Few places on earth are as fertile as Italy. From Puglia to Piedmont, the land unfolds in a sweep of green and gold. Fields of wheat roll like waves toward the horizon. Plump red tomatoes thrive in the shadows of volcanoes, and olive trees line the electric-blue coasts of summer dreams.
Even the Alpine and Apennine forests offer a bounty of wild herbs and vegetables practically unrivaled in Europe. Figs, fennel, chestnuts, capers, citrus, berries, barley - almost everything grows here. Yet no crop is as venerated as the grape.
