| For thousands of years, the Italians have always been | | | | bad. |
| a highly creative and progressive people. However, | | | | The Italian wine label will also always include a |
| when it comes to weaving through the maze of Italian | | | | geographic origin of production. This is where it can get |
| wine labels, their wine label creativity can frequently be | | | | a little tricky. You will see one of four indicators on the |
| a hindrance as opposed to a help. | | | | Italian wine label, which in decreasing order of |
| There are two parts to any Italian wine label that | | | | "importance" will tell you something qualitatively about |
| consumers should pay particular attention to. These | | | | the wine: DOCG, DOC, IGT, or Vino Da Tavola. These |
| include the producer or winery name and the | | | | indicators will be followed on the label by a geographic |
| geographic origin of the wine. These two indicators | | | | location that can represent as large an area as an |
| alone should make the buying experience less of a | | | | entire region itself or as small an area as a tiny |
| crapshoot once you take the time to learn a little about | | | | vineyard. In theory, an indication of DOCG, connotes an |
| your favorite Italian wines. | | | | Italian wine of the highest possible quality, followed by |
| By law, every Italian wine label must show the | | | | DOC of slightly lesser quality than DOCG. Then an IGT |
| producer or winery name. This can be the name of | | | | designation is offered of even lesser quality than DOC. |
| the winery owner or the name of the winery itself. It | | | | Finally, a wine labeled Vino Da Tavola, which of course |
| can be in small letters on the back of the label or in | | | | is supposed to indicate a very basic wine, usually even |
| large, bold letters on the front of the label. Either way, it | | | | non vintage. Unfortunately, when it comes to Italian |
| will be found somewhere on the label. Learn the | | | | wine labels, these legal terms indicate very little about |
| names of your favorite producers and it's usually a | | | | the actual quality of wine in the bottle. That is why I |
| safe bet that any wine they produce, regardless of | | | | recommend learning the best producers' names as |
| type, will be well within your drinking wheelhouse. Over | | | | opposed to trying to learn and follow the ever |
| time you will notice that the best producers won't | | | | increasing number of qualitative indicators. Many of |
| bottle wine that is not worth your drinking pleasure or | | | | Italy's finest wines are labeled as mere IGT. |
| your purchasing dollar. That is why following vintages | | | | Learning the very basic Italian wine label rules makes |
| too rigidly can be a mistake. Great winemakers make | | | | sense but following one rule in particular is paramount: |
| good wines even from vintages that are considered | | | | always follow the producer. |