Archives: Region

The history of viticulture in Italy dates back to Phoenician and Etruscan settlements of the 8th century BCE. When Greek settlers arrived, they gave southern Italy the name Oenotria. Roman legions are credited with the diffusion of vitis vinifera, the grape vine, throughout the Empire. Planting of vines was considered a reward for conquest, and… Read more »

Campania is one of our country’s oldest winemaking regions. During Roman times, the region produced some of the most sought after wines of Italy, if not the entire Mediterranean. The variety of soils and microclimates results in a multitude of types of wine, even when using the same grape varieties. Some wines are coastal, for… Read more »

Friuli (from Forum lulii) is the territory assigned by Julius Caesar to his soldiers to plant vines. It was also the first line of defence against the numerous invasions from the East. Later settlements by Byzantines, Venetians and Habsburgs, caused a significant number of grape varieties planted in the region early on. It was not… Read more »

In Lazio, the region of Rome, winemaking has ebbed and flowed over the centuries, but is currently enjoying a revival. As elsewhere, the Etruscans were the first to produce wine in this region, followed by the ancient Romans – the emergence of Rome as Imperial capital obviously providing significant impetus. The hills in Lazio are… Read more »

A denomination named after the castles surrounding the medieval town of Jesi, this region’s most important winemaking area is in the province of Ancona. Here the grapes for Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi are grown. It is a mere 30 kilometers from the Adriatic Sea, on our country’s eastern coast. Verdicchio is an indigenous grape… Read more »

A symbiosis between the generosity of the land and passionate human endeavour going back centuries, has crafted Piedmont’s reputation for quality wine (and food) around the world. The region’s name, derived from ad pedem montium (at the foot of the mountains), recognises the place of this vast hilly area between mountains of the Alps to… Read more »

Vines and wine have been present in Sardinia for around 5,000 years, based on findings of amphorae (traditional wine vessels) in the area of the Nuraghi, a people on the island at the time. In the province of Nuoro, a Phoenician ‘oenological laboratory’ was discovered, complete with vats and tanks for fermentation and conservation of… Read more »

The settlement of Greek colonies around the island during the 8th century BCE provided an important impetus to the growth of viticulture in Sicily, as illustrated by local production of western Greek amphorae. For climate and geology, Sicily is often considered a continent in itself. Mount Etna, with vineyards at elevations up to 1,000 metres… Read more »

Winemaking here was first documented around the 6th century BC, when Etruscans began to systematically cultivate grapes to make wine. In the Middle Ages, merchants from Siena made wine to be sold in Florence, where in 1282 the Arte dei Vinattieri (winemakers’ guild) was founded. During the Renaissance, wine of quality started to emerge, from… Read more »

Known as the green heart of Italy, the small interior region of Umbria has a climate and geography similar to neighbouring Tuscany, with cold rainy winters and dry sun-filled summers. It is named after a people known as the Umbri, contemporaries and rivals of the Etruscans and also among the first in the world to… Read more »