It's a bit early in the season for a drive through northern Italy's wine country - with evening temperatures still cold.
Let's not wait. Let's take a virtual tasting tour of the wine-intensive area's very real vineyards. Let's do it in our virtual Maserati GranTurismo (it's $A139,891 in real life, but it doesn't cost anything when it's virtual).
Let's start in Florence, queen city of Tuscany, with a good night's sleep at my favourite hotel, Albergo Botticelli. We get up just early enough to make the 10am breakfast cutoff and depart in our 460-horsepower car, trying not to take advantage of its ability to reach 95km/h within 4.5 seconds.
From here it's a 144km drive south, much of it along the Mediterranean coast, to Maremma, the up-and-coming Tuscan wine region nestled between the Uccellina Mountains and the blue sea.
The locals call the area "Tuscany's Wild West" - complete with horses and cowboys. And really good grapes - growers say the nearby sea lends a salty, minerally tang to their wines.
Here a wine estate called Brancaia makes Super Tuscan wines - using the traditional sangiovese grape, but also international grapes such as cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc.
- 2010 Brancaia Ilatraia Rosso, Maremma Toscana IGT (40 per cent cabernet sauvignon, 40 per cent petit verdot, 20 per cent cabernet franc): hearty and intense, with aromas and flavours of anise and black raspberries - $US60 ($A66.61).
Nearby, within sight of the sea, Azienda Agricola Poliziano makes wines based mostly on Tuscan's traditional sangiovese grapes.
- 2010 Lohsa, Red Wine, by Azienda Agricola Poliziano, Morellino di Scansano DOC (85 per cent sangiovese, 15 per cent ciliegiolo): soft and rich, with black cherry and savoury herbal and mineral flavours - $US15.
Now let's head back past our starting point and on to eastern Tuscany, a 32km drive ride east from Florence. Here, we speed through Tuscany's shimmering sunlight and green, rolling hills, to the town of Rufina, home to Marchesi de Frescobaldi, which makes an Italian-style chardonnay.
- 2012 Castello di Pomino Chadonnay, by Marchesi de Frescobaldi, Tuscany: deep yellow hue, aromas and flavours of camellias, white peaches and minerals - $US15.
Next we drive 402km northwest from Florence via Italy's modern Autostrada, dodging its aggressive drivers, keeping careful note of speed limits because it does have those cameras that ticket you. We turn off just short of Torino and cruise into the foothills of the Alps to the Piemonte town of Alba.
Here, in sight of snow-covered mountains, the Vietti family winery makes its red and white wines.
The reds are from Piemonte's inky black grape called nebbiolo, probably from the Italian word "nebbia," which means "fog." Vietti also grows the ancient white grape called arneis. It's a finicky grape, and its name translates in the local dialect as "little rascal."
- 2012 Vietti Roero Arneis, DOCG Piemonte: pale white colour, aromas and flavours of ripe pears, light and crisp - $US23.
- 2010 Vietti Nebbiolo Perbacco, DOC Piedmont: deep dark hue, aromas and flavours of violets and tar, full-bodied, lusher and softer than its brother Barolos - $US25.
Almost 241km east of Alba, not far from Italy's fashion capital of Milano in the rolling hills of Lombardy, also in the foothills of the Alps, lies Italy's important sparkling wine area called Franciacorta. Its primary grapes are chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot bianco. Styles range from dry to sweet, white to ros.
- Nonvintage Antica Fratta "Essence" Brut, DOCG Franciacorta (90 per cent chardonnay, 10 per cent pinot noir): persistent tiny bubbles, ripe lemon-lime aromas and flavours, full-bodied - $US32.
-Nonvintage Antica Fratta "Essence" Ros, DOCG Franciacorta (60 per cent chardonnay, 40 per cent pinot noir): persistent tiny bubbles, pale pink colour, aromas and flavours of red raspberries and jam - $US38.
Our virtual Italian wine tour ends here. Now for the long drive back to Florence for another night at Albergo Botticelli. As a send-off, let's have dinner at my favourite restaurant, Quattro Leoni, with my favourite dish, pasta with cream sauce and white truffle shavings. Oh, and a bottle of that tasty Vietti Arneis we've just discovered. Arrivederci Italia!
