Wine column: Italy's Chianti region features formidable wines, fascinating history

Whether you are having pizza, pasta, or brushing snow off the grill for lamb, the first red wine pairings that come to mind are those from Italy’s Tuscany region of Chianti.
Wines labelled simply as Chianti are often synonymous with diluted, simple, fruity and boring. The higher quality wines are produced in a highly regulated and designated historic region, and will be labelled Chianti Classico (Normale), while the most recent top-tier category is Gran Selezione (just to confuse things on