Italy is the world’s largest wine producer by volume.  A tremendous variety of red, white and sparkling wines is made from the Alps down to Sicily. Blessed with better climatic stability than France, it is claimed that the quality of Italian wines varies less from year to year so vintage is not such an issue.

Classifications
The simplest table wine will be labelled “Vino da Tavola” (V.D.T.). This is a wine whose origin is not specified or classified.

D.O.C. wines (“Denominazione di Origine Controllata”) are wines made from certain grapes which have been certified as grown in a specific viticultural area. A wine which has been aged for a longer period of time in the barrel before bottling is called “Riserva”.

D.O.C.G. wines (“Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita”) . This highly-prized certification is only awarded to wines which have passed more stringent testing and controls. The methods of cultivation and production are rigorously controlled and the resulting DOCG seal provides a guarantee of quality.

Some Regional Wines