What are the best places in Italy for a wine lover to visit?

By / Magazine / February 8th, 2017 / 12

Since we’re talking Italy here, if you like wine, odds are wherever you land is going to be a Mickey Mouse shy of Disney World. Though it may not be the largest country on Earth (it’s actually #71), Italy is long and lean with three distinctive zones (north, central and south) and 20 unique regions that are all vying for your precious palate.

Assuming this is your first visit, there are books and websites aplenty that will go into way more detail than I can here regarding all that Italy has to offer a wine tourist, so take my broader suggestions and dig deeper as you plan your trip.

Thanks to a rail system that runs pretty much with military precision (especially if you forget to punch your own ticket), you can pack a lot of eating and drinking into one tour of the peninsula.

While it might not be everyone’s first choice, if you can go to only one place, my pick is the region of Veneto in the northeast. Home to Valpolicella (with its Amarone and Ripasso wines), Bardolino (and the beautiful Lake Garda) and the awe-inspiring walled city of Soave, it’s a cornucopia of liquid fun. Plus, if there’s a more attractive, wine-centric city than Verona (think restos and enotecas that come with a view of a majestic Roman arena), I’ve yet to visit it. Then, of course, there is its capital of Venice.

You can drive west to Piedmont (where Barolo, Barbaresco and the Nebbiolo grape rule) in under three hours. Look “beautiful” up on the Internet and you’ll see a picture of the Langhe, the hilly area in the heart of the region. Want to try wines you can’t get at home? Piedmont’s exports are a drop in the bucket of what it produces, which makes it Valhalla for anyone who loves discovering boutique beverages. And don’t get me started on the food.

The triad of Italy’s most famous wine hotspots is complete with a few days in Tuscany, arguably Italy’s most well-known plot of juice-pressing geography thanks to its subregion of Chianti. Taking the old-route drive between Florence and Siena is like stepping back in time.

Been to the big three? Head south to Campania. As a super fan of the Aglianico grape I’m a tad biased, but the region is still so undiscovered (even with all the culinary wonders invented in Naples) that it needs to be experienced to be fully appreciated. Marche, on the country’s central backbone, is another hidden treasure, especially if you love white wine.

Just off the coast of the tip of Italy’s boot, Sicily looks like the mainland is about to give it a swift kick. Don’t let that deter you. The island is a true gem, especially if you’re a fan of unique, indigenous grapes. You could easily spend your entire time abroad tasting its wonders. And I didn’t even mention Rome. Oh, I just did.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Fresh, funny and down-to-earth, Peter Rockwell is the everyman's wine writer. Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia he's worked in the liquor industry for over 30 years and has written about wine, spirits & beer since graduating from the School of Journalism at the University of King's College in 1986. His reviews and feature articles have been published in Tidings, Vines, Occasions, Where and on Alliant.net to name a few; he has been a weekly on-air wine feature columnist for both CBC-TV and Global Television and his wine column 'Liquid Assets' appeared weekly in two of Nova Scotia's daily newspapers, 'The Halifax Daily News' and 'The Cape Breton Post.' Today Peter's irreverent answer man column 'Bon Vivant' appears each month in Tidings Magazine and his weekly 'Liquid Assets' column is published across Canada in editions of the METRO newspaper. When not drinking at home, and at work, Peter travels the globe looking for something to fill his glass and put into words.

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