ITALY

Wine is a way of life in Italy. Travel across the country and you see vineyards growing everywhere. In fact, Italian geography can be broken into 5 geographic winegrowing areas and 20 winegrowing regions!
Though Italy is known for its great red wines, Italians grow many kinds of grapes. Some of the most well known are these varieties:

The Reds
Sangiovese: [sahn-gee-OH-vah-see]. Italy's most widely planted red. It's a native of Tuscany. The word means "blood of Jove," a romantic nod to the god Jupiter. Slow-growing and late-ripening, Sangiovese grapes make rich, elegant, strongly fragrant red wine. Today many growers blend it with a portion of Cabernet Sauvignon.

Barbera: [bahr-BA-ruh] A versatile, dark-berried red grape, Barbera is second only to Sangiovese as Italy's most widely planted red. The style of this grape varies from young and spritzy to powerful and intense. It is always a deep ruby-colored, full-bodied wine.

The Whites
Pinot Grigio: Italian name for French grape called Pinot Gris from the French word for "gray" (gris). Widely planted in the north of Italy, especially in the Friuli region in the northeast, this grape yields crisp, fruity dry white wine.

Trebbiano:[trebb-ee-AH-no] The most widely planted white wine grape in Italy. It produces a light, dry, crisp wine.

Recommended Italian Wines
Ecco Domani Pinot Grigio
Bella Sera Sangiovese
Maso Canali Pinot Grigio