As it stands, Italy is the world’s second largest producer of wine after France. Each year, one in fifty Italians is involved with the grape harvest. And like France, Italy has adopted a rigorous controlled appellation system that imposes strict controls with regulations governing vineyard quality, yields per acre, and aging practices among other things. There are over three hundred DOC (Denominazioni di Origine Controllata) and DOCG (Denominazioni di Origine Controllata e Garantita) wines today and the classifications increase to over five hundred when IGT (Indicazioni Geografica Tipica) wines are factored in. Thanks to this system, Italy’s fifty thousand wineries enjoy a competitive advantage when it comes to the production and sales of quality wines. These Italian wine terms allow consumers to understand various levels of designation so they can make informed buying decisions.
