Reading an Italian label
An Italian label tells you a lot once you know where to look. Tap each line of this one to see what it means, then use the list below as a reference.
What this line means
Chianti Classico
The appellation. Classico means the historic heart of a zone that was later enlarged. Chianti Classico is the clearest case, and it has been a separate DOCG from Chianti since 1996.
Tap any line on the label. The producer and vineyard are made up.
The quality pyramid
- DOCG
- Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita. The top tier, tasted before release and sealed with a numbered fascetta.
- DOC
- Denominazione di Origine Controllata. A defined zone, grapes, yields and methods, written down in a disciplinare.
- DOP
- Denominazione di Origine Protetta. The EU category that DOC and DOCG both sit inside.
- IGT or IGP
- Indicazione Geografica Tipica. The EU term is IGP, Indicazione Geografica Protetta. A wider area and looser rules. Many Super Tuscans are IGT Toscana.
- Vino
- Plain wine with no place named. It may show a grape and a vintage if it qualifies as vino varietale.
Place and quality words
- Classico
- The historic core of an appellation that was later enlarged.
- Superiore
- Usually at least half a degree more alcohol than the basic wine, often from lower yields and with longer ageing.
- Riserva
- Longer ageing than the standard wine. At least two years for reds and one for whites, often more.
- Gran Selezione
- Chianti Classico only. Estate grown fruit and at least 30 months of ageing, above Riserva.
- Vigna
- A single registered vineyard.
- Sottozona, MGA, UGA, Rive, Contrada
- Names for official places within an appellation. MGA in Barolo and Barbaresco, UGA in Chianti Classico, Rive in Conegliano Valdobbiadene, contrada on Etna.
Who made it
- Imbottigliato all'origine
- Bottled at source by the estate that grew the grapes.
- Prodotto e imbottigliato da
- Made and bottled by. The producer made the wine but may have bought the grapes.
- Imbottigliato da
- Bottled by. Says nothing about who grew or made it.
- Cantina sociale or cantina cooperativa
- A growers' cooperative. Much of Italy's wine comes from them, and some are very good.
Sparkling wine
- Spumante
- Fully sparkling, at 3 bar of pressure or more.
- Frizzante
- Lightly sparkling, between 1 and 2.5 bar.
- Metodo Classico
- Second fermentation in the bottle it's sold in. Franciacorta, Trento, Alta Langa and Oltrepò Pavese Metodo Classico.
- Metodo Martinotti or Charmat
- Second fermentation in a pressure tank. Most Prosecco and Lambrusco.
- Millesimato
- Vintage dated.
- Brut Nature, Extra Brut, Brut, Extra Dry, Dry, Demi-Sec, Dolce
- Driest to sweetest, by grams of sugar per litre. Watch Extra Dry, which is sweeter than Brut. Pas dosé and dosaggio zero mean the same as Brut Nature.
Sweetness in still wine
- Secco
- Dry. Up to 4 grams of sugar per litre.
- Abboccato
- Off dry. Up to 12 grams.
- Amabile
- Medium sweet. Up to 45 grams.
- Dolce
- Sweet. More than 45 grams.
Sweet and unusual wines
- Passito
- Made from dried grapes. Usually sweet. Amarone and Sforzato are the big dry exceptions.
- Recioto
- The Veneto's sweet wine from dried grapes, as in Recioto della Valpolicella and Recioto di Soave.
- Vendemmia Tardiva
- Late harvest. The grapes are left on the vine to gain sugar.
- Vin Santo
- Dried grapes, then years in small sealed barrels. Dry to sweet.
- Liquoroso
- Fortified with grape spirit, as Marsala is.
- Novello
- A young red released from 30 October of the harvest year, partly made by carbonic maceration.
Colour
- Bianco, rosso, rosato
- White, red, pink.
- Chiaretto, Cerasuolo, Kretzer
- Local words for rosato around Lake Garda, in Abruzzo and in Alto Adige. Cerasuolo di Vittoria in Sicily is a red, which catches people out.
- Ramato
- Copper coloured Pinot Grigio, made with some skin contact. A Friuli and Veneto tradition.