There are:
- 20 independent wine regions in Italy
- 1,300 registered grape varieties
- 900,000 registered vineyards
That sounds overwhelming, I know. The good news is we’re here to help simplify things...
- The 20 independent wine regions are grouped into 3 sections:
- Northern Regions (8)
- Valle d’Aosta, Piedmont (Piemonte), Liguria, Lombardy (Lombardia), Trentino Alto Adige, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Veneto, and Emilia Romagna
- Central Regions (5):
- Tuscany (Toscana), Umbria, Latium (Lazio), Marche, Abruzzo
- Southern Regions (7):
- Molise, Campania, Puglia, Basilicata, Calabria, Sicily, Sardinia
The boundary lines of Italian appellations overlap more than they do in any other wine region which can make things confusing. Understanding some basics of the language can help clarify certain situations. For example, Asti is the name of a city in the Piedmont region of Italy. However, it is also the name of a geographically indicated wine region in Piedmont called Asti DOCG. Within the Asti DOCG boundaries there are other smaller appellations such as Moscato d'Asti DOCG and Barbera d’Asti. “D’Asti” means “of Asti,” therefore Barbera d’Asti is the Barbera grape from the area of Asti.
A helpful thing to note is that Italian wines are labeled in one of two distinct ways:
1. The name of the wine given on the label is the same as the name of the town or area in which that wine comes from. The older and most well known wines tend to be labeled in this way. In these instances the grape variety is not indicated. It is expected that the variety will be known by the appellation it comes from. Some examples of wines that are labeled like this are:
- Chianti - There is no grape variety called Chianti. This is the name of the wine and the region it comes from. With these wines it is understood that the main grape variety is Sangiovese.
- Barolo - there is no grape variety called Barolo. This is the name of the wine and the area it comes from. With these wines it is understood that the grape variety is Nebbiolo.
- Barbaresco - There is no grape variety called Barbaresco. This is the name of the wine and the area it comes from. With these wines it is understood that the grape variety is Nebbiolo.
2. The name of the wine is made up of a combination of the main grape variety used and the appellation in which the wine comes from. They can be in either order. Some examples of wines that are labeled like this are:
- Brunello di Montalcino - Brunello is the grape variety and Montalcino is the town in the Tuscany region in which this wine comes from.
- Albana di Romagna, Sangiovese di Romagna, Trebbiano di Romagna - Albana, Sangiovese, and Trebbiano are all grape varieties. Romagna is the south eastern portion of the Emilia-Romagna region. If you look at the maps below, you will see the three different grape varieties coming from roughly the same area.
This fourth map shows the way the three appellations overlap each other.
2a. Wines that are blended will be labeled with the color of the wine (“bianco” for whites, “rosato” for rosés, and “rosso'' for reds), in place of the variety, and the appellation in which the wine comes from. An example of the difference between wines that are labeled like this are:
- Montefalco Sagrantino - Montefalco is a town within the Umbria wine region. Sagrantino is a red grape variety. Therefore Montefalco Sagrantino is a wine whose main grape variety is Sagrantino and is made in the town of Montefalco.
- Montefalco Rosso - Rosso means red and is used on wine labels to indicate a red blend. Therefore this wine is a red blend that comes from the town of Montefalco.
Not all words added to a wine label are legally defined or mean something specific, here are some of the ones in Italy that do:
- Amabile: means off-dry
- Bianco: white
- Casa vinicola: winery
- Classico: this is a vineyard within a DOC or DOCG appellation that is expected to produce higher quality wines
- Dolce: sweet
- Frizzante: lightly sparkling
- Metodo Classico: refers to using the Traditional Method of creating sparkling wine
- Produttore: producer
- Riserva: is legally defined in terms of wine production and indicates a wine that has been aged longer than its non-riserva counterpart wine
- Rosato: rosé
- Rosso: red
- Secco: dry
- Spumante: sparkling
- Superiore: indicates a wine that has either been aged longer or has a higher alcohol content (than its counterpart non-superior wine) depending on the appellation
- Tenuta: estate
- Vigna / vigneto / maso: vineyard
- Vini da Tavola: table wines (unclassified)
- IGP (Indicazione Geografica Protetta) / IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica): these are wines that don’t meet the DOC standards but are typically better than table wines. They are mostly country wines that are on par with France’s Vin de Pays
- DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata): similar to France’s AOC system in that it defines geographic boundaries for wine production, allowable grape varieties, minimum percentage requirements for any variety stated on the label, minimum aging requirements, and both viticulture and vinification practices
- DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita): stricter requirements than the DOC and adds “e Garantita” which means that the wines have been taste tested by a panel and are guaranteed to be true to the taste and style of the DOCG region stated on the bottle (or the terroir)
- Note that for a wine region to move up from being classified as a DOC wine to DOCG status, all producers of that type of wine must move up and meet the DOCG standards or else they lose DOC status and will be declassified down to table wine
