Study
Study Italian wine
To taste every DOC and DOCG in Italy I had to build a database of all 411 of them first. Region, level, grapes, rules. That turns out to be most of what you have to memorize for an Italian wine exam, so I've turned it into quizzes and study guides.
Most of it comes straight from that data, so when a new DOCG gets approved or a rule changes, everything here changes with it. I wrote the rest by hand to cover what a database can't: wine law, label terms, ageing rules and the people and dates that keep turning up in exams. It's all free and you don't need an account.
Appellation drill
Grapes, blends, ageing rules, dates, provinces and wine law. Narrow it to one region and the wrong answers get closer.
Start →Map drill
Find the regions on a blank map, then place appellations in them.
Start →Firsts and superlatives
The first DOCs and DOCGs, the newest, and which region has the most.
Read →
Region study guides
One page per region: the land, the grapes and their local names, how the wines are made, every DOCG and DOC with its date and blend, and the facts that get tested.
Unit 1: Northern Italy
Studying for the Italian Wine Scholar? The guides and drills follow its two units, Northern Italy and Central and Southern Italy. This site isn't affiliated with the Wine Scholar Guild or any other exam body, and everything here is my own work.