Searching for value, variety and excitement in wine? Look to Italy — or so says Daniele Cernilli. He is the author of “The Ultimate Guide to Italian Wine 2017,” and a longtime champion of the wines of his native country. The Roman was one of the founding editors of Gambero Rosso, the leading Italian food and wine magazine that grew out of the Slow Food movement in the 1980s. Wine lovers around the world know Gambero Rosso’s “tre bicchieri,” or three glasses, as the highest rating an Italian wine can receive (at least in Italy).

“Italian wines are the new wave for high-quality wines for Americans,” because there are many with high quality for the price, Cernilli told me during a recent industry and consumer tasting at the Mayflower Hotel sponsored by the Wine Scholars Guild. The tasting included about 50 wines that were top scorers in his new guide.