A little more than four years ago at my Italian wine blog, I wrote an article about Italy's 50 Best White Wines. It may have been the first article of its type, as white wines tend to be greatly overshadowed by the country's famous reds.

But having visited virtually every region of Italy, tasting the typical wines of each area, it became clear to me over the past ten years that the finest Italian whites are highly distinctive and can be ranked favorably with the best whites from around the world.