Italian Viticulture: IGT wines, DOC wines, DOCG wines

Italy is the country with the highest concentration in wine world.

The ancient Greeks called in fact Italy Enotria, considering the adaptability of its land tothe  growing of the grapes and to the producing of quality wine.

In Italy are planted about a million of vine, of which more than 90% are used for the wine production. Of these vines, over than 350 are native grape varieties that are becoming more and more apparent both on the national scene andon the internationally market.

But on what basis can we distinguish Italian wine?

In Italy the wine is classified according to the Law n. 164 of 1992, an EU Directive 930 of 1963 regulation enactment which discipline sthe various wines production, classifying according to increasing quality order, the wine in :

•  Table wines
•  Typical Geographical Indication Wines (IGT)
•  Controlled Origin Denomination Wines (DOC)
•  Controlled and Guaranteed Origin Wines (DOCG)

Table wines

Table wines are those wines produced with authorized grapes that do not require any adaptation to specific production disciplinarians.

The label must contain only the indication "table wine" and manufacturer name and business name. It is not mandatory to recall the color of the wine, while it cannot be reported the grapes used and year of production.

Considering the high quality of Italian wines, it doesn’t imply that a table wine is a wine characterized by poor quality: simply the production of table wine does not follow any rules of production, which has no effect on the quality.

Typical Geographical Indication Wines (IGT)

The term IGT identifies all the superior quality table wines.
The IGT family includes all the wines produced in specific geographic regions or areas that are authorized by law. The production of IGT wines must be based on the respect for the dictates of the production disciplinarians and are shown on the label.
•   Color
•   Indication of the used vines
•   Vintage
In the autonomous region of Valle D'Aosta, the IGT can be replaced by the designation “Vin de pays”, while in the Autonomous Province of Bolzano by the name “Landwein”.
Even for the IGT Wines are valid the same rules valid for table wines. The designation does not affect the quality of wine. More simply a wine falls within these two categories for market orientation strategies, and because the grapes used doesn’t follow any production rules.

Wines of Controlled Denomination Origin (DOC)

The DOC wines are wines produced in small and medium size areas characterized by a strong wine vocation. DOC wines are thus quality wines, produced following a particular product specification that can be approved through ministerial decree.

Before the marketing inputs, DOC wines are subject to a detailed chemical analysis and physical electric organ examination. If the wine does not meet the predefined parameters cannot claim the title DOC.

A little curiosity: the first Italian Doc wine is Marsala.

The DOC wines can be further classified into:

• Reserve: DOC wines aged for a longer period of time
• Superior: DOC wines of excellence with a high sugar concentration and a higher alcohol content

Controlled and Guaranteed Origin Denomination Wines (DOCG)

The denomination of controlled and guaranteed wines is attributed to the DOC wines already recognized by at least 5 years and distinguished by a particular value. The specification that governs the production of DOCG wines are even more detailed and strict than DOC wines.

DOCG wines are wines of superior quality. In addition to analyzing the chemical and physical examination electric organ in the production phase, there are also provided further electric organ examination during the bottling process and a tasting performed by a side of experts.

Even DOCG wines as the DOC wines can be classified into:
• Classic
• Reserve
• Superior

Compared to wines DOC, DOCG wines include a lower unit production of grapes and a higher sugar content.

The Italian legislation further identifies the wines in::

• Table wines with geographical indication
• Table wines with indication of grape variety and geography
• Quality wines produced in specified regions (VQPRD)
• Special wines (flavored, fortified, sparkling and mistelles wines), regulated by the D.P.R: n.162 of the 1965