Northeastern Italy

The northeast corner of Italy, surrounded by the Austrian, Slovenian, and Swiss borders, is home to three major wine producing regions: the Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Trentino-Alto Adige. In the Veneto, the majority of the reds consist of Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara. These versatile grapes help to produce the light and fruity early-consumption wines of Valpolicella and Bardolino. However when the grapes are dried using the passito method, they are used to produce the massive and robust wines of Amarone della Valpolicella, which consistently earn some of the highest ratings in our Northeast Italian Wine Reviews. The slopes and climate of Trentino-Alto Adige allow Pinot Grigio to thrive, but also have inspired the plantings of some alternate white varietals such as Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Bianco. The whites of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, especially the varietal wines from the Colli Orientali DOC, fare extremely well according to our Northeastern Italy Wine Ratings. Those created from Tocai Friulano and Pinot Grigio are some of the region’s best and offer fresh acidity with an abundance of orchard fruit flavors. To learn more about the wines of the region, reference our Northeastern Italy Buying Guide and our Italian white wine reviews.