Last week I covered this same subject but from another perspective. Here is my second swag at demystifying Italian wine label reading. And welcome to the confusing world of Italian wines. During my research I came across the following article from Tom Ciocco and thought it was very appropriate to include it with very little editing. This piece of discussion about Italian wine labeling will give you a firm foundation on why it is so confusing (and many times intimidating) to select and order a good wine. Here it goes:
... if you are holding out hope that I am somehow going to give you the secret decoder ring for Italian wine labels, I regret to inform you that unfortunately, such a thing does not exist. For those of you who have spent some time in Italy or have Italian friends, you know that Italians, much like many Americans, are independent and individualistic nearly to a fault. Two Italians do indeed often produce three opinions. And ironically, at the same time, Italy is also infamous for its beaurocracy.
This tension leads directly to fractiousness and frustration and ultimately, a big vaffanculo to both Italy's governing bodies as well as everyone else. These wild contradictions are one of the elements that make make Italy such an exciting place, but is simultaneously the bane of those who want to know what it is that they're looking at on retailers' shelves.
Now if you REALLY want to know what the best way is to better understand Italian wine labels, my advice is to learn how to speak Italian, and no, I'm not kidding or being flippant.
As good as the Italians are at so many things, marketing has never been one of them. When asking Italian wine makers about the confusion that so many have with their labels, the most common reaction is one of wonderment or confusion.
They just don't get it. Obviously, Italian is their language so all of the words really mean something to them on a very basic level - they can easily sort out place names from vineyard names from producer names from grape names, etc.
Further, so many Italians are so deeply steeped in the wine world that they simply cannot extract themselves from this immersed state into the shoes of the Italian wine neophyte.
The first, and really only GUARANTEED regularized information on an Italian wine label is the name of the appellation from which the wine comes, and the (theoretical) quality level that this appellation has been awarded. So, grab a bottle of Italian wine, and locate one of the following "quality" level rankings:
- Indicazione Geografica Tipica (abbreviated as IGT)
- Denominazione d'Origine Controllata (abbreviated as DOC)
- Denominazione d'Origine Controllata e Garantita (abbreviated as DOCG)
Now the distinctions between these three classifications is broad enough for another article entirely, but suffice it to say that the basic things that these laws govern are geographic locations/delimitations, permissible grape varieties, and perhaps most importantly, permissible yields.
Basically IGT is the most "permissive", DOC is in the middle, and the DOCG is the most strict. Another very important thing to remember about these classifications is despite what the progressive restrictions would seem to imply, moving "up the ladder" from IGT to DOC does not in any way guarantee or even suggest an improvement in overall quality, and the same is true from the jump from DOC to DOCG.
There are as many transcendent IGT wines made as there are pitiful DOCG wines made...the best guide to quality in Italy is the PRODUCER... but I digress...
Once you have located the "quality" levels outlined above, in nearly every single case, THE NAME OF THE ACTUAL APPELLATION IS LOCATED DIRECTLY ABOVE. That, regrettably, is about the only SURE THING on an Italian wine label. The label locations of producer name, vineyard name (if applicable), grape variety (which in some cases ALWAYS appears on the label, and in others, NEVER does), or even proprietary name (there is ZERO restrictions with the use of proprietary names).
Now... I hope that the above extracted article has at least established the following four facts for sure:
- Italian wine label reading is not easy and there are no secret deciphering keys.
- Learning Italian is the ultimate solution but learning some basic terminology is a great shortcut.
- Quality levels suggested by DOCG, DOC, or IGT designations actually do not guarantee the quality of the wine.
- The real guarantee of quality comes from selecting a recognized producer.
My challenge here at Mezzanotte is to find the quality producers to actually shorten your search for real great wines. My monthly newsletter will bring more interesting articles to help you better understand the subject - I am also learning quite a great deal in the process - and our monthly wine tasting event will expose you to different regions, grape varieties and appellation formulas.
Until then... salute!
