In Vino Veritas!
In wine there is truth, truth about the grapes that are used, the places they were grown and the person who grew them. This statement rings abundantly true when it comes to Italian reds. As varied in profile and stylistic differences as the places they represent. But a history lesson isn’t what’s fun about wine, drinking it is!
A few things to consider when approaching Italian reds, especially if you’re not a native Italian speaker is the region they are from. Much like French wines, Italian wines will focus on where the wine is made instead of what varietal the wine is composed of. Certain rules are followed and certain native grapes are required depending on the classification of said wine. Next fun wine riddle to decode is the associated acronym! Again something we don’t find on our domestic labels, but definitely worth taking note of.
Italian wines label classifications are broken down into four distinct categories; Vdt, IGT, DOC and DOCG. These will let you know not only about the quality but usually about the composition of the grapes used.
In order to understand these terms, and as a proud lover of pizza, let’s talk about them in terms of one of Italy’s favorite exports!
Vino da Travola, or Vdt, or table wine is your five dollar carry out special, no one is going to complain if you show up with one, but it’s also not blowing anyone’s socks off.
Next we have Indicazione Geografica Tipica, or IGT, these are our “fusion” pizza’s, usually still have sauce and cheese, but aside from that we can put just about anything on them, from pineapple to barbecue chicken to pickles! They are still absolutely delicious but don’t conform to what we traditionally consider pizza, in terms of Italian wine the most popular explain will be the infamous “Super Tuscan” made of Italian grapes, blended with varietals not necessarily native to the region they are produced in.
Next we have our Denominazione di Origine Controllata, or DOC, the traditionalist, the Mom and Pop piazza shop that has been doing things the same way for generations. DOC wines bring with them a certain amount of cache, you know they followed the rules and the wine is consistent and true to the region is represents.
Finally we have our Michelin Star Trattoria, with hand selected cured meats, fresh basil and house made mozzarella, the Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita; DOCG, these are the big boys, the Barolo and Barbarescos from Piedmont and the Brunello di Montalicinos from Tuscany. These wines showcase the best a region has to offer, going through regulatory harvest yields, strictly permitted grape varietals and aging requirements.
Once you begin to understand the how to approach Italian wines, you can really begin to hone in on what best suits your pallet.
Great Explanation, David!