Wines of Central & Southern Italy

Episode Two: Marches stretches from Tuscany to Umbria to the Adriatic coast. Its wines are less well known than those of its more famous neighbors. The chief grape varieties of the region include Sangiovese and Trebbiano.

Episode Three: Lazio is in the heart of Italy. The bulk of the region's wine production is white and is centered in the Castelli Romani, the hill outside of Rome.

Episode Four: Puglia comprises the southernmost region on the "heel" of the Italian boot. The region produces over 350 million gallons of wine and ranks only behind Sicily as Italy's largest producer.

Episode Five: The production of wine in Sicily dates back to the eighth century BC. Today, Sicily has over half a million acres of land devoted to wine grapes and produces over 400 million gallons of wine annually.

Episode Six: Historically, linguistically, and culturally the island of Sardinia seems detached from the mainstream of Italian culture. Wine varieties, not surprisingly, are unique to the island and appear to be primarily of Spanish origin.

Apprx: 2 hrs, color.