Italian Wine - An Overview

Italy is the oldest wine producing country in theAgriculture and Forestry in Italy, but there are
world. The Greek and Etruscans were the first to500 other types of grapes that are being grown
start producing wine in the region. The Romansthat are not recognized by the Ministry of
did not start making wine in Italy until 2 BC andAgriculture and Forestry.
also started their own vineyards. The RomansIn Italian Bainco means white and Rosso means
were well skilled and perfected many of thered. This can be useful information to know when
techniques that we use today for wine making.picking out an Italian wine, since the labels are in
They were the first to make wine, bottle wineItalian. When picking a wine to go with a certain
and made barrels on a mass scale.dish, the rule of thumb use to be red wine with
The country of Italy now produces a majority ofred meat and white wine with fish or poultry. This
the wine in the world. In 2008 Italy actuallydoes not apply anymore in the culinary world.
passed France in production of wine, making it theMany now choose an Italian wine based on what
top producer in the world. Not only does Italytheir personal preference is in taste. There is no
produce most of the wine in the world, they alsowrong or right way to choose a bottle.
consume mass amounts of it. In fact, ItaliansSome of the more commonly known Italian types
drink the largest amount of wine then any otherof wines are Merlot, Lambrusco, Moscato and
country on the planet. Italy has more than onePinot Grigio. These wines can range in price from
million vineyards producing grapes. This just goesa few dollars to over a hundred dollars a bottle.
to prove that Italians truly love their wine andThe more expensive the wine, does not always
take pride in their beautiful vineyards.dictate if the wine will taste good or not. The
There are currently over 350 varieties of grapestype that is purchased always comes down to
that have been recognized by the Ministry ofpersonal preference.