Travel for Food Hub The Food Blog for Travel Lovers
Last Updated on October 4, 2023
Italy has long been a go-to destination for anyone who loves a glass of wine. With plenty of terroirs and regions to choose from, you can easily spend weeks exploring the country’s vineyards – and enjoy many delicious wines while you’re at it.
If you’re planning a trip to Italy any time soon, there are many different terroirs you must visit to get the most out of your visit. It may range from the best Italian red wine types to the sweetest white wines.
Here’s our checklist of the best Italian terroirs where you can enjoy some of the most internationally famous wines the Meditteranean country of Italy has to offer you.
Why are Italian wines so famous?
Italy has been one of the most important wine regions for over 4,000 years, with wine becoming one of the country’s most valuable exports.
Italian wine is so good because the country is considered the perfect environment for grapes to grow and for wine to be produced.
Wine is now a staple in Italian culture, and the Italians are just as serious about good wines as they are about tasty pizza and indulgent gelato.
TAKEAWAY: When the Greeks first stepped foot in Italy, wine was already a huge part of the country’s culture. So much so, that Italy was once called ‘Oenotria’ which translates to ‘the land of wine’.
But not all regions of Italy are as famous as others. Here are some of the most important terroirs (regions) in the country we think you should visit. Check out the 5 best Italian wine regions you need to taste:
Trentino-Alto Adige
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Located right up in the north of Italy, the Trentino-Alto Adige terroir is extremely high up – with altitudes that reach as high as 1,100 metres. Because of the high altitudes, the white and red wines produced here keep hold of their acidity and have a very distinctive flavour.
Popular wines include Pinot Noir and Merlots, which have sweet flavours of raspberry and dark chocolate. There’s also the white Gewürztraminer which tastes like a flavourful mixture of pear, melon and honey.
Piedmont
Also located in the northern part of Italy, the Piedmont area is known as one of the best Italian terroirs for both red and white wines. It’s home to what’s considered to be one of the world’s best wines, Barolo, which is only produced in small quantities every year.
The terroir is also known for Moscato wine, a sweet drink with flavours of peach and orange that pair perfectly with desserts. There’s also the white wine, Arneis, which is a full-bodied wine with notes of sweet and crunchy stone fruit.
Veneto
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The Veneto terroir of Italy produces some of the most famous wines in the world, like Pinot Grigio and Prosecco – two standard drinks you’ll find on most restaurant menus.
Prosecco is a sparkling wine, and Pinot Grigio is a full-bodied white wine with fruit flavours of lime and green apple.
The region is equally as well-known for its tasty red wines like Amarone Della Valpolicella and Valpolicella.
Puglia
Puglia is located in southern Italy, where the majority of the country’s grapes are grown. It’s one of the most popular areas for any tourist looking to go on a wine tour of Italy due to the large number of vineyards to explore.
The area is most famous for its two main red wine varieties; Primitivo (aka Zinfandel) and Negroamaro. The two wines each have unique flavour profiles of blackberry, coffee and vanilla, but also have signature spicy flavours that make them pair well with meat dishes.
Toscana
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The final area in our list of the best Italian terroirs is Toscana (also known as Tuscany), a region in central Italy that has become particularly known for its red wines.
Wine tasting is one of the most prominent things to do in Tuscany. Chianti and Chianti Classico are the two most popular varieties from the region that are made from the Sangiovese grape. Chianti wine has a bitter flavour profile of sour cherries and dried herbs, whereas the Classico variety is spicier, with flavours of cinnamon, dried cherry and plum.
The area has also become known for their Super Tuscan wines, where they mix grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc with their own Sangiovese grapes to create bold and unforgettable red wines.
You may also enjoy: 7 Basic Ingredients of Traditional Italian Food
Pack your bags!
We’ve taken you on a virtual tour of some of the best Italian terroirs, letting you explore the northernmost terroirs of Trentino-Alto Adige and Piedmont, all the way down to the southern tip of Puglia to enjoy some of the best white, red and sparkling wines that Italy has to offer.
Whether you order the wines online to enjoy in the peace of your own home, or feel inspired to make the journey to Italy to experience the wines in person, we’re sure that you’ll enjoy the mouth-watering Italian wines that we’ve introduced to you today.
What’s your favourite Italian wine?
