意大利被世人誉为葡萄酒之乡（或译“葡萄酒之地”）。世界著名葡萄酒评论家休•约翰逊曾言，相对于法国来说，意大利葡萄酒更能体现自己国家的特色。在意大利，几乎每一个大区、每一个省，都种植着葡萄树，并拥有着酿酒的历史。
Italy is the land of wine. As is said by Hugh Johnson, the world famous British author and expert on wine, Italian wines reflect more a national identity than French wines; almost in every region and province of Italy, grapes are planted, and wines are produced.
意大利被称为“葡萄酒之乡”还要追溯到古希腊时期，当时的古希腊文明与他们的殖民地一起延伸至欧洲大陆的其他角落；在诸多殖民地中有一块土地被希腊人命名为“Enotria”，意为“葡萄酒之乡”，因为在那片土地上，无论从何处播下葡萄种，葡萄树便能茂盛地生长。随着希腊人将葡萄种植技术引入Enotria，那片土地就成为地中海沿岸的最佳葡萄酒产地。
Enotria，another name of Italy, dates back to ancient Greek time. As Greek culture spread throughout Europe, wine and vine growing were introduced to several of the new Greek colonies. Among these there was a neighboring land that the Greeks called Enotria. The word means "Land of wine". The name was given because the vines thrived wherever they were planted there, and it was the source of the best wines produced around the Mediterranean Sea.
伴随着葡萄酒开始慢慢在这片土地繁荣，一个伟大的文明也开始在这篇土地中兴起，这也反过来促使葡萄酒在世界传播。Entoria便是如今的意大利，此后的那个文明正是欧洲最重要的历史文明——古罗马文明。
Spreading wine to this land was important because a fledging culture soon started there that had a love of wine from the beginning. Enotria today is Italy and the fledging culture eventually became the most important ancient civilization in Europe: Rome.
