ITALY - THE LAND OF GOOD RED WINES
Italian wines have their charm, and they have their own unique flavors since not only the different grape varieties but also climate and soil are interesting in this country. In general, the best Italian wines are the red wines, while the white ones are not considered to belong to the top, with some exceptions. A common 'complaint' about Italian white wines is the lack of minerality. So, sticking to the red Italians might give you a better experience and taste of what they can accomplish. Still, some white Italians are very fine, for example the ones coming from Collio (Friuli - Venezia Giulia). You need to do a thorough search though to find what you may like. For beginners though, and for half-emptied wallets, I would recommend to try one red wine that is pictured on the left - Brolio Chianti Classico, and one white wine from Collio - Sauvignon Blanc from Schiopetto. These are priced at around $15-20 each, and sure it is more than many people would pay for a wine, but they are worth the price. In particular the Brolio is really a bargain for this money, with fine clean fruitiness and delicate sensation of tannins ('bitterness').
A short note about the signs of quality: Italian wines may be labeled with signs like DOC or DOCG, which means they were produced of certain grapes and according to certain rules and procedures that guarantee a desired quality (remember the home makers story?). The label means Denominazione di Origine Controllata / e Garantita. In addition, the wines may have other labels. Riserva means that the wine has a longer barrel storage. Superiore refers to certain amount of alcohol and harvest yield (less is more you know). Classico comes from historically reknown sites of production.
Now, time for some history of Italian wines. If you ever been to Italy you must have noticed that wine is one of the fundamentals of the cuisine and social gatherings. Once upon a time, most people made their own wines, and even if the quality was questionable they were still a part of the daily life. Nowadays, many fine producers of wine have emerged. In general, Italian red wines are quite tannin-packed and more acidic than other wines, and when it comes to the white wines, they are light and 'refreshing', which also makes them second-hand choice in competitions where more sensations are required. Another general rule is that the better wines in Italy come from Piemonte, Toscana, and Veneto, although even other regions have their wine charm. The quatitatively largest wine producer is the region of Puglia (the heel of the Italian boot).
Piemonte is mostly focused on making red wines, often from the Nebbiolo grape. The wines made from this grape include Barolo, Barbaresco, or Gattinara, and they are usually best when aged. In particular, Barolo is a wine that is known for its improved flavor as it becomes very very old, and the grapes grow in large quantities around the village of the same name as the wine. Another grape cultivated in Piemonte is Barbera and the wine is named after the grape - Barbera, and it has a strong cherry-like flavor. A soft enjoyable wine is made of Dolcetto grape. For the white wines, a real popular grape is Moscato Bianco, which gives an interesting spicy tone.
Next interesting region of wine producers is Veneto, with famous wines from Bardolino, Valpolicella, and Soave, and the more anonymous wines from Breganze, Colli Berici, and Colli Euganei. Veneto is one of the largest wine producers in Italy, along with Puglia and Sicilia. An intriguing production method exists where the grapes are left to shrink on special carpets so that the flavor becomes more concentrated. This sets a distinctive tone to the respective wines. Soave produces light, sweet white wines, while Valpolicello makes one of the finest Italians, called Amarone, with a bitter cherry-like flavor.
Toscana produces the famous red wines like Chianti that is primarily based on a grape called Sangiovese, with some other grapes blended with it. Sangiovese is a grape that needs lots of heat and dry soil to really mature, and you can go see some of these grape farms if you go to Florence - just south of the city is the big Chianti Classico area. Chianti has a very strong smell of cherries, and an interesting mix of many different flavors, and the traditional recipe (now modified by some producers) includes 70% Sangiovese, 15% Canaiolo Nero, and 10% of green grapes that are supposed to balance the harshness of young Sangiovese (other grapes are filling in the remaining 5%). In Toscana you can also find maybe the most expensive Italian wine - Brunello di Montalcino - made of a Sangiovese variant called Brunello, with a capital city of Siena. If you don't fancy paying too much for a Brunello then consider trying Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, a wine from one of the beautiful regions of Toscana, a town built upon a raising hill with lots of culture and tourist attractions.
The above three regions - Piemonte, Veneto, and Toscana - are the primest wine producers. However you can find some other interesting wines in other parts of Italy, many of them having a distinctive recognizable flavor. I already mentioned Friuli - Venezia Giulia that has some of the finer white wines, otherwise not very interesting in other regions because of the climate. Wines from Friuli are often made to be consumed within short, and don't have a good aging potency, and they belong to my favorites. Wines from Campania have also their own beauties - Lacryma Christi and Tauras wines. In south Italy the grape Negroamaro (e.g. Salice Salentino) is used to make very characteristic bitter and spicy wines, which I'm personally not indulging in, although many people do, often for the low price reasons. Lastly, this list would not be complete without mentioning Marsala - the strong wine often used in cooking, made of Cataratto grape; and also Malvasia wines, made of Malvasia grape, that have a sense of ginger in them. Which wines are you going to try next is up to you, and I introduced some of the famous and popular Italian wines. Some of the wines did not make it into this article, but it doesn't matter, as you can explore the theme further if you get excited about the Italian wine making. Have some nice wine evenings then!