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Yes, this is an introduction. The Boot has an astonishing 900,000 registered vineyards in the twenty wine regions of Italy. One source has told me that there are 500 documented varietals of vines for wine production, another source tells me that there are 2,000 varietals. Drive up and down the mountains and hills of Italy, and you are always passing grapevines, wine country. 2000 varietals seems more like it, but in my travels, I will continue to check it out. Some of the vines are indigenous to Italy, some are imports and some are hybrids. It should be noted that the imported vines may be from the BC era However, only 350 grapes are granted "authorized" status, and categorized by the Italy's Wine Consortium. As a result, Italy is the largest producer of wine in the world. Subsequently, for me to write more than an introduction, I would have to write a 1000 page book. So, this is an introduction to the wines of Italy.

Let me attempt to explain how and why the boot has such a variety of grapes and wines. Italy is a peninsular that is forty percent mountainous, forty percent hills, twenty percent plains rivers and lakes with some of the worlds greatest cities engulfed in the bountiful "terra firma" (soil). Water, actually four seas the Mediterranean, the Ligurian, the Adriatic and the Tyrrhenian embrace three sides of this productive terrain. For the most part, the land protrudes out of the seas into mountainous or hilly terrain. Creating topography where the land is completely different within a small area. That is from hill to hill, from mountain to mountain the nutrients in the soil that feed the vineyards are different.

Wherever you go in Italy, be it the Isle of Sicily, the rolling hills of Tuscany or the mountains of Piemonte, you have a change of topography with in the region. In Italy, it is impossible to drive straight ahead for any period of time. You simply meander, twisting and turning, up and down the mountains and hills. And from one hill to another the inorganic substance in the fertile soil is distinct for its area. For those reasons the vines, the grapes and the wines are quite different.

The climate also varies considerably from one region to the next. Some areas in Italy never see snow. Others are covered with snow practically year round. The areas of Italy that touch the sea often have a sea mist over them that effect the ground beneath it.

The simplest way for me to illustrate how the topography of the land affects the wine is to visualize a region and pair two of its dishes to the wines of the region. For some reason Compania has popped into my mind. So, just take a moment to visualize the fabulous region of Compania: Take a ride down the mind boggling, scenic Amalfi Drive to Salerno. Here you will enjoy one of Italy's, Italian American dishes - Neapolitan clam soup. To me, by far, the wine to drink is Costa Di Amalfi, a dry white wine showered by the mists of the Bay of Naples, and the hints of citrus flavors from the lemon orchards along the Amalfi Drive. Drive twenty minutes inland to the famous ruins of Pompeii just beneath Mount Vesuvius. Here the wine and the food are different. Here we may indulge in a hearty Italian, American red sauce dish. A Neapolitan tomato sauce prepared with sausage and brasiola. Dress ziti with the hearty tomato sauce and serve it with the brasiola and sausage cooked in the sauce. Serve LaCryma Christi Rosso with this meal. The vines that produce the grapes for this fabulous wine feed on the minerals from Vesuvio's volcanic ashes. We have two completely different fabulous Neapolitan meals. What makes these Neapolitan meals and the matching wine different is the topographical change in the land.

There are other influences than topography in Italy's 4,000 years of "vino" heritage. The Italian mind, heart and soul goes into the fermentation of the grape, and it is an exacting and demanding influence-a drive (force) to excellence. Then there is the influence of the world outside of Italy. We have to thank the proud, stubborn Italian wine makers for sticking with the indigenous vines of Italy and continue to producce the great wines of Italy.

To simplify the complexity of the wines of Italy, we are going to break the boot down into three zones, South, Central and North. All three areas produce red wines, rose wines, white wines and regardless of color or sweetness many sparkling or wines with a fizz. At this time to avoid a 1,000 page report, I will name a few Italian wines that are inherent to their zone.

In central Italy and North Eastern Italy, the skills of Etruscan artisan wine makers were the foundation of Chainti, Brunello, Conero, Torgiano, Vino Nobile, Valpolicella, Verdicchio, Orvieto, Soava, and others.

In the north western part if Italy the crafty Legurian wine makers established the viniculture of some truly great wines such as Fraciascrta, Lugana, Asti, Gavi Lamborsco, Barolo, Gatanara, Barbaresco, Barbera, and many others.

In Southern Italy, it was the Greeks expanding there civilization to Southern Italy and the Islands of the Mediterranean that developed the roots for to days wines such as Alcemo, Etna, Marsala, Vermatino, Mandrolisia, Alezio, Brindisi, Nardo, Primitivo di Manduria, Greco di Tufo, Vesuvio, Ishia, Penisola Sorrentina.

It is obvious that it is near impossible to put together a small synopsis of Italian wine. However, we are working on it.