Heading due east from Rome lays the region of Abruzzo. This is a historically poor region whose people inhabit the hills and mountains so prevalent in the province. The people are proud and independent and resemble more the peoples of Italy’s southern regions in attitude and aptitude. Likewise the food and wine cultures reflect that lack of affluence centered on a hard working community. The hillsides are excellent for viticulture. The most popular red grape is the Montepulciano although many other grapes are grown here most notably Sangiovese.
Abruzzo produces just one DOCG and three DOC wines that, though they carry brand names, used to be little known abroad and misjudged as cheap, generic, supermarket varieties.

Abruzzo

Alsace is one of the 26 regions of France, located on the eastern border of France on the west of the upper Rhein, adjacent to Germany and Switzerland. Alsace changed hands several times between France and Germany several times between the 17th and 20th century giving this small part of France an interesting history.

Alsace has a semi-continental climate with cold and dry winters and hot summers and is an important wine-producing region with its Vins d'Alsace being mostly white and display a strong Germanic influence. Alsace produces some of the world's most noted dry Rieslings and is the only region in France to produce mostly varietal wines identified by the names of the grape used, typically from grapes also used in Germany. The most notable example is the Gewurtztraminer.

Alsace

The Province of Ancona lies within the Marche region of Central Italy. given birth to Saint Maria Goretti, and for a popular Halloween festival held every October.The province extends from the coast of the Adriatic Sea west to the Apennines with its population mostly concentrated near the coast, and the city of Ancona.

The coastal strip of the province is given over to sandy beaches popular among Italians rather than foreigners; moving inland, the central portion is an area of rolling farmland, producing red and white wines mainly of the Sangiovese, Montepulciano and Verdicchio grape varieties.

Ancona

Beaujolais is a French Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) wine generally made of the Gamay grape which has a thin skin and is low in tannins. Like most AOC wines they are not labeled varietally. Whites from the region, make up only 1% of production, are made mostly with Chardonnay although Aligoté is also permitted. Beaujolais tends to be a very light-bodied red wine, with relatively high amounts of acidity.

The wine takes its name from the historical Beaujolais province and wine producing region. It is located north of Lyon, and covers parts of the north of the Rhône département (Rhône-Alpes) and parts of the south of the Saône-et-Loire département (Burgundy). The region is known internationally for its long tradition of winemaking, uniquely emphasized the use of carbonic maceration, and more recently for the popular Beaujolais nouveau.

Beaujolais

Bordeaux has about 116,160 hectares (287,000 acres) of vineyards, 57 appellations, 10,000 wine-producing Châteaux and 13,000 grape growers. With an annual production of approximately 850 million bottles, Bordeaux produces large quantities of everyday wine as well as some of the most expensive wines in the world.

Both red and white wines are made in Bordeaux with red wines generally blended from grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Malbec, and less commonly in recent years - Carménère. White Bordeaux is made from Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon, and Muscadelle. Sauternes is a subregion of Graves known for its intensely sweet, white, dessert wines such as Château d'Yquem.

Bordeaux

Burgundy region of France enfolds the valleys and slopes west of the Saône River, a tributary of the Rhône. The most famous wines produced here are those commonly referred to as "Burgundies" where the red wines are made from the Pinot Noir grape and the white wines are made from the Chardonnay grape.
Red and white wines can also made from other grape varieties such as Gamay and Aligoté respectively with a
small amounts of rosé and sparkling wine also produced in the region.
However, Chardonnay-dominated Chablis and Gamay-dominated Beaujolais are formally part of the Burgundy wine region, but wines from those sub-regions are usually referred to by their own names rather than as "Burgundy wines".
Burgundy has a higher number of Appellations d' Origine Contrôlée (AOCs) than any other French region, and is often seen as the most terroir-conscious of the French wine regions.

Burgundy

Cabardès is an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) for red and rosé wine in the Languedoc-Roussillon wine region of France. Cabardès was named after the Lords of Cabaret who defended the Châteaux de Lastours against Simon de Montfort in 1209. Despite the name's medieval origins, this appellation is one of the youngest in France, which became official in February 1999. Most of the wine produced in the Cabardès is red but rosé is also produced under the AOC designation.
The vineyards of the Cabardes cover a mere 500 hectares on the northwestern border of the modern Languedoc-Roussillon region of France, an area that runs up against the foothills of the Montagne Noire. The appellation really consists of a small grouping of villages directly north of the medieval walled city of Carcassonne. It is exceptionally small in size compared to the neighboring AOC such as the Minervois or Corbieres.
The soil composition varies between chalky clay, limestone and rocky foothill terroir. The weather is largely dominated by the powerful wind currents of the region, the dry, Atlantic vent Cers and the warm, Mediterranean vent Marin.

Cabardes

Campo de Borja is a Spanish Denominación de Origen (DO) for wines located in the northwest of the province of Zaragoza - Aragon. It is a transitional zone between the plains of the River Ebro and the mountains of the Sistema Ibérico. The Moncayo mountains are the dominant feature of the DO region with its micro climate which gives the wines a special character. Atlantic influences during the winter, notably a cold, dry wind from the northeast with the summer months being more Mediterranean. The vineyards are planted on a series of high plateaus at heights ranging between 350 m and 750 m above sea level.
The soils are mainly dark lime-bearing soils of average rockiness, good drainage, average level of organic matter and rich in nutrients. Closer to the Moncayo the clay and iron content increases, as does the general rockiness.
There are currently about 6,300 ha under vines which produce between 20 and 25 million kg of grapes.
Garnacha, Tempranillo, Mazuela, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah as well as Macabeo and Moscatel are planted in this region.

Campo de Borja

Champagne is a sparkling wine produced by inducing the in-bottle secondary fermentation of the wine to effect carbonation. It is produced exclusively within the Champagne region of France from which it takes its name.

The primary grapes used in the production of Champagne are Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier. Through international treaty, national law or quality-control/consumer protection related local regulations, most countries limit the use of the term to only those wines that come from the Champagne appellation. In Europe, this principle is enshrined in the European Union by Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status.

Champagne

Corbières is part of the Languedoc-Roussillon wine region of France. Almost 46% of the region's production was designated AOC in 2005, thus making it the largest AOC production in the region.
95% of the wines produced in the Corbieres is red with only a small amount of rose and white to make up the balance.
Due to its size and geography, Corbières encompasses an enormous variety of soil types and microclimates. The wines from the region tend to be just as varied as the terroir.
Red wines are blended with a minimum of two grape varieties, these must be either Grenache, Lledoner Pelut, Mourvèdre or Syrah and must make up at least 50 per cent of the blend. Carignan, Picquepoul Noir and Terret Noir can be part of the blend but must not exceed 50% of the blend.
Rose's have a minium of two grapes in their blend which are generally Grenache, Lledoner Pelut, Mourvèdre, Picquepoul Noir and Syrah, Cinsault to name but a few.
Like the Rhone wines the Corbieres wines are blended with a lot of different grapes.

Corbieres