Italian Wine Classifications

When discussing old world versus new world wines, I mentioned that old world wines were steeped in tradition and had legally binding naming requirements. Today we are going to delve into what these classfications are in Italy and what they mean. 

There are four major classificaitons of Italian Wine, Denominanzione di Origine Controllata (DOC), Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG), Indicazione Geografica Tipica (IGT) or Protetta (IGP) and Vino da Tavola (table wine). Knowing the difference between these classifications can make reading labels easier and make sure you are getting what you want.

The first classification is Denominanzione di Origine Controllata (DOC). It was first introduced in 1963 to encourage Italian wine producers to focus on quality and protect the international reputation of Italian wine. Wines with this classification maintain strict guidelines based on grape varieties and production techniques. It is equivalent to the French wine's classification of Appellation d'Origine Controlee (AOC).  There are 329 DOC regions in Italy. One is Fara which is located in the Piedmont region of Northwest Italy. It creates a wine which must be 30-50% Nebbiolo, 10-30% Vespolina, and up to 40% Uva Rara (Bonarda Novarese) and the wine must be at least 12% alcohol to earn the DOC designation. 

The next classification is Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG). It is a step above DOC and is reserved for the highest quality wines from Italy. There are greater requirements for being classified as DOCG including limitations on production, alcohol levels and a blind taste test ensuring a standard product. Wines petition to move from DOC to DOCG status. Barbera d' Asti is one where the wine must be made from 90% Barbera grape (the rest can be Freisa, Grignolino or Dolcetto) and produced before March 1 immediately following the harvest and must have an alcohol content of 11.5%.

The next classification was to created for wines that did not meet DOC classification, but were superior quality than Italy's table wine. These are Indicazione Geografica Tipica (IGT) or Protetta (IGP). Examples of this include 'Super Tuscan' wines which were created using unapproved grapes and thus could not garner a DOC classifications. Other reasons why a wine would not meet the DOC classification could be not attaining required alcohol content.

The final classification is vino da tavola. This is wine that is generally mass-produced wine that is intended for local consumption. There are no requirements on what grapes can be used or their production. Outside of Italy vino da tavola is hard to find. 

There are some other terms which you may find on Italian wine labels. These include Classico which means the wine was produced from the historically oldest part of the protected territory. The area from which this wine was created is smaller than the area as a whole. Risverva indicates that the wine has been aged for a longer period of time than is generally required. The duration of time depends on the type of wine. For example Barolo Riserva must be aged at least 5 years (versus 4 for non-riserva Barolo). Superiore indicates that the wine has at least 0.5% more alcohol per volume than would normally be found.