The most significant change experienced by the world’s wine industry in recent decades has been a general improvement in quality. In Europe, The trend started in Italy, which, encouraged by the astonishing wines coming out of California and Australia in the 1970s, began a complete shake up of its own wine industry, which at that time was geared to bulk production. The methanol scandal that rocked the country in the mid-1980s did nothing to slow the upward momentum. In little more than a decade, Italy managed to secure a place among the elite of the world’s wine industry with new wines, tailored to suit international tastes, and a return to traditional wines such as Chianti and Barolo.