International or indigenous?

For a place with such a oenologically diverse landscape as Italy, this is a question that can tax the minds of the winery owner, especially if he is at the point of replanting. The classical wines have built their reputation on wines made from what flourishes locally, yet foreign interlopers like the grapes comprising the Bordeaux cepage have also made it to the top and challenge the established order of things. I suppose it all depends on what your passion is. The passion to prove that the old establishment is stifling creativity and new ideas resulted in the Super-Tuscans as well as rewriting the DOC rules to include them That is well exemplified by Sassicaia above.

The passion to rescue an indigenous grape from extinction as well as to prove the worth of that grape resulted in the wonderful Sagrantino di Montefalco wines of Arnaldo Caprai. In his case, the Cabernet Merlot blend he produces (aptly called the Outsider) is somewhat just less convincing than his Sagrantino wines. So I suppose the real answer (at least for the drinker) is not to choose between Italian wines made from international or indigenous grapes, but to choose the wines that are made with passion!