Italian "V"s

[winophite]

Hi, I've been reading through some aged posts on wine/food thread dealing with alfredo...I'm wondering about the Italian V's; Vermentino, Verdicchio and Vernaccia. My first guess is these are names of grape varietals, but I've also started reading "French wine for Dummies" which makes me wonder if perhaps these names are for towns or communes similarly to as the French name their wines. Lastly, any widely available producers to look for(under $25).
Thanks. WP