La Dolce Veloce

I've never seen Tuscany looking so good. The difference this time is not where I'm going, but how I'm getting there. Today, it's a cherry red 1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia Spider 1600 Veloce that I'm tooling around in for a tour of Chianti's sloping vineyards and sleepy hamlets.

The Giulia is a vintage convertible dream, with rounded lines that undulate like the Tuscan hillsides and an engine throb that blends with the rustle of cypress trees. So when slowing to a gentle stop near a 10th century cobblestone abbey, I couldn't help but feel like my four...