LOMBARDY

 Although Lombardy is developing a reputation for its sparkling wines from Franciacorta and Oltrepò Pavese, the wine industry has less importance here than the region’s other industries. That is not to say that the local population do not enjoy wine – far from it. Yet the affluent Milanese people tend to shun the local wines in favour of Tuscany and Piedmont’s reds and the whites of the Veneto. It is not entirely clear why this is the case – Lombardy offers some outstanding conditions for vine growth with influences from the Alps to the North, the lakes of Garda, Iseo, Como and Maggiore and the Apennines in the south. Its wines offer great variety and character, with a mixture of modern and traditional, as well as native and foreign grape varieties.