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Italian wine has a rich history, made in a country which is home to some of the oldest wine-producing regions in the world. Etruscans and Greek settlers produced wine in the country long before the Romans started developing their own vineyards in the second century BC. Roman grape-growing and winemaking was prolific and well-organised, pioneering large-scale production and storage techniques like barrel-making and bottling. Two thousand years later, Italy remains one of the world's foremost producers, responsible for approximately one-fifth of world wine production in 2005.

Wine is a popular drink in Italy. Grapes are grown in almost every part of Italy, with more than 1 million vineyards under cultivation. In some places the vines are trained along low supports. In others they climb as slender saplings.

Most wine-making in Italy is done in modern wineries. However, villagers who make wine for their own use sometimes still tread the grapes with their bare feet, until the juice is squeezed out. They believe this ancient method still makes the best wine.

Although wines had been elaborated from the wild Vitis vinifera grape for millennia, it wasn't until the Greek colonization that wine-making flourished. Viticulture was introduced into Sicily and southern Italy by the Mycenaean Greeks, and was well established when the extensive Greek colonization transpired around 800 BC. During the Roman defeat of the Carthaginians (acknowledged masters of wine-making) in the second century BC that Italian wine production began to further flourish. Large-scale, slave-run plantations sprang up in many coastal areas and spread to such an extent that, in AD92, emperor Domitian was forced to destroy a great number of vinyards in order to free up fertile land for food production.

During this time, viticulture outside of Italy was prohibited under Roman law. Exports to the provinces were reciprocated in exchange for more slaves, especially from Gaul where trade was intense, according to Pliny, due to the inhabitants being besotted with Italian wine, drinking it unmixed and without restraint. Roman wines contained more alcohol and were generally more powerful than modern fine wines. It was customary to mix wine with a good proportion of water which may otherwise have been unpalatable, making wine drinking a fundamental part of early Italian life.

As the laws on provincial viticulture were relaxed, vast vineyards began to flourish in the rest of Europe, especially Gaul (present day France) and Hispania. This coincided with the cultivation of new vines, like biturica (ancestor of the Cabernets). These vineyards became hugely successful, to the point that Italy ultimately became an import centre for provincial wines.

Depending on the vintage, modern Italy is the world's largest or second largest wine producer. In 2005, production was about 20% of the global total, second only to France, which produced 22%. In the same year, Italy's share in dollar value of table wine imports into the U.S. was 32%, Australia's was 24%, and France's was 20%. Along with Australia, Italy's market share has rapidly increased in recent years.

And with such huge success, Italy may well be one of the most strongest wine-producers in the world.

Spanish wines are wines produced in Spain. Located on the Iberian Peninsula, Spain has over 2.9 million acres (over 1.17 million hectares) planted - making it the most widely planted wine producing nation but it is only the third largest producer of wine in the world, the largest being Italy and France. This is due, in part, to the very low yields and wide spacing of the old vines planted on the dry, infertile soil found in many Spanish wine regions. The country is 9th in worldwide consumptions with Spaniards drinking, on average, 10.06 gallons (38 liters) a year. The country has an abundance of native grape varieties, with over 600 varieties planted throughout Spain though 80% of the country's wine production is from only 20 grapes--including Tempranillo, Albarino, Garnacha, Palomino, Airen, Macabeo, Parellada, Xarel·lo, Cariñena and Monastrell. Major Spanish wine regions include the Rioja and Ribera del Duero which is known for their Tempranillo production; Jerez, the home of the fortified wine Sherry; Rías Baixas in the northwest region of Galicia that is known for its white wines made from Albarino and Catalonia which includes the Cava and still wine producing regions of the Penedès as well the Priorat region.

The abundance of native grape varieties fostered an early start to viticulture with evidence of grape pips dating back to the Tertiary period. Archaeologists believe that these grapes were first cultivated sometime between 4000 and 3000 BC, long before the wine-growing culture of the Phoenicians founded the trading post of Cádiz around 1100 BC. Following the Phoenicians, the Carthaginians introduced new advances to the region-including the teachings of the early viticulturist Mago. Carthage would war a series of wars with the emerging Roman Republic that would lead to the Roman conquest of the Spanish mainland, known as Hispania.

Under Roman rule, Spanish wine was widely exported and traded throughout the Roman empire. The two largest wine producing regions at the time were Terraconensis (modern day Tarragona) in the north and Baetica (modern day Andalucia) in the south. During this period more Spanish wine was exported into Gaul than Italian wine, with amphorae being found in ruins of Roman settlements in Normandy, the Loire Valley, Brittany, Provence and Bordeaux. Spanish wine was also provided to Roman soldiers guarding border settlements in Britain and the Limes Germanicus in Germania. The quality of Spanish wine during Roman times was varied, with Pliny the Elder and Martial noting the high quality associated with some wines from Terraconensis while Ovid notes that one popular Spanish wine sold in Rome, known as Saguntum, was merely good for getting your mistress drunk. (Ars amatoria 3.645-6).

Following the decline of the Roman Empire, Spain was invaded by various barbaric tribes-including the Suebi and the Visigoths. Little is known about progress of viticulture and winemaking during this period but there is evidence that some viable form of a wine industry was present when the Moors conquered the land during the early 8th century AD. While the Moors were Muslim and subjected to Islamic dietary laws that forbid the use of alcohol, the Moorish ruler held an ambiguous stance on wine and winemaking during their rule. Several caliphs and emirs owned vineyards and drank wine. While there laws written that outlawed the sale of wine, it was including on lists of items that were subject to taxation in Moorish territories. The Spanish Reconquista reopened the export possibilities of Spanish wines with Bilbao emerging as a large trading port-introducing Spanish wines to the English wine markets in Bristol, London and Southampton. The quality of some of these exported Spanish wines appear to have been high. In 1364, the court of Edward III established the maximum price of wine sold in England with the Spanish wines being priced at the same level as wines from Gascony and higher than those from La Rochelle. The full bodied and high alcohol in most Spanish wines made their favored blending partners for the "weaker" wines from the cooler climate regions of France and Germany though there laws that explicitly outlawed this practice.

One of the dominant geographical influences of Spanish viticulture is the vast plateau known as the Meseta Central that covers much of central Spain. From there flows to the sea several of Spain's principle rivers that are at the heart of many Spanish wine regions. These include the eastward flowing Ebro river that runs through the Rioja and several Catalan wine regions; the Duero which flows westward through the Ribera del Duero region in Spain before crossing the border into Portugal's Douro Valley which is at the heart of Port wine production; the Tajo which runs through the La Mancha region; Guadalquivir which flows into the Atlantic at the Sherry producing village of Sanlúcar de Barrameda. In addition to the Meseta Central, several mountain ranges known as cordilleras serve to isolate and influence the climate of several Spanish wine regions. These include the Cantabrian Mountains that spur westward from the Pyrenees and protect regions like the Rioja from the rain and the cool of westerlies coming from the Bay of Biscay. The Cantabrian Mountains act as a rain shadow with the coastal regions of the Basque Country receiving an average of 59 inches (1,500 mm) while the winemaking region of Rioja, near Haro, around 62 miles (100 km) away receives only 18 inches (450 mm). In Galicia on the northwest coast, the region receives annual rainfall that range from 39 inches (1000 mm) on the coast to 79 inches near the mountainous border of Castile and León.

The climate gets more extreme the further inland towards the Meseta Central and is characterized by hot summers with temperatures that can reach 104°F (40°C) with drought conditions. Many regions receive less than 12 inches (300 mm) of rain annually with most of the rain falling during sudden downpours in the spring and autumn that can pose the risk of flash flooding. Winters in these regions are characterized by cold temperatures that can often fall below freezing around -8°F (-22°C). Towards the southeast, around Valencia, the climate is more moderate with the strong Mediterranean influence. In the south, the climate of the Sherry and Malaga producing regions of Andalusia contain some of the hottest parts of Spain. North of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Guadalquivir Valley, temperatures often reach 113°F (45°C) in the summer. To adapt to this high temperatures, many Spanish vineyards will be planted on higher elevations, with many vineyards located over 2000 feet (650 m) above sea levels. These high altitudes creates a large diurnal temperature variation with low night time temperatures that allow the grapes to maintain acidity levels and coloring. In regions with lower altitude vineyards, such as along the southern Mediterranean coast are prone to producing grapes of high alcohol levels and low acidity.

Spain has a relatively large number of distinct wine-producing regions, more than half having the classification Denominación de Origen (DO) with the majority of the remainder classified as Vinos de la Tierra (VdlT). There are two regions nominated as Denominación de Origen Calificada (DOCa) - Rioja and Priorato - the flagship regions of Spanish winemaking. While most DOs make both red and white wine, some wine regions are more dominated by one style than the other.

Some records estimate that over 600 grape varieties are planted throughout Spain but 80% of the country's wine production is focused on only 20 grape varieties. The most widely planted grape is the white wine grape Airén which was prized for its hardiness and resistance to drop. It is found throughout central Spain and for many years served as the base for Spanish brandy. Wines made from this grape can be very alcoholic and prone to oxidation. The red wine grape Tempranillo is the second most widely planted grape variety, recently eclipsing Garnacha in plantings in 2004. It is known throughout Spain under a variety of synonyms that may appear on Spanish wine labels-including Cencibel, Tinto Fino and Ull de Llebre. Both Tempranillo and Garnacha are used to make the full bodied red wines associated with the Rioja, Ribera del Duero and Penedès with Garnacha being the main grape of the Priorat region. In the Levante region, Monastrell and Bobal have significant plantings, being used for both dark red wines and dry rosé.

In the northwest, the white wine varieties of Albarino and Verdejo are popular plantings in the Rías Baixas and Rueda respectively. In the Cava producing regions of Catalonia and elsewhere in Spain, the principle grapes of Macabeo, Parellada and Xarel·lo are use for sparkling wine production as well as still white wines. In the southern Sherry and Malaga producing regions of Andalucia, the principle grapes are Palomino and Pedro Ximénez. As the Spanish wine industry becomes more modern, there has been a larger presence of international grape variety appearing in both blends and varietal forms-most notably Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Syrah, Merlot and Sauvignon blanc. Other Spanish grape varieties that have significant plantings include Cariñena, Godello, Graciano, Mencia, Loureira, and Treixadura.

French wine is produced in several regions throughout France, on over 800,000 hectares (over 2 million acres) of vineyards, and in a typical year between 50 and 60 million hectolitres of wine is produced, or some 7 to 8 billion bottles. France thus has the world's second-largest total vineyard surface (behind Spain) and competes with Italy for the position of having the world's largest wine production. The earliest history of French wine goes back to the 6th century BC, and many of France's regions count their wine-making history to Roman times. Over the last several hundred years, France has been the most influential country in the wine world: France is the source of more well-known grape varieties (such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc and Syrah) and winemaking practices than any other country, the names of many French wine regions such as Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne are well-known throughout the world, and the style of top French wines have long been the benchmark for winemaking in most wine-producing countries of the world. French wine therefore plays an enormously important role in French identity and pride, and the combination of French wine and the equally influential French gastronomy has been an important one. Over the last decades, however, international competition in the wine industry has gotten much more fierce, and France has been challenged both by winemakers of the New World and by traditional wine-producing countries in southern Europe, while domestic consumption of wine has decreased. Since the French wine industry is very heterogeneous, and ranges from production of very cheap table wine to expensive First Growths and similar "luxury" wines, these changes have hit some very hard and others not at all: while some regions are plagued with constant overproduction of low-quality wines that can't find buyers, and many smaller growers have an increasingly difficult time to make a living, some top producers are more profitable than ever before.

Two central concepts to better-quality French wines are the notion of terroir and the Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) system. "Terroir wines" reflect their place of origin, which are therefore carefully specified on labels of French wine, usually in terms of which appellation the wine comes from. The appellation rules closely define which grape varieties and winemaking practices that are allowed in each of France's several hundred geographically defined appellations, and those rules must be followed by all producers who wish to use an AOC designation for their wines.

The production of French wine has its origins in the 6th century BC, with the colonization of Southern Gaul by Greek settlers. Viticulture soon flourished with the founding of the Greek colony of Marseille. Regions in the south were licensed by the Roman Empire to produce wines. St. Martin of Tours (316-397) was actively engaged in both spreading Christianity and planting vineyards. During the Middle Ages, monks maintained vineyards and, more important, wine making knowledge and skills during that often turbulent period. Monasteries had the resources, security, and motivation to produce a steady supply of wine for both celebrating mass and generating income. During this time the best vineyards were owned by the monasteries and their wine was considered to be superior. Over time the nobility acquired extensive vineyards. However, the French Revolution led to the confiscation of many of the vineyards owned by the Church and others.

Despite some exports from Bordeaux, until about 1850 most wine in France was consumed locally. The spread of railroads and the improvement of roads reduced the cost of transportation and dramatically increased exports.

France has traditionally been the largest consumer of its own wines. However, wine consumption has been dropping in France for 40 years. During the decade of the 1990s, per capita consumption dropped by nearly 20 percent. Therefore, French wine producers must rely increasingly on foreign markets. However, consumption has also been dropping in other potential markets such as Italy, Spain and Portugal.

The result has been a continuing wine glut, often called the wine lake, that has led to the distillation of wine into industrial alcohol as well as a government program to pay farmers to pull up their grape vines through vine pull schemes. A large part of this glut is caused by the re-emergence of Languedoc wine.

Immune from these problems has been the market for Champagne as well as the market for the expensive ranked or classified wines. However, these constitute only about five percent of French production.

French regulations in 1979 created simple rules for the then-new category of Vin de pays. The Languedoc-Roussillon region has taken advantage of its ability to market varietal wines.