A definitive long-form guide to Italy’s essential red wines: regions, grapes, terroir, structure, aging, service and professional food pairing, with direct links to Zafferano & Co. Wine Pairing guides.

Amarone della Valpolicella and Etna Rosso: concentration from Veneto meets volcanic tension from Sicily. Amarone della Valpolicella and Etna Rosso represent two almost opposite expressions of Italian red wine. Amarone comes from Veneto and achieves extraordinary concentration through appassimento, the controlled drying of harvested grapes before fermentation. Etna Rosso comes from the volcanic slopes of Mount Etna in Sicily, where altitude, lava-derived soils, dramatic temper