The Best of Central and Southern Italy

(including 208 wines under $25)

By Antonio Galloni

I tasted an amazing range of wines from central and southern Italy this year. The sheer variety these regions encompass is truly amazing. Readers who are limiting themselves to the wines of Piedmont, Tuscany and other better-known regions in the world are missing out on some of the most exciting wines on the planet. Unfortunately I also ran across a number of frankly disappointing wines (to put it kindly) that show there is still much work to do in many of these emerging regions. Still, all things considered, the finest wines of the center and south remain well worth seeking out. Best of all, more than 40% of the wines in this article are priced at under $25 a bottle. Readers who want to learn more about the center and south will find concise summaries of each of the regions in my article of April 2009.

It is impossible to generalize about vintages across the whole of central and southern Italy. If there is one rule of thumb that holds true for most of the mainland it is that the 2008s are more mineral-driven, mid-weight wines while the 2009s show a plumpness that is the result of the heat wave that spread across much of Italy in the middle of August. The 2008s are hit-and-miss while the 2009s are more consistent across the board.

The Essential Grape Varieties of Central and Southern Italy

Italy can be a daunting country to get a handle on considering the seemingly endless number of grape varieties that are planted throughout the peninsula and islands. I hope readers will find this primer to the most important varieties of central and southern Italy of use. Of course in a country with well over a thousand native varieties there are many more than just a dozen or so that merit attention, but this list is a good starting point for readers making an initial foray into these regions and their wines. Honorable mentions go to Greco di Tufo (Campania), Falanghina (Campania), Pallagrello Nero (Campania), Casavecchia (Campania), Piedirosso (Campania), Primitivo (Puglia), Lacrima di Morro d’Alba (Marche), Frappato (Sicily) and Insolia (Sicily). Sangiovese is found widely throughout central Italy, most notably in the Marche and Umbria, but in these regions it most often plays a supporting role rather than the lead, as it does in Tuscany.