I once had a conversation and told
someone I thought French wines were confusing including their labels.
They laughed and found Italian wines and their labels much harder to
understand. I think for me I'm fortunate enough to speak the
language and have traveled to many regions in Italy so it's
easier for me because of this knowledge. Let's face it, Italy has over a thousand grapes and living in the United States we
don't always see all these grapes. Many of them are native to Italy and these are the ones that many people don't truly understand. The
best way to get to understand many of those obscure grapes is to sample them when you can and the differences between producers. Need I twist your arm? Go to tastings and support your
local wine shops. Better yet, join me on any of our all-inclusive tours to a number of regions in Italy.
In Italy there are 4 classifications
that wine is classified under, but there has also been a 5th
addition in the Chianti Classico wine region of Tuscany in particular
called the Gran
Selezione, which is the highest designation. Since that is the latest edition let's highlight the original top 4 Italian wine classifications from the most strict regulations to the least:
- DOCG – Denominazione di origine controllata garantita – this is the highest classification
- DOC – Denominazione di origine controllata
- IGT – Indicazione geografica tipica
- Vino da tavola – table wine
These classifications are the standards that Italy holds
the wineries to that need to be met in
order to classify the wines they produce for each particular class. Each level is held to
different standards that involve the types of grapes being used, the
percentage of each grape being used, the aging requirements, yields
and alcohol content level.
For now, let's explore a bottle from a producer whom I had a great
experience with on my visit to Piedmont that I look forward to writing about soon. This
should give you a better understanding of what you're looking at.
Carlo Giacosa = producer
Narin = single vineyard site
Barbaresco = type of wine
Denominazione di origine controllata garantita = classification DOCG
2006 = vintage
Imbottigliato all'origine dall'Azienda Agricola Carlo Giacosa di G Maria Grazia = estate bottled by producer Carlo Giacosa
Barbaresco ~ Italia = location of the wine in Piedmont
Now the tricky part about this wine is you may be wondering what type of wine it is if you haven't heard of Barbaresco (although it is one of the top wines of Italy). Barbaresco is produced from nebbiolo grapes and you wouldn't know that exactly if it wasn't labeled that way unless you knew or asked someone.
I've also included some common Italian wine vocab if you feel like being a student again and becoming familiar
with the Italian wine language. I also feature Italian Wine Word Wednesday on my social media every week so make sure to follow me on Facebook or Twitter. It will benefit you when searching for
Italian wine and observing the bottles, but there is always someone
in a store to help so never feel intimidated. You could be missing
out on some great wine if you don't ask.
- Azienda Agricola (Az Agr) – estate grown
- bianco – white
- bottiglia – bottle
- classico – the heart of a wine region
- fattoria – medium wine producer
- frizzante - semi-sparkling
- imbottigliatto – bottled
- imbottigliatto all'origine – estate bottled
- nuovo - new
- passito – partially dried grapes
- podere – small wine producer
- produttore - producer
- recioto – made with dried grapes
- riserva – aged
- rosso – red
- secco – dry
- spumante – sparkling
- superiore – high level of standards
- tenuta – large wine growing producer
- uva – grape
- valle – valley
- vecchio – old
- vendemmia – vintage
- vigna/vigneto – single vineyard
- viticolture/vignaiolo – wine grower
What do you find to be the most difficult about reading Italian wine bottles?
Try one for yourself that is a little easier! Ciao for now!
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