Italian wine labels

When you don't know what to look for, entering a wine store can be like that scene from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade... you know near the end where he has to pick out the Holy Grail. Luckily, if you pick a bad bottle of wine you won't turn to dust as a 900 year old knight says, "He chose... poorly." That being said, here are some basics to help you decipher Italian wine labels. 

The first thing you need to know is how Italy classifies its wines. As it is with many major wine producing countries, the Italian government regulates and certifies its wines. The criteria considered include where the grapes are grown, what grapes go into the wine, and what methods are used to make the wine.

There are three levels of classification (or appellation): 

DOC - Denominazione di Origine Controllata - These wines are produced in a specific region using a defined method and meet quality standards.

DOCG - Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita - In addition to meeting DOC requirements, these wines have been determined by tasting to exceed standards. 

IGT - Indicazione Geografica Tipca - These are wines that do not meet one or all of the DOC standards.

While these classifications can be helpful when blindly picking a bottle of Italian wine, they do not by any means guarantee a great bottle. In the case of IGT wines, there are many that do not qualify for DOC certification simply because the wine maker has developed alternative blends and methods that they think produce a better or more unique wine. In the end, you just have to give it all a try.

One you've got the classifications figured out, get to know your map of Italy. A little basic geographic knowledge will help you figure out where your wine is coming from. If you are researching a wine, also check out where it was produced on a relief map. All of this is important because the climate and geography in which the grapes were grown have a direct impact on how a wine ends up tasting. 

If you REALLY want to learn about Italian wine, we recommend picking up Vino Italiano: The Regional Wines of Italy by Joseph Bastianich and David Lynch. In addition to being perhaps the most detailed single source of information on the subject, it also contains a great chapter about how to read Italian wine labels.