When you think about Italian Lifestyle you immediately think of a glass of good Italian wine.

Not all families have wine with dinner at home, but the majority of Italians do—it’s traditional to have a glass of wine with a meal. Usually, it’s red wine, but they often prefer a nice fresh flat white in the summer months, and also rosé.

Average Italians choose mid-range or mid- to low-end wines. Italy is positively full of them. Supermarkets, even small ones, have long displays full of wine selections.  The best-selling wines in Italy are Lambrusco, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, Chianti, Sangiovese, and Barbera, to name a few.

Barolo, Amarone, Barbaresco are very famous and precious Italian wines; Italians don’t have them at their daily meals.

If the Italian Lady has friends over, she always offers bubbles with the aperitivo, and then a mid-range or upper-range wine for the meal, such as Barolo or one of the other finer wines mentioned above. White,  Red or Rosé will depend on the season and the menu. Sometimes there are even both on the table.

For gift giving, she selects medium-high quality wines, whether red or white. Also, you can’t go wrong with Champagne. In the eyes of Italians (xenophiles), Champagne is still seen as more valuable than sparkling wine from any other region.

Incidentally, Italy is the third-largest wine consumer in the world after the United States and France. How is it possible that such a small country drinks more hectoliters of wine than larger countries like China, Russia, or even Germany or the UK?

Find more info on the habits of Italians on “The Italian Lady”, the book.