The evening typically unfolds with friends ordering up great vintages of Barolo, Barbaresco and even Bordeaux.

As the wine list is passed to me, I feign exasperation that I will be able to match or top any of the wines that have come to the table amid much fanfare. But I quickly turn to a familiar page and point to a red wine that has served me so well in the past.

This has become my personal rite of Spring at the annual Vinitaly wine fair in Verona, Italy. I gather with friends and colleagues at the renowned enoteca, Bottega del Vino, and wait for just the right moment to surprise with my wine selection for the night.

Inevitably it is the Ruffino 1957 Riserva Ducale Oro, which Bottega miraculously manages to keep in stock. My choice is guaranteed to bring a hush to the table, for it is inconceivable that a nearly 50-year-old Chianti could stand alongside the noble and ageworthy red wines of Italy's Piedmont region.

Sometimes, however, the conventional wisdom gets it wrong and even a room full of dedicated wine professionals can learn something new. Over the many years I have been using this ploy, only one bottle of the 'Gold Label', as it is known, has arrived in poor condition.

The '57 Riserva Ducale not only stands, it shines.

The point of this yarn is that Sangiovese, the most widely planted grape variety in Italy and the most prominent grape used in the myriad red wines of Tuscany, including Chianti, deserves a bit more respect from wine lovers the world over.

Not that a lack of respect isn't well deserved. The Chianti of my youth, the same Italian wine most Americans drank when they dined in the neighborhood Italian restaurants that sprouted like weeds after the Second World War, was not very good.

It was made for quantity instead of quality. The straw baskets were cute, and no doubt helped sell many bottles of wine to the unsuspecting, but they contained a thin, insipid liquid that did little to enhance the reputation of one of Italy's finest red wine regions.

Though there were a handful of producers, notably Ruffino, producing outstanding Chianti through that era, the awful wine in the straw baskets cemented Chianti's image as a light-bodied wine that would most likely turn to vinegar with age.

The Brunello of Montalcino thus became the important red wine of Tuscany, for it was a long-lived wine of exceptional elegance and finesse. Few people understood that Brunello was made from the same Sangiovese grape, albeit a different clone, that was the base for Chianti.

The Chianti region underwent a renaissance in grape growing and winemaking more than 20 years ago that improved quality across the board and lifted many estates to new levels of stature. But the rap on Chianti as a wine for the moment has lingered.

So I was particularly pleased and curious during a recent Sangiovese symposium in Florence, Italy, to attend a tasting of ten vintages of Ruffino's Riserva Ducale Oro that spanned 50 years.

The oldest Riserva Ducale poured, the 1955 vintage, still had some kick, though it would not have been a match for my beloved 1957. What impressed me about this wine, however, was that it overcame my initial impression that it was too tired and over the hill to deliver any pleasure and improved in the glass.

The early hints of balsamic and a slightly bitter dried herb character quickly dissipated as the wine got air and sweetened up, with expansive aromas and a broad, lingering palate.

A 1964 Riserva Ducale was even better, and on it went (the 1973 had a funky nose and was a disappointment, but other tasters who had been served from different bottles reported the '73 was quite sound). Unanimous raves were accorded the stunning 1985 and I found the 1990, 1999 and 2001 to be exceptional as well.

'I'm modest, but I'm proud to say the Gold Label gained its reputation for consistency,' said Adolfo Folonari, whose family has owned Ruffino since 1913. 'It set the standard in Chianti for many, many years.'

What should be encouraging to Chianti lovers who may have a desire to put away a few bottles for some far-off special occasion is the undeniable fact that improvements in farming and winemaking have made modern Chianti better than ever.

'Oh, I would love to be tasting the 2001 Gold Label 50 years from now,' said the still youthful Folonari. 'I think it is an amazing wine.'

Of course, time will tell.