Italian Wines to try

[Puccino]

Bonjour à tous,

My wife and I leave this coming Saturday for a 16 day tour of Italy - we're driving the entire trip. As far as I know, I have never tried any Italian wines and would like to get possibly some suggestions from some of you on what to try, or maybe places to go.
We prefer reds, and I generally prefer Spanish wines with the tempranillo grape, or wines from the Rhone valley in France. Tend to not generally care for Merlot, or even wines that have been blended with too much Merlot. So, that being said, any suggestions?

Merci in advance,
Puccino

[Innkeeper]

Bonjour Puccino. Here are two approaches. Since the overwhelming majority of Italian never leaves home, most of what you will experiance you will never experiance again. Having said that, there is no need to fret. Decide whether you want red or wine wine with the food on hand and ask for Rosso or Bianco.

The second approach is to structure you trip by region and make a list in advance of which wines you want to try in each region. In Piedmont you want to try Dolcetto and Barbera. If you have the scratch, look for mature Barolos and Barbarescos. In Trentino-Alto Adige look for Teroldego Rotaliano. In Tuscany, where food and wine matching is an art, you have all the sangiovese based wines and blends. I like Rosso Di Montalcino. In the Marches, don't miss Rosso Piceno and Rosso Conero. In Apulia look for Salice Salentino and Primitivo. In Sicily, all the versions of Corvo and its blends. If you get all the way up to Collio in the northeast corner by the Slovenian boarder, look for the varietel merlot that grows there on ancient vines.

[Thomas]

Taste anything produced south of Lazio, especially from Campania and Puglia, and if you can get there, try Sicily.

[Puccino]

Thanks Innkeeper and Foodie!

My wife and I returned yesterday from an absolutely splendid trip to Italy (with a couple days in Croatia and Bosnia as well) and we were able to try many of the wines you recommended.
I came back with only ten bottles as I have not much room for storage (not to mention the expense of many of the wines! Now I understand the comment "if you have the scratch"!).
Indeed, our favorite was found in the charming town of Montalcino, where we tasted and purchased some wonderful Brunello. We spent several days in Tuscany, and I was continually impressed by the Brunello and unimpressed by the Chianti.
In Piedmont, which was lovely with its rolling hills and vineyards, we fell in love with the Barolo! Again, very expensive but super.
Bought some wine from Croatia, but haven't tried any from there yet.
Again, thanks for your suggestions and comments.
Ciao,
Puccino