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Italy was the country of longing for many Germans in the 1950s, and it still is today. The easygoing manner of the Italians, who make you forget all your shortcomings with a smile, who help you calm your anger over a coffee ("but I don't have a car") or a glass of wine and show you how to enjoy life, is a stubborn cliché - with a kernel of truth.

You can also enjoy a good book, because the pleasure-seeking traveller prepares himself, especially if he is going to a country that has as many facets as Italy. It's also better to deal with Italy's wine worlds in advance at home, because with almost two kilos more in your luggage, the journey becomes rather arduous, at least when you arrive on foot.

The content of the book, on the other hand, is upbeat, written in a relaxed and entertaining tone like a lifestyle magazine, with the collaboration of co-authors Matthias Stelzig, Angelika Arians-Derix, Roszika Farkas and Luzia Schrampf. It's fun to read and look at, and full of stories and details. It's not just about wine, even if the title suggests it, it's about the attitude to life and the cultural backgrounds from which a product like wine also springs.

The dialogue in the introduction is wonderful, the alternating view between the writing Italy connoisseur and the photographing Italy novice; I would have liked to see much more of that. The photos by Markus Bassler bear witness to the curiosity of the newcomer and the simultaneously clueless and somewhat overwhelmed gaze of the still ignorant in view of the abundance that Italy has to offer.

All 20 regions of the country are touched upon, yet it is not the "Bible of Italian wine", as the book has already been titled by some enthusiasts, for that it portrays too much individual destinies, and the mouse recommendations at the end of each chapter reveal personal preferences. These preferences are also reflected in the layout of the 384 pages. Where love falls. For Steffen Maus, it is Tuscany that is presented over 64 pages, followed by Veneto on 26 pages and Piedmont on 33 pages, Friuli on 26, South Tyrol on 25, Sicily on 22 and Puglia on 21 pages; in the midfield - under 20 pages - Emilia Romagna, Lombardy, Abruzzo and Marche; Sardinia makes it to two pages; Lazio, Trentino and Umbria to only one page each; Valle d'Aosta and Liguria even have to make do with half a page each, and Calabria and Molise managed a mention on a quarter of a page.

But it is also really difficult to squeeze Italy into a book, because the country, life, people and wines are so incredibly diverse that it will never be possible to squeeze it all between two book covers.

"Italy's Wine Worlds" is not really a wine book at all, it is a declaration of love for Italy and an invitation to get involved for the curious and all those who think they already know Italy because they once drank a Barolo, Chianti or Prosecco or spent a holiday on Lake Garda. The book offers suggestions and insights into a much-vaunted way of life and invites you to discover, refresh your passion or even fall in love, as happened to Steffen Maus.

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