Italy's wines are wonderfully diverse Each one of its 23 regions has its own story to tell and its own native grape varieties as you would expect from a nation of individualists. The Italians' long history and stubborn campanilismo (hometown pride) has developed 330 recognised DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata) wine denominations, not to mention 70 DOCGs (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita) with more rigorous rules, and over 120 broader regional district IGTs (Indicazione Geografica Tipica). For some pointers to help understand the most important differences between the regions, flavours and most widespread grape varieties of Italian wine, please visit our Italy wine guide.
