The wine world resembles a universe, each country a bright galaxy, and within that, hundreds of constellations stretched across space, like vineyards climbing mountain valleys, volcanic islands and rolling hills. Italy's geographic diversity and historic destiny make it an intriguing place to explore wine.  For thousands of years, wine has been drunk on and off the peninsula.

Today, over 350 grape varieties grow on nearly 3,000 miles of land, and many are indigenous. (Compare that to California, the largest wine producing state that plants 120 varieties across 700 miles.) For millennia, all of the elements - earth, air, fire and water - have factored in to the flavor that comes from these vines.