Wine Shop

Vines covered Italy's landscape long before it became part of the Roman Empire. Grape plantations developed along coastal regions and spread far into the countryside. One emperor destroyed vineyards because they were so extensive that there was no fertile land left for farming food. Italy was governed by a profusion of countries and its individual city-states became protective of their wine traditions and varieties, creating a remarkable diversity in Italy's vineyards. In the 19th century, Italian wine makers were introduced to French wine-making methods and altered their practices to produce a better Italian wine. After World War II, Italian citizens demanded a better quality wine, an instrumental move in making Italy the world's second largest wine producer. Viticulture remains a small farm venture in the wine country in Italy - one of the reasons the names of Italian wines are reflective of their town of origin. To Italian wine makers, modern technology and better understanding of viticulture are helpful tools but for those farmers whose traditional, tried and true methods have yielded exceptional results, change is slow and probably unnecessary.