In a world where the global wine industry swings wildly from positive to negative and back again, it's nice to see one country bullish about the future. Italy is riding a wave of renewed interest, with others welcoming its wines into the marketplace. At a time when we see increasing fragmentation, Italian producers are happy to pull on the metaphorical blue jersey and showcase their individual talents under a broad Italian banner.

As Italian producers look to go deeper into the US, Asia and the Pacific Rim, we caught up with three producers visiting Auckland for a major Italian wine tasting on August 31* and asked them how buoyant they thought the demand for Italian was. Pio Boffa, the director of Barolo and Barbaresco producer Pio Cesare, said that Italy's popularity is based solidly on years of hard work building the foundations for growth.