Close your eyes for a moment and think about ethnic food, and name as many dishes as you can for each country. I'll take a guess that Italian is the longest list. Think about the number of ethnic restaurants you can go to, and I would bet you have a pretty solid selection of Italian food.
Now think about a fine wine, and I would bet something Italian or French came to mind right away. Think about it... Italy, a country only about 2/3 the size of California is without question the culinary capital of the world.