CharlieD
Chef Extraordinaire
I'm not, not passionate, that is, I can go either way, with or without wine, and for sure nothing Italian that I cook can be called Real Italian. I cook kosher, so it is maybe an Italian style at best.
I believe its true that traditional Italian red-sauces do not use wine. I do not believe my older first and second generation relatives used wine in cooking much if at all.... they made their own wine too.
On the canned/fresh tomatoes issue well fresh quality tomatoes would be great if you could get them/had the time but this is not always possible.