A Few Italian Wines

Italy is essentially a wine-growing country, and the cultivation of the vine has been established from time immemorial. Several of the wines we drink to-day in Italy were appreciated by the Romans and are mentioned by many authors; and the wines of Campania, Umbria and Tuscany were deservedly famous centuries before the vineyards of Gaul were even heard of. Italian wines, however, have never been held in such high esteem as those produced by France, having a somewhat cruder bouquet, due partly to climatic conditions, and partly to the unscientific method of cultivation which prevailed up to comparatively recent times. Great improvements have been made, however, and the methods of vinification how employed are no longer haphazard. The great vineyards of Italy have adopted modern methods and now many an Italian wine can boast of as fine a bouquet as those of France.