Italian White Wines

Italian white wines are extremely versatile and flavourful thanks to Italy’s diverse terroir and native grape varieties. This makes Italian white wines quite the adventure.

Today, people all over the world can enjoy the taste of excellent Italian white wines thanks to a leap in technological vinification and ageing processes in recent decades.

• Soave (So-Ah-Ve)

  Made from the Veneto’s indigenous Garganega grape, Soave is a delicious wine made in the hills around the town of Soave, just east of Verona. It is dry and fresh in style. Today, there are many producers dedicated to making high-quality Soave

• Ribolla Gialla (ree-BOHL-lah JAHL-lah)

  This wine is as old as the Romans. Ribolla Gialla is native to Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located in North Eastern Italy. It is very refreshing, with unique notes of hazelnuts and acacia flowers. It makes an excellent aperitif

• Vernaccia di San Gimignano (Vair-NAH-chah-dee-san-jim-min-YAH-no)

  Grown in the province of Siena, this wine is very historic; it was the first Italian wine to receive a DOC status. When young, Vernaccia has gorgeous fruit and floral aromas. With age, it develops complexity, with intriguing minerality and flinty notes

• Trebbiano d’Abruzzo (Traib-bee-ah-noh dah-BROOT-zo)

  While there are various Trebbiano clones, this particular variant is special to Abruzzo. It is dry and savoury with flavours of ripe golden apple and dried fruit, with a mildly bitter finish

• Fiano di Avellino (fee-AH-no dee ah-vay-LEE-no)

  From the province of Avellino, this Fiano gains its finesse thanks to being grown in a mountainous region with superb clay soils and temperature variations. The result is a balanced, full bodied wine with dried fruit notes. Its is particularly ageworthy and versatile when it comes to food pairings

• Falanghina (Fah-lawn-GHEE-nah)

  This is a wine with great personality. It’s dry and moderately fruity and pairs perfectly with fish and shellfish. It also makes a perfect aperitif, maybe on a beach or piazza!

• Verdicchio dei castelli di Jesi (vair-DEE-kee-oh day kah-STAY-lee dee YAY-zee)

  A delicate wine, Verdicchio is grown n the region of Le Marche. It is a smooth wine, with a persistent fragrance of fruit and flowers. On the palace it has a pleasant, bitter almond flavour. It is best consumed young (with a few notable exceptions).

• Vermentino di Gallura (vair-men-TEE-no dee gah-LOO-rah)

  Produced in the northeastern tip of Sardinia known as Gallura, this wine has a vibrant personality. It exudes white flower aromas with notes of Mediterranean “macchia” (shrubland). On the palate, it is packed with white fruit flavours and addictive freshness

• North West

  This region begins with the mountainous Valle d'Aosta. There, the climatic conditions result in light-bodied wines with lively acidity. A little further south, Piedmont may be the land of great red wines, but it also makes elegant whites like Roero Arneis and Cortese.

  To the East, Lombardy offers unique wines like Lugana, found along the shores of Lake Garda. Liguria’s vineyards are terraced and generally overlook the sea which gives the wines immense acidity and minerality.

• North East

  The North East of Italy is well renowned for its prestigious white wine production. The Veneto stands out in particular, with its Trebbiano di Lugana and delicious Soave. North, you will find Trentino Alto Adige. This region produces impressive high altitude wines, such as Kerner, Pinot Nero and the indigenous variety Nosiola.

  And then there is the magical region of Friuli. More than 60% of this region’s vineyard area is dedicated to indigenous white grapes. Ribolla Gialla and Friulano are the most well-known.

• Central

  Central Italy is home to a few small yet stellar wine regions. Emilia-Romagna, a food capital, produces the famous Albana di Romagna, the first white wine DOCG in Italy. Just south is Tuscany, where you will find delicious native varieties grown on the coast. The most known are Vermentino, Pitigliano, and Ansonia. Below Tuscany, Umbria makes delicious wines from the local Grechetto.

  On the East Coast, Abruzzo produces Trebbiano. More uniquely, Le Marche is known for the production of one of the most popular Italian white wines, Verdicchio. This wine is vibrant and made under two DOCs: Castelli di Jesi and Matelica.

• South & Islands

  Campania, home to the famous Amalfi Coast, produces Greco di Tufo, Fiano di Avellino and Falanghina. At the tip of the boot lies Calabria, where you can find Cirò Bianco. Just east, in Puglia you’ll find Verdeca del Salento, a rare white, with an aromatic profile.

  Sardinia has plenty of indigenous white grape varieties. There is Vermentino di Gallura, Nuragus of Cagliari and Torbato Alghero. Sicily produces some fantastic coastal white wines, such as Grillo, Carricante, and Cataratto.