ITALY AND WINE BIODIVERSITY: 75% OF ITALY’S VINEYARDS COVERED BY OVER 80 GRAPE VARIETIES. PORTUGAL IS SECOND AT JUST UNDER 40; FRANCE AND SPAIN HAVE FEWER THAN 15 VARIETIES, REVEALED OIV. CABERNET SAUVIGNON IS THE MOST CULTIVATED VARIETY IN THE WORLD

Italy is, by far, the country that has the highest wine diversity. It not only has the highest number of PDO and PGI wines (over 520 total), but also 75% of its surface area (690.000 hectares total, including 660.000 wine grapes, ed.) is composed of 80 of the most cultivated vines. This is enormous compared to Portugal, at just fewer than 40 and Romania at just over 30, following Italy in this particular ranking, drawn up by the International Organization of Vine and Wine.
Jean-Marie Aurand, CEO of the organization, presented its "2017 Annual Report on the World Vitiviniculture Situation", at the World Wine and Vine Congress in Sofia, Bulgaria, which essentially confirms all the data in the "point of business" presented in April, during Vinitaly (the world-wide area has grown 7.5 million hectares, grain production in 2016 reached 75 million tons, wine production is estimated at 267 million hectoliters and consumption around 241, https://goo.gl/dLUWth, ed.), but also takes a closer look at the vineyards.
The OIV numbers definitely re cognize the viticulture biodiversity of Italy, which is far superior to its main competitors like France and Spain, as 75% of their vineyards are covered by less than 15 varieties.
In Italy, the most cultivated variety is Sangiovese, representing 8% of the total vineyard, followed by Montepulciano, Glera and Pinot Grigio (4% each) and Merlot (3%), while all the other vines count for 77%. On the other hand, in France, the most cultivated vine is Merlot (14% of the total vineyard, which counts 785.000 hectares), followed by Ugni Blanc (Trebbiano), Grenache (10%), Syrah (8%) and Chardonnay (6%), and these five varieties alone account for 48% of the total. The situation is even more polarized in Spain, where the bulk of the vineyard (975.000 hectares) is Airen (22%) and Tempranillo (21%), then Bobal and Garnacha (6%) and Viura (or Macabeu, 5%), while the other grapes make up the remaining 39% of the surface area.

OIV pointed out that the over 10.000 world-famous grape varieties, including wine and table varieties, account for more than one-third of the total surface area, and 33 alone account for half the surface area.
The most cultivated variety is Kyoho, a table grape that occupies 365.000 hectares in the world (and also covers 44% of China's total 847.000 hectares of vines and more than 60% of its total vineyard is destined for table grapes, ed.), followed by Cabernet-Sauvignon, the most cultivated wine variety counting 340.000 hectares, and the Sultana grape (mostly as table grapes but also for producing wine), at 300.000 hectares. Then follow: Merlot (266.000 hectares);Tempranillo (231.000); Airen (218.000); Chardonnay (211,000); Syrah (190.000); Grenache Noir (163.000 hectares); Red Globe (table grapes, 160.000 hectares); Sauvignon Blanche (121.000); Pinot Noir (115.000) and Ugni Blanc or Trebbiano Toscano (111.000 hectares).