Italy produces — and drinks — more wine than any other country. The entire country is practically a vineyard. In 2008 Italy bested France for the title of world's biggest producer for the first time in a decade, at nearly 1.6 billion gallons. Italians consume almost sixteen gallons of wine per capita, an astonishing number when compared to the paltry two gallons per capita consumed by Americans per year.

In 1963 Italy developed a system — modeled after the French one — to control the quality of their wines and classify them. The regulations, enforced by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture, govern yields, grapes that can be used for specific wines, viticultural practices, and alcohol levels. From top to bottom, the categories are as follows:

• Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) — As of January 2010, only 44 regions in Italy have been given this status, and producers in these areas wanting to print DOCG on their bottle labels must abide by the strictest standards. Wines are even subject to chemical analysis and taste tests to qualify for this designation. French AOC wines are not even subject to this scrutiny.

• Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) — This category is the Italian equivalent of the French AOC, and there are 321 DOC regions in the books.

• Vino da tavola — Historically, this category was attached to wines made in areas without much pedigree. The wines were simple and good for quaffing. Wines with this status have few restrictions attached to them. This category is the Italian equivalent of the French vin de table.

These three categories do not tell the whole story of Italian wine. In the 1970s a group of winemakers in Chianti, a sub-region of Tuscany, ran afoul of the DOC regulations by blending prohibited grape varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot with native Sangiovese grapes.

The wines turned out to be terrific and their prices soared, but they were labeled “vino da tavola.” They became known as “Super Tuscans,” an unofficial category. To qualify for the Chianti DOC designation, the wines were required to be 100 percent Sangiovese. (Chianti is now a DOCG, but red wines must still be 100 percent Sangiovese.)

Since then, a new official quality category, called IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica), has been created whose rules are less strict than those of the DOC. Some of the esteemed Super Tuscans were thus upgraded to IGT status.

Italy's Wine Regions

Italy has 20 wine regions that are geographically identical to its political regions. The wine regions in the north are the most recognized, but wine regions in southern Italy, namely Campania, Umbria, Basilicata, and the islands of Sicily and Sardinia, are making huge inroads in producing wines of quality and marketability. Unique indigenous grape varieties — like the whites Fiano di Avellino from Campania and Vermentino from Sardinia — have surged in popularity.

In the north, the regions of Piedmont, Tuscany, and Veneto are the most familiar. Piedmont (meaning “foot of the mountain”) in the northwest lies at the base of the Alps. Nebbiolo reigns, producing the famous powerful reds Barolo and Barbaresco. They're very similar to each other, but Barolo is fuller-bodied and needs more aging. (Barolo is sometimes referred to as the “king” of Italian wines.)

Other popular reds include Barbera, Dolcetto, and Bonardo. Among the whites are the Muscat-based Asti Spumante and Moscato d'Asti and the dry white Gavi from the Cortese grape.

Tuscany, with its enchanted landscapes and historic castles, is responsible for the world-famous Chianti — whose production goes back centuries. Much more recent is Brunello di Montalcino, made in an area south of Chianti from a Sangiovese clone. It is big, tannic, and powerful and has one of the longest aging requirements (four years) in Italy.

Another Tuscan favorite is Vino Nobile di Montepulciano from 70 percent to 100 percent Sangiovese. Tuscany's most important white grape is Trebbiano.

Veneto in the northeast is the third largest region in terms of production and serves up some of the more familiar Italian exports: Soave, the sparkling Prosecco, and Valpolicella. While Valpolicella is rather light and fruity, another version — Amarone della Valpolicella — is rich, high in alcohol (14 to 16 percent), and long-lived. Known simply as Amarone, the wine is made from grapes that have been dried on mats for several months before fermentation, concentrating the sugars and flavors.

Let's not forget Pinot Grigio, the number one imported table wine in the United States. Probably the best ones come from the two northeastern most regions of Alto Adige (which borders Austria) and Fruili (bordering Slovenia).