Americans love to visit Italy, especially Tuscany, and one of the reasons is the grape called sangiovese. Best known when made into the red wine called Chianti, it is called "the defining grape of Italy." It has been both the region's boon and its bane.
Infinitely malleable, it is so familiar to centuries of Italian growers that they have given it a dozen local names, from sangiovese grosso to prugnolo to brunello, to the confusion of its fans. It's been planted at least as far back as the Etruscan civilization in the second century BC.
Source: http://www.kentucky.com/
