| Italy is currently the world's largest wine producer, | | | | Italy is truly one of the world's most suitable |
| with over 1 million vineyards in the whole country. | | | | winemaking countries. Factors in this include the |
| In 2008 the country churned out a vast 6 billion | | | | long, narrow shape of the peninsula, so grapes |
| litres of wine! And each Italian drinks (on average | | | | can be grown from the Alps to a shoreline with |
| of course) a whopping 59 litres of the stuff | | | | Africa in sight. Also, the extreme altitude range of |
| every year. May not seem like a lot, at just under | | | | the country enables wine to be grown at sea |
| 2 bottles a week, but it certainly is when | | | | level to high in the mountains, thus highly ranging |
| compared to the US average of 7.7 litres per | | | | soil characteristics, climate, and grape variety |
| year per capita. | | | | ideals. |
| Winemaking in Italy was, however, not begun by | | | | Italy has 20 winemaking regions (corresponding to |
| the Romans, as according to popular opinion. It | | | | the 20 regions of Italy): |
| was practised by ancient Greek settlers and | | | | · Valle d'Aosta (AostaValley) |
| Etruscans (previous dwellers of the Tuscany | | | | · Piemonte (Piedmont) |
| region) for centuries before the Romans began | | | | · Liguria |
| the art in the 2nd century BC. The Romans | | | | · Lombardia (Lombardy) |
| became pioneers in winemaking, in fields (pardon | | | | · Trentino-Alto Adige |
| the pun) such as bottle making and coopering | | | | · Fruili-Venezia Giulia |
| (barrel making). | | | | · Veneto |
| History | | | | · Emilia-Romagna |
| Despite wines having been made from wild grapes | | | | · Toscana (Tuscany) |
| (Vitis vinifera) for thousands of year, it was the | | | | · Le Marche (Marche) |
| Greek colonisation of Italy that influenced | | | | · Umbria |
| winemaking to take off. With the Roman defeat | | | | · Lazio |
| of the Carthaginians (early masters of wine | | | | · Abruzzo |
| making) Viticulture further flourished in Italy. Huge | | | | · Molise |
| plantations sprung up all over Italy in the Roman | | | | · Campania |
| period, run by vast numbers of slaves. As a | | | | · Basilicata |
| tactful measure, the Romans prohibited | | | | · Puglia (Apulia) |
| winemaking outside of Italy; therefore they could | | | | · Calabria |
| exchange their Italian wine for slaves, especially | | | | · Sicilia (Sicily) |
| from Gaul (early Celtic northern Europe). | | | | · Sardegna (Sardinia) |
| Surprisingly, it was customary at these times to | | | | Italian wine is now exported all over the world, |
| mix wine with water, thus improving the quality of | | | | especially known for it's beautiful tastes and |
| water that may have been undrinkable, similar to | | | | flavours. Red, White, Rose, and Sparkling wines |
| the purpose of beer in medieval Europe. | | | | make up just a part of Italy's wine export |
| Italian Winemaking Regions | | | | industry. |