Chicagoland is, in my opinion, a great place for Italian cuisine. And, of course, Italian wine. I enjoyed some wonderful wines on a recent trip, most from the Old World because that’s what I seek out when in the Midwest. Old World wine and Italian beef sandwiches. A visit with one of my favorite brothers always involves Italian wines.

He dutifully had several bottles of wine waiting when I arrived. We popped the cork on his newest find, Zucardi Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. He loves this full-bodied wine but is dismissive of the little piece of vine attached to the bottle's neck. A marketing ploy, he says. Montepulciano d'Abruzzo comes from the Abruzzi hills above the Adriatic coast. It’s made from the Montepulciano grape from the wine region located along the calf of the boot of Italy.