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News
Italy named the world’s best wine country
Italy has been ranked as the best country in the world for wine lovers, beating France and Spain in a survey conducted by Lastminute.com.
As reported by The Local, the survey compared 30 different wine producing nations to see how they stacked up when it comes to the quality of its wine output, wine tastings, vineyard visits, and the cost of travel and accommodation.
Italy emerged victorious due to the abundance of wine tasting experiences on offer throughout its 21 wine regions running from the top to the bottom of its boot.
France came second, Spain third and South Africa fourth, while Australia was considerably down the list in 15th place and the US way down at number 27. The UK, which is fast making a name for itself for the quality of its sparkling wines, came in 30th place on the list.
Italy pipped France to the post due to its higher number of consumer wine experiences and having a larger number of wineries open to the public.
The average price of Italian wine is also lower than its French neighbour, costing €4.77 a bottle on average, compared to €5.73 in France. According to Wine-Searcher’s ranking of the 50 most expensive wines in the world, 38 of the top 50 are from France.
And in other news McDonald’s has been named the World’s Best Restaurant.
What BS. Comparing Italy, homeland of Slow Food to MCDonald’s. Grow up. Envy is one ugly thing. So is bad-mouthing.
Another of these pointless ‘accolades’ that get promulgated by the pontificators! Of course Italy has loads of good wines across the price and varietal spectrum but the same could be said about just about any significant wine producing country. The criteria by which this decision was reached are not shared, nor who felt in a position to make this momentous (and fatuous) judgement. Best confined to the bin!
I’ve just been to Italy (Tuscany) and I was not impressed at all with only limited offerings for casual winery visits and tastings.
Sorry. Are you American? Unfortunately, many foreiginers have this fascination for Tuscany, but that region is in no way our best wine region.
Charles Crawfurd is spot on with his comments. Note for instance, in a practical sense, the range and variety of wines and estates you can access if visit for a while for instance Perth, Adelaide or Melbourne in Australia, or Cape Town in South Africa.
Uhm, I guess your statement comes from overall ignorance on the matter. Australia has 2,468 wineries (or around that number), up to 6,719 if you add grapegrowers. Italy has 310,000.
Can you see the difference? And it’s not just a matter of numbers. Italy has high quality standards and thousands of years of wine-making.
Forza Italia!
With more than 900 indigenous grape varieties, no doubt Italy ranks high and should. Their wine is delicious too and offers, because there are SO many indigenous grapes, unique tasting experiences in different regions. But dearth of detail, this “study”smacks of an agenda before the facts.
I love Italy, the Italian people, culture, food, history and yes..its wines…but to make the assertion that it is “the best country in the World for wine lovers” is patently absurd!! Personally, I enjoy wines from all around the World… and the same claim for Italy can be made by many wine regions in the World. In that spirit, it would be much more useful to spend time “discovering new wines from around the World” to accompany certain dishes, etc.
I would agree with this mainly because I enjoy Italian wines. About 1/3 of my 800+ bottle cellar consists of Italian varietals but, it was a survey depending on who answered it, so another survey could have different results.
Very few people know that many French wineries buy wine from Piedmont (Italy) and sell it as their own, or mix it with their own wine and sell it to the public. Wake up, people.
Timeo Franciaos et dona ferentes…
Italy makes the best world in the world…That’s a joke?
where was Argentina placed in this search
I had asked where was Argentina placed in this search
Italy has the widest variety of grapes in the world, that’s a fact. They also have some excellent wines, also a fact. Saying it’s the best wine country is not a fact, but an opinion, so it depends on personal taste. I am Italian and I love Italian wines, but I love Spanish wines, some Chilean, some US wines, some Portuguese etc… It does not make sense to make a ranking by country, but every specific wine must be tasted and evaluated locally. Of course if you talk about “variety of grapes” Italy is the winner
They didn’t make a ranking, they asked people in a survey and Italy was named as the best. It’s not that hard to understand.
Australia’s Penfolds Bin series Wine should be another level . its so nice that can sure beat some Italy or French wines ! go taste !
Italy has the best wines, so many wine regions, so many grape types, etc….something simmilar is also in France and maybe the French have better marqueting but for me (i love french wines too…) are the italian wines the best! Then in Europe sure there are many other countries with excelent wines (Spain, Portugal, Greece, maybe also Bulgaria) but no wine culture is so rich and natural as the italian one!
A.Voice it depends what tourists taste when in Tuscany..if they are stingy and taste some farmer wines in some agriturism only and expect them to be like Chateu Mouton it’s obvious they are disappointed..if they were less stingy they would taste Sassicaia or Brunello di Montalcino as well..you don’t even know how many cheap tourists come in Tuscany thinking they can live like tycoons with lttle money..LOL
In other parts of the world wine retailing is not that common as in Italy and they just sell expensive stuff..
Had a lot of Italian, French, and pretty much at least a few wines from practically every wine producing country on Earth, and my opinion is that Italian wines are higher quality on average than French wines but the top quality wines are mostly French. So the high end is better in France, but the rest of it is on average better in Italy, also it is hard to find a really bad Italian wine, and it is possible to find a really bad French wine. Therefore, if you are a rich guy who can afford wine bottles above $50 go with French wines, but if you are an average Joe who like decent wines and can’t afford to pay over $15-20 on a bottle, go with Italian, most Italian wines in $10-$15 range are better than French wines in same price range.
Italy has a grand tradition and maybe merits its top ranking but on what basis and judged by whom ? These rankings are spurious at times. Lebanese wine is the great unknown jewel and worth more than a passing mention.