In fact, Gambero Rosso’s Italian Wines 2007 gave its “White Wine of the Year” award to Pietracupa’s Cupo 2005, a Campanian Fiano di Avellino.
For a completely different, yet utterly Campanian, experience, try a bed and breakfast or agriturismo in Furore, a town overlooking the Amalfi coast, just four miles from the town of Amalfi. If you plan to drive to Fuore, which is probably the best way to see the Amalfi area, brush up on your manual transmission driving skills before you leave home. If you’re driving north from Naples to Rome, consider taking the coast road instead of the A-1 autostrada.
Italy's Wine Heritage
With two thousand years of history behind them, Italian winemakers take great pride in their work. Touring Italy's wine regions will connect you with Italy's winemaking traditions.
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When you see the bustling city of Turin (Torino), it’s hard to believe that Italy’s best wines come from this area – the city sprawls across a valley floor and is overflowing with historic architecture and open-air piazzas. There’s nothing agricultural in sight. As you travel southeast, however, you’ll find yourself in a wine lover’s paradise. Piedmont is home to 33 Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) and Denominazione di Origine Controllata Garantita (DOCG) wines. Many of Italy’s most prestigious wines, including Barolo, Barbera, Barbaresco, and Asti, are made here.
Tuscany is Chianti, Vino Nobile and Brunello country, and wine tourism is big business here. The growing popularity of the super Tuscan wines has brought even more attention to the area. If you visit Tuscany, you can drive along one of 14 wine trails, or “strade del vino,” each of which focuses on a different wine-producing area or type of wine.
Although Campanian vineyards have always yielded generous harvests, the region did not make winemaking headlines until the early 1990s. With a large local population available to consume whatever wines they produced, Campanian winemakers had little incentive to reduce bulk production in favor of quality wines.
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