Explore Italy’s wine regions, native grapes, and the styles that make the country one of the most diverse wine destinations in the world.
Discover delicious Italian wines and beautiful regions in Wine Folly’s Alto Adige, Asti, Chianti Classico, Conegliano Valdobbiadene, and Sicily Region Guides.
Italy can feel overwhelming at first because wine labels often prioritize regions, villages, and appellations over grape names.
But that’s not even the biggest problem when it comes to familiarizing yourself with Italian wines. The real challenge is navigating Italy’s hundreds of native grape varieties, many of which go by different names from one region to the next.
There are more than 500 officially recognized Italian grape varieties. Some ampelographers estimate there may be thousands of distinct local grapes, clones, and synonyms across Italy.
Italian Wine Regions
Italy produces a huge amount of table wine, Vermouth, and cooking wines (such as Marsala). That being said, three of the country’s most influential fine-wine regions are Veneto, Tuscany, and Piedmont!
The list of Italian wine regions is organized by the highest volume of DOC wines. This ranking focuses on DOC production, highlighting regions most closely associated with regulated-quality wine.
A DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata) certifies a wine’s geographic origin and production standards. DOCG is the highest level of this assurance label.
A “typical geographic indication” is another type of quality assurance label for Italian wine. IGT wines allow greater flexibility in grape varieties and winemaking styles than DOC or DOCG regulations. This category helped launch the Super Tuscan movement.
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Veneto (~18% DOC production)
Veneto produces everything from powerful Amarone to mineral-driven Soave and the world’s most recognizable Prosecco.
Veneto is one of Italy’s largest and most stylistically diverse wine regions. In the west, Valpolicella is known for red wines made from Corvina, Rondinella, and Molinara, including Amarone della Valpolicella, produced from partially dried grapes and prized for its richness and concentration.
To the east, Veneto is home to Prosecco, Italy’s most widely recognized sparkling wine. The highest-quality examples come from the hillside vineyards of Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG, where steep slopes, cooler temperatures, and well-drained soils produce more complex, aromatic expressions of the Glera grape.
Veneto also excels at fresh, food-friendly white wines. Soave (‘swah-vay’) offers citrus, almond, and volcanic mineral notes with more texture and complexity than most mass-market Pinot Grigio.
Throughout Veneto, producers also make a range of IGT wines, including notable Merlot- and Cabernet-based bottlings.
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Tuscany (~17% DOC production)
Try red wines from Tuscany as well as a sweet wine called Vin Santo.
Tuscany is the spiritual home of Sangiovese, with Chianti Classico at its historic center. As Chianti regulations evolved in the late 20th century to emphasize Sangiovese, some producers began experimenting outside DOC rules with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, helping give rise to the Super Tuscan category.
For white wines in this region, keep in mind that Trebbiano is Italy’s most produced white grape. Vermentino often shows citrus, herbs, and saline notes that Sauvignon Blanc drinkers tend to enjoy.
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Piedmont (~11% DOC production)
Try red wines and Moscato d’Asti from this area.
Nebbiolo produces deceptively pale wines with soaring aromatics, high acidity, and some of Italy’s firmest high tannins.
Besides the great Nebbiolo wines of Barolo, the region is also home to Moscato d’Asti and the underrated grape: Dolcetto.
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Piedmont Wine Region with Maps -
Emilia-Romagna (~9% DOC production)
Eat the cheese from Parma and drink Lambrusco.
Lambrusco’s reputation was shaped for decades by mass-market sweet styles, but today, many producers focus on dry, savory, terroir-driven wines.
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Lombardy (~7% DOC production)
Check out Pinot Nero and sparkling wines from Lombardy.
Valtellina is within Lombardy, close to Lake Como. Nebbiolo is the red wine produced here, but it’s called Chiavennasca; showing lighter body, lifted aromatics, and alpine freshness. Lombardy also produces some great Pinot Noir (they call it Pinot Nero), especially around Oltrepò Pavese.
Franciacorta is made with Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Blanc grapes, and uses the traditional method, the same production technique used in Champagne.
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Umbria (~7% DOC production)
Look for great value Sangiovese and Orvieto (a white wine).
Sagrantino is Umbria’s flagship red grape, prized for its massive tannins and age-worthy structure. In Montefalco, you’ll find Sagrantino, but there’s also a fair amount of Sangiovese with bright red cherry and dried herb character. The white grape here is called Grechetto, which is one of the grapes in Orvieto. Its mineral-driven and zesty qualities are similar to Pinot Grigio, with a distinct green almond flavor.
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Abruzzo (~7% DOC production)
Look for red wines from Abruzzo.
Montepulciano is the primary red grape in Abruzzo and the wines are called Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. Despite the similar names, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo refers to the grape, while Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is a Tuscan appellation based on Sangiovese.
Montepulciano (the grape) makes a dark, rich wine with high tannins and an herbaceous character, and is similar to Cabernet Sauvignon.
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Trentino Alto-Adige (~6% DOC production)
Look for white wines and sparkling wines.
This region borders the Alps and makes fabulous white wines from Pinot Grigio, Pinot Bianco, Gewürztraminer, and Müller-Thurgau (the latter two often produce highly aromatic styles). Trento DOC produces some of Italy’s most refined traditional-method sparkling wines.
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Friuli-Venezia Giulia (~6% DOC production)
Look for white wines, particularly Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Grigio.
Known for several unique and more intensely flavored styles of Pinot Grigio (including Ramato) and Sauvignon Blanc, with savory herbal and flinty notes. The area also produces some very savory and deeply savory expressions of Merlot.
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Marche (~3% DOC production)
Try refreshing and aromatic Verdicchio white wines.
Marche (Mar-kay) is famous for its aromatic white wines. Verdicchio is definitely the most common, but Pecorino (the white wine grape, not the cheese) is an increasingly important white grape known for high acidity and aromatic lift. Lacrima is an up-and-coming grape from this area, making fruity, easy-drinking wines that are similar to Syrah.
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Puglia (~3% DOC production)
Excellent-value reds made with Negroamaro and Primitivo.
The fruit-forward red wines from Puglia (Apulia) are a great way to start with Italian wines. Most are affordable, and the region has many esoteric, sweet red wines growing nowhere else. Puglia is also known for value-driven Chardonnay.
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Lazio (~2% DOC production)
Lazio is better known for local consumption than international exports. Still, refreshing and zesty Grechetto can be found here, along with Malvasia, an aromatic, rich, and often sweet wine.
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Sicily (~1% DOC production)
Try a red wine called Nero d’Avola.
Red wines from Sicily are dark, rich, and fruit-forward because of the warm climate. Nero d’Avola is one of Sicily’s most important grapes.
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Sardinia (~1% DOC production)
Look for Cannonau and Vermentino.
DNA analysis has confirmed that Sicily’s flagship, Cannonau, is genetically identical to Grenache. In Sardinia, it often shows notes of dried strawberry, Mediterranean herbs, and sun-baked earth. The wines from Sardinia are highly aromatic and usually great value.
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Campania (~0.5% DOC production)
Aglianico is a very high-tannin and rustic red wine. Traditional Aglianico can be intensely tannic in youth and often benefits from extended aging. Recently, Aglianico wines have gained momentum as producers have figured out how to refine Aglianico’s naturally powerful tannin structure.
That said, there’s nothing more powerful and savory than a 10-year-old traditional Taurasi. Also, check out Greco, a refreshing white wine with a bitter almond finish.
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Liguria (~0.2% DOC production)
Liguria’s steep coastal vineyards produce intensely mineral white wines shaped by maritime influence. Some delicious white wine blends have a tingle of salinity from the sea air.
These saline-driven whites make excellent seafood wines. There is also an out-of-the-box producer of sparkling wines that are aged underwater.
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Calabria (~0.17% DOC production)
Greco Bianco is one of Calabria’s notable white grapes.
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Molise (~0.1% DOC production)
Molise produces some interesting red wines.
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Basilicata (~0.1% DOC production)
Basilicata produces some of Italy’s most volcanic and structured expressions of Aglianico.
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Valle d’Aosta (~0.05% DOC production)
Italy’s smallest wine region sits high in the Alps and specializes in mountain-grown reds and crisp alpine whites from two regional grapes: Petit Rouge (a red) and Petite Arvine (a white).