Italy, oh Italy

As a wine buyer, and wine lover, few things thrill me more than when I come across a unique gem of a wine which totally takes me by surprise. I think this is why I love Italy the way I do, for it seems that every second time that I try Italian wines I find something exciting. 
Granted there are a lot of Italian wines which have a long way to go, yet there are so many producers all across Italy who are setting aside the backwards traditions of their forefathers and embracing the methods of the new, wider world of wine. Some are even setting aside the laws of the land, carving entirely new paths and blazing new trails for the next generation of winemakers.
None of us, however, want to taste a Napa Cabernet when we pour a glass of Barolo or a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc when we taste a Vernaccia de San Gimignano and thankfully most fine Italian winemakers are in total compliance.
In my mind this is where the magic happens, when a winemaker uses modern techniques to lift the terrior and the individual character of traditional wines and reduce the less savory components like oxidation, uncontrolled fermentation and bacterial infestation. Thankfully to, because each of these regions has something special to offer, some unique quality (a product of hundreds of years of evolution and tradition) which can be found nowhere else in the world. 
From the rich full flavored Amarones of the Veneto with their incredible, almost port like, ability to age for decades, to the dark brooding Nebbiolo’s of the Piedmont which need decades just in order to be enjoyed. And don’t rule out the Chianti’s or the Brunello’s because the modern age of winemaking as also reached the heartland of Tuscany as well.
In fact, many producers in Tuscany have entirely turned their backs on the restrictive government regulations placed on their industry. They have begun to grow international varieties, like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah and blend them with the local ubiquitous Sangiovese grape. The wines, in a word, are “stunning” carrying all the weight that these “foreign grapes” can muster with the “red earth and strawberry” unique to Sangiovese. These are the “Super Tuscans” the weighty giants of the Italian heartland. 
Italy has been a land which has known the cultivation of wine grapes for almost 4000 years and yet the changes of the last 20-30 years have completely transformed the nations wine industry (in most cases for the better). So, the next time you are looking for a bottle of wine to complement your dinner take a chance on Italy, you might just be pleasantly surprised.