Vino

Aglianico from the Taburno hills in Benevento province. Campania's volcanic red, structured and age-worthy.

Aglianico del Vulture Superiore

BasilicataDOCG

Aglianico from the slopes of Monte Vulture. Volcanic soils, at least three years ageing. Basilicata's only DOCG.

Aleatico Passito dell’Elba

Sweet passito Aleatico from the island of Elba. Red, aromatic, low-volume, and almost never seen on the mainland.

Alta Langa

Metodo classico from high-altitude Piedmont vineyards. Pinot Nero and Chardonnay, thirty months on the lees minimum.

Amarone della Valpolicella

Dried-grape wine from the Valpolicella. Corvina, Corvinone and Rondinella, air-dried for months, then fermented. Power and patience.

Asolo Prosecco

Prosecco from the Asolo hills in Treviso province. Glera on steep slopes, the quieter alternative to Conegliano Valdobbiadene.

Asti

Sweet sparkling Moscato from Piedmont. Asti Spumante and Moscato d'Asti, the grape at its most fragrant and lightest.

Bagnoli Friularo

Raboso Piave from the Bagnoli area south of Padua. A tannic, late-ripening red that almost nobody outside the Veneto has heard of.

Barbaresco

Nebbiolo from four comuni east of Alba. Twenty six months ageing, nine in wood. Barolo's neighbour and its own argument.

Barbera d’Asti

Barbera from the hills around Asti. The everyday red of Piedmont, bright acid, dark fruit, no pretension.

Barbera del Monferrato Superiore

Barbera from Monferrato, aged longer than the base DOC. The grape given time to prove it deserves it.

Bardolino Superiore

Bardolino Superiore from the eastern shore of Lake Garda. Corvina-based, aged at least twelve months, lighter than Valpolicella.

Barolo

Nebbiolo in purezza from eleven comuni in the Langhe. Thirty eight months minimum, eighteen in wood.

Brachetto d’Acqui

Sweet sparkling red from Brachetto grapes near Acqui Terme. Aromatic, low alcohol, and entirely unlike anything else in Piedmont.

Brunello di Montalcino

Sangiovese Grosso from the hill of Montalcino. Five years before release, two in wood. The other king.

Cannellino di Frascati

LazioDOCG

Sweet Cannellino from Frascati. Malvasia and Trebbiano, late-harvested, golden, the dessert wine of the Roman hills.

Carmignano

Sangiovese and Cabernet from the hills west of Florence. One of the oldest delimited wine zones in Italy, predating most DOCGs by centuries.

Casauria

AbruzzoDOCG

Montepulciano from the Casauria subzone near Pescara. A recent DOCG carved from the broader Abruzzo appellation.

Castel del Monte Bombino Nero

Bombino Nero rosato from the Castel del Monte hills in Puglia. A rare rosé DOCG, the only one in southern Italy.

Castel del Monte Nero di Troia Riserva

Nero di Troia Riserva from Castel del Monte. Puglia's indigenous red at its most structured, two years ageing.

Castel del Monte Rosso Riserva

Red blend Riserva from Castel del Monte. Nero di Troia with Aglianico or Montepulciano, the Murge plateau's best red.

Castelli di Jesi Verdicchio Riserva

Verdicchio Riserva from the Castelli di Jesi. The white grape of the Marche at its most serious, eighteen months minimum ageing.

Cerasuolo di Vittoria

SicilyDOCG

Nero d'Avola and Frappato from south-eastern Sicily. The only DOCG on the island, cherry-bright, drinkable, and unmistakably Sicilian.

Cesanese del Piglio

LazioDOCG

Cesanese from the hills around Piglio east of Rome. Lazio's only red DOCG, a grape almost nobody outside the region has tasted.

Chianti

Sangiovese-based red from central Tuscany. The most produced DOCG in Italy, ranging from simple to serious depending on the subzone.

Chianti Classico

Extra virgin olive oil from the Chianti Classico zone. The same hills, the same argument, in oil instead of wine.

Ciro Classico

CalabriaDOCG

Gaglioppo from the hills around Ciro on the Ionian coast. Calabria's oldest and most important red, and its only DOCG.

Colli Bolognesi Classico Pignoletto

Emilia-RomagnaDOCG

Pignoletto from the Colli Bolognesi. Still and sparkling, Bologna's own white grape on the hills south of the city.

Colli di Conegliano

Still wines from the hills between Conegliano and Vittorio Veneto. Manzoni Bianco and Cabernet-Merlot blends from steep clay slopes.

Colli Euganei Fior d’Arancio

Moscato Giallo from the Euganean Hills near Padua. Passito and spumante, orange-blossom aromatics, volcanic soils.

Friuli-Venezia GiuliaDOCG

Colli Orientali del Friuli Picolit

Sweet Picolit from the Colli Orientali del Friuli. A naturally low-yielding grape, golden dessert wine, made in vanishingly small quantities.

Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco

Prosecco from the original hills between Conegliano and Valdobbiadene. Glera on steep terraces, the DOCG that started it all.

Conero

Montepulciano from the Conero promontory near Ancona. The Adriatic coast's most concentrated red, from a single hill facing the sea.

Dogliani

Dolcetto in purezza from the hills around Dogliani. Dry, soft tannins, meant to be drunk young and with food.

Dolcetto di Diano d’Alba

Dolcetto from Diano d'Alba. A single-commune DOCG for the grape at its most structured and age-worthy.

Dolcetto di Ovada Superiore

Dolcetto from Ovada, aged at least twelve months. The grape pushed further than most producers thought it could go.

Erbaluce di Caluso

Erbaluce from the morainic hills around Caluso. Still, sparkling and passito, all from one white grape north of Turin.

Fiano di Avellino

Fiano from the hills of Avellino. One of southern Italy's great whites, nutty, mineral, and built to age.

Franciacorta

Metodo classico from the morainic hills south of Lake Iseo. Chardonnay and Pinot Nero, Champagne's Italian argument.

Frascati Superiore

LazioDOCG

Frascati Superiore from the Castelli Romani. Malvasia and Trebbiano, the everyday white of Rome when it is made properly.

Gattinara

Nebbiolo from the hills above Gattinara in northern Piedmont. Volcanic soils, cooler climate, leaner and more mineral than Barolo.

Gavi

Cortese from the hills around Gavi in south-eastern Piedmont. The white wine Piedmont actually drinks.

Ghemme

Nebbiolo from Ghemme in the Novara hills. The left bank of the Sesia, volcanic soils, thirty four months ageing minimum.

Greco di Tufo

Greco from the hills around Tufo in Avellino. Volcanic soils, sharp acidity, sulphur minerality, Campania's other great white.

Veneto; Friuli-Venezia GiuliaDOCG

Lison

Tai from the Lison-Pramaggiore zone spanning Veneto and Friuli. A white grape, a flat plain, and a very old argument about what Tocai means.

Montecucco Sangiovese

Sangiovese from the slopes of Monte Amiata in southern Tuscany. A newer DOCG, volcanic soils, thirty months ageing.

Montefalco Sagrantino

UmbriaDOCG

Sagrantino from Montefalco. A grape with more tannin than Nebbiolo, aged thirty seven months, twenty nine and a half in the disciplinare. The most tannic DOCG in Italy.

Montello Rosso

Red blend from the Montello hills north of Treviso. Cabernet and Merlot aged thirty months, Bordeaux grapes on Venetian clay.

Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Colline Teramane

AbruzzoDOCG

Montepulciano d'Abruzzo from the Colline Teramane. The grape, not the place. Three years ageing, the region's most serious red.

Morellino di Scansano

Sangiovese from the Maremma coast near Scansano. Tuscany's warmest DOCG, earlier drinking, the sea in the glass.

Moscato di Canelli

Moscato Bianco from the steep vineyards around Canelli. The most aromatic expression of the grape in its home territory.

Moscato di Scanzo

Sweet passito red from Moscato di Scanzo grapes near Bergamo. Fewer than thirty hectares exist. The rarest DOCG in Italy.

Nizza

Barbera from the Nizza Monferrato subzone. The DOCG that finally gave Barbera its own appellation, eighteen months minimum ageing.

Offida

Pecorino and Passerina whites and Montepulciano red from the hills around Offida in southern Marche.

Oltrepo Pavese Metodo Classico

Metodo classico from the Oltrepo Pavese hills south of Pavia. Pinot Nero on clay, one of Italy's oldest sparkling traditions.

Piave Malanotte

Raboso from the Piave plain, dried and then refermented on Marzemino lees. The most eccentric DOCG in the Veneto.

Primitivo di Manduria Dolce Naturale

Sweet naturally dried Primitivo from the Manduria area of Puglia. Intense, raisined, high alcohol, a dessert wine from the heel.

Friuli-Venezia GiuliaDOCG

Ramandolo

Sweet Verduzzo from the hills above Nimis in Friuli. Late-harvested, amber, honeyed, and fiercely local.

Recioto della Valpolicella

Sweet Corvina from dried grapes in Valpolicella. Amarone's sweet sibling, concentrated and rare.

Recioto di Gambellara

Sweet wine from dried Garganega grapes near Gambellara. Soave's neighbour, made in tiny quantities.

Recioto di Soave

Sweet dried-grape Garganega from the Soave hills. Golden, honeyed, and almost impossible to find outside the zone.

Roero

Nebbiolo and Arneis from the Roero hills across the Tanaro from the Langhe. Sandy soils, earlier drinking, the left bank to Barolo's right.

Romagna Albana

Emilia-RomagnaDOCG

Albana from Romagna. Italy's first white DOCG, dry to sweet, from a grape that divides opinion and rewards patience.

Friuli-Venezia GiuliaDOCG

Rosazzo

White blend from the Rosazzo subzone of the Colli Orientali del Friuli. Friulano, Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Ribolla Gialla on marl and sandstone.

Ruche di Castagnole Monferrato

Ruche from Castagnole Monferrato. A rare aromatic red, floral nose, grown almost nowhere else in the world.

Sforzato di Valtellina

Dried-grape Nebbiolo from the Valtellina. The mountain Amarone: grapes dried on racks, then fermented into something fierce and alpine.

Soave Superiore

Garganega from the best vineyards in the Soave Classico hills. The white wine of Verona, when it is taken seriously.

Suvereto

Red blend from the Val di Cornia near the Tuscan coast. Cabernet, Merlot and Sangiovese, twenty five months ageing.

Taurasi

Aglianico from Taurasi in Irpinia. Three years ageing, one in wood. Southern Italy's most serious red, and it knows it.

Terre Alfieri

Nebbiolo and Arneis from the Terre Alfieri hills between Asti and Alba. One of Italy's newest DOCGs.

Torgiano Rosso Riserva

UmbriaDOCG

Sangiovese-Canaiolo blend from Torgiano, aged at least three years. Umbria's answer to Chianti Riserva.

Tullum

AbruzzoDOCG

Montepulciano and Passerina from the Tullum hills in Chieti province. Abruzzo's newest DOCG.

Val di Cornia Rosso

Red blend from the Val di Cornia, the broader zone around Suvereto. Sangiovese or Cabernet led, coastal Tuscany.

Valtellina Superiore

Nebbiolo from the steep terraces of the Valtellina. South-facing, up to seven hundred metres, the most vertical Nebbiolo in Italy.

Verdicchio di Matelica Riserva

Verdicchio Riserva from Matelica, the inland valley. Higher altitude, cooler nights, tighter acidity than the Jesi version.

Vermentino di Gallura

SardiniaDOCG

Vermentino from the granite hills of Gallura in north-eastern Sardinia. The Mediterranean white at its most mineral and wind-swept.

Vernaccia di San Gimignano

Vernaccia from San Gimignano. Tuscany's only white DOCG, mineral, dry, and older than every red appellation in the region.

Vernaccia di Serrapetrona

Sparkling red Vernaccia from Serrapetrona. A twice-fermented sweet red, entirely unique, production measured in thousands of bottles.

Vino Nobile di Montepulciano

Sangiovese from the hills around Montepulciano. Not the grape Montepulciano, the place. Twenty four months ageing, two in wood.