How to Read an Italian Wine Label

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How to Read an Italian Wine Label

European labels can be difficult to read, especially those from Italy. A few key terms can help you understand the implications of the language on your bottle.

DOCG: An abbreviation for Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita. It’s the top classification for Italian wines. Strict rules govern all aspects of production. They include where the grapes can be grown, what varieties are allowed and how wines can be aged. There are 74 DOCGs in Italy, with the latest addition in 2011.

DOC: An abbreviation for Denominazione di Origine Controllata. Is one step below DOCG. Rules govern production and style but aren’t as stringent as those for DOCGs. There are 334 DOCs in Italy, with the most recent additions approved in mid-2017.

IGT: An abbreviation for Indicazione Geografica Tipica. Introduced in 1992, this classification allows winemakers to use grapes and craft styles not allowed under DOC and DOCG regulations. There are currently 118 IGTs in Italy.

Riserva: Denotes a wine aged for significantly longer than usual, though rules vary among the denominations.

Superiore: Denotes a higher-quality designation, tacked on generally to a regional name (i.e., Soave Superiore).

Classico: Denotes wines from a zone within a region (i.e., Chianti Classico) –considered the original area of production.

 

Azienda Agricola: A farm or estate that produces its own grapes for the production of its wines.

Tenuta: Estate

Vigneto: Vineyard

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Veneto

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The Veneto Wine region has been home to viticulture since the Bronze Age, making it one of the oldest homes of winemaking in the world. The world has come to expect great things; after all, 3,000 years of practice should hone some pretty spectacular skills. Veneto produces red wines and white, and there are wines that hearken back to the earliest most traditional wines known to man and wines that are made from techniques just discovered in the last few decades.  White varieties include Garganega, Prosecco, Trebbiano, and Vespaiola. Reds include Corvina, Molinara, Rondinella, and Negrara. These grape selections are exemplary of the high quality and diversity of wines being produced throughout Italy today. They include several authentic hand crafted wines such as Soave, Valpolicella and Amarone made from indigenous grapes cultivated only in Italy. The Veneto is also a region where winemakers have mastered the process of drying grapes, and thus it is where one finds Amarone, a very special wine made from semi-dried, little known local grape varietals such as Corvina and Rondinella. Soave, made from the Garganega grape, is the region’s most popular white wine Veneto is among the foremost wine-producing regions, both for quality and quantity. The three most well known DOCs are Bardolino, from the town with the same name and surrounding the shores of Garda Lake, Valpolicella, and Soave. Other noteworthy wines produced here are the white Bianco di Custoza, the excellent sparkling Prosecco, the Breganze, and the Amarone (a rich and powerful red from the Verona province).

Once the native land of the Venetian Republic, Veneto is today among the wealthiest and most industrialized regions of Italy. It is also the most visited region of Italy, with about 60 million tourists every year. The Veneto region in northern Italy reaches from Lake Garda in the west to the Adriatic Sea in the east. It is home to a wide range of wines both red and white, with more types of wines produced than in any other region in Italy. In Veneto historic cities abound, much used by Shakespeare in his plays, though he never actually visited northern Italy. Venice may bring visions of romantic gondola rides through the canals, Verona is home of history’s most famed lovers, Romeo and Juliet. Verona is located between the rolling plains of the Veneto, Lake Garda and the Dolomite mountains. The importance of winemaking in this region is underscored by the creation in 1885 of the very first Italian school for vine growing and oenology. In addition, Veneto was the first region to constitute the first strada del vino or “wine road”. These vineyards are a precious source of great satisfaction thanks to their southern-east exposure and their soil, which is well balanced in its components.

http://www.cantinaroncolato.com
http://www.accordinistefano.it/

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Piedmont

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Piedmont, in the far north-west of Italy, enjoys an unrivaled seat among the world’s very finest wine regions. Although famous for its austere, tannic red wines made from Nebbiolo, Piedmont’s greatest success story in the past decade has been sweet, white, sparkling Moscato d’Asti.

Barbera

  • Drink By: Typically best within the first 3 years.
  •  70,000 Acres – Piedmont – Barbera is the most produced Italian red wine of Piedmont. Over 60% of the world’s Barbera vineyards exist in the region. Barbera almost always has a unique note of licorice in the taste, which is what makes it so unique. While American Barbera can be quite fruit-forward, Italian Barbera is often herbaceous with juicy acidity and tart black cherry flavors.

Nebbiolo

Drink By: Typically best after 7-10 years.

 12,000 Acres – Piedmont – Piedmont’s most well respected red wine is actually quite tiny in terms of how much exists in the world. Just so you have a relative comparison, there are nearly 50 times more Cabernet Sauvignon grapes planted in the world than Nebbiolo. Nebbiolo has many regional names and styles.

Asti Wine

Asti is the name of a province, a town and a wine – all to be found in Piedmont, north-western Italy.  The suffix d’Asti appears in the names of several wines from the Asti area, including the famous Moscato d’Asti – a refreshing, slightly sweet, sparkling white wine made from Moscato grapes.

There are several subtle differences between Asti and Moscato d’Asti. Moscato d’Asti is slightly sweeter, gently sparkling and has an alcohol content around 5% or 6%. Asti is semi-sweet, fully sparkling and has an alcohol content closer to 9%.  Asti is spumante (min. 4 atmospheres of pressure) while Moscato d’Asti is frizzante (min. 1 atmosphere of pressure). 

Almost all Asti is produced end-to-end in large, stainless-steel tanks, using what has become known as the ‘Asti Method’ (an extension of the Charmat Method). As soon as the Muscat grapes have been picked and brought to the winery, they are de-stemmed and pressed. The resulting must is filtered and kept chilled until required.  The must is converted into wine by fermenting it in a pressurized tank. As yeasts convert the grape sugars to alcohol, carbon dioxide gas is produced as a by-product. This gas is remains ‘trapped’ in the wine, creating its all-important sparkle. When the alcohol level reaches around 8% or 9%, the wine is chilled and sterile filtered, removing the yeasts and thus stopping the fermentation.

Because Moscato d’Asti is designed to be sweet, light, delicate and floral, it typically takes the lion’s share of the finest, ripest grapes. This leaves the more acidic, greener grapes for the Asti wines.

http://www.casaincollina.com

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Tuscany

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Tuscany is the reigning prom queen of the Italian wine regions. Steeped in the romance of endless rolling hills, picturesque hilltop villages and cobble country roads, it’s undeniably gorgeous and produces some excellent wine to boot! It also happens to be one of the most prolific wine regions throughout not only Italy, but Europe. Toast your Tuscan tour with an iconic Chianti, or push out the boat and splurge on a slightly more expensive Brunello di Montalcino. 

Sangiovese

Typically best after 4-7 years, although fine examples last longer.

 Italy’s champion red variety, Sangiovese, goes by many names. You’ve probably heard of a few of them.

 
http://www.salvano.com
 
http://www.streda.it

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Puglia

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Puglia, also known as ‘Apulia’ to English speakers, is situated along the far south-east corner of the Italian peninsula. 

Primitivo (aka Zinfandel) & Negroamaro

  • Drink By: Typically best within the first 3 years.
  •  60,000 Acres – Puglia – Primitivo is Italy’s name for Zinfandel (which is actually a Croatian grape called Tribidrag!) and Negroamaro grows alongside it in Southern Italy. These sweet tasting fruity and lighter bodied Italian wines often exhibit strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, and leather notes. Primitivo provides the fruity punch and Negroamaro has more dark fruit flavors and structure. It’s common to find them blended together.


http://www.vinicoppi.it

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Emilia-Romagna

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Situated along the famously fertile northern reaches of Italy, the Emilia-Romagna region has a whopping 55 000+ hectares under vine, making it one of the country’s most prolific winelands. The vines here were originally established by the Etruscans and later adopted by the Romans, who ferried their treasured vintages along the Via Aemilia road for which the area is named. Make a point of trying a Sangiovese and sparkling Lambrusco.
http://www.lambruscodoc.it
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