Italian DOC And DOCG Appellations

Learn about Italian Appellations The Greeks once called Italy Oenotria, the land of wine. You can understand why glancing at the list of appellations below. Grape vines flourish in Italy like fatties in America, but don’t let that dissuade you. This list is solely for reference, I wouldn’t attempt to memorize it unless you have that kind of commitment to learning about wine. Being that it is an extensive list, I’ve included only the DOC and DOCG appellations. Enjoy. Northwest Italy Valle D’Aosta Arnad-Monjovet DOC Blanc de Morgex et de la Salle DOC Chambave-Rosso/Moscato/Moscato Passito DOC Donnas DOC Enfer d’Arvier DOC Nus-Rosso/Malvoisie/Malvoisie Passito DOC Torette DOC     Piedmont Asti/Moscato d’Asti DOCG Barbera d’Asti DOC Barbera d’Alba DOC Barbera del Monferrato DOC Barberesco DOCG Barolo DOCG Boca DOC Brachetto d’Acqui/Acqui DOCG Bramaterra DOC Canavese DOC Carema DOC Colli Tortonesi DOC Colline Novaresi DOC Colline Saluzzesi DOC Cortese dell’Alto Monferrato DOC Coste del Sesia DOC Dolcetto d’Acqui DOC Dolcetto d’Alba DOC Dolcetto d’Asti DOC Dolcetto d’Ovada DOC Dolcetto delle Langhe Monregalesi DOC Dolcetto di Diano d’Alba DOC Dolcetto di Dogliani DOC Erbaluce di Calusa DOC Fara DOC Freisa d’Asti DOC Freisa di Chieri DOC Gabiano DOC Gattinara DOCG Gavi/Cortese di Gavi [...]

Per l’Amore di Italian Wine Labels

How To Read An Italian Wine Label If you love acronyms, which I know you do, you’re going to love to learn how to read an Italian wine label. All Italian wines fall into one of four categories within the two main categories of Table Wine and Quality Wine, which we’ve already discussed in this How To Read Old World Wine Labels series. By the way, if you missed any of the previous posts in this series you can find them here: How to read Old World wine labels How to read a French wine label These categories are: Table Wines VdT (Vino da Tavola) (vee-NOH dah tah-VOH-lah) IGT (Indicazione di Geografica Tipica) (een-dee-cah-zee-OH-nee dee Gee-OH-grah-fee-kah Tee-pee-KAH) Quality Wines produced in a specified region (QWpsr) DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata) (day-no-mee-nah-tsee-OH-nee dee OH-ree-jheen con-troh-LA-tah) DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita) (day-no-mee-nah-tsee-OH-nee dee OH-ree-jheen con-troh-LA-tah ee gahr-ahn-TEE-tah) Ring a bell? These categories follow the European Union structure of “Table” wine and “QWpsr” wines which are based on the French AOC system of structuring. Instead of pronouncing the long ass names of each, most people just use the abbreviations, VdT, IGT, DOC and DOCG. For this lesson, I will too. As [...]