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Making an Italian wine guide that covers the whole of the country in just one web page is almost an impossible task. There is hardly an inch of Italy that couldn't ripen grapes suitable for wine, and consequently there are a myriad of classified regions producing a diverse array of wines, some of which are rarely seen outside of Italy. Consequently, this guide to Italian wine focuses just on the country's most prominent wines. I deal with each Italian wine region in turn, from the expensive and age-worthy wines of Barolo in the north, to the bargain glugging wines of the south. But first, a note on the Italian wine classifications
The classification system for Italian wine mirrors that for Italian. Italian wines to be found in the UK are generally Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) or Denominazione di Origine Controllata et Garantita (DOCG). These levels correspond with the Appellation (d'Origine) Contrôlée wines of France, the DOCG wines supposedly with an extra degree of quality. The fairly recent qualification of Indicazione Geografica Tipica (IGT) corresponds to France's Vin de Pays wines, whereas the lowest category for Italian wine, Vina da Tavola, accounts for the table wines. Unusually this latter category has in the past included some of Italy's top wines, as quality conscious wine makers were excluded from the DOC or DOCG categories because of the grapes or wine making practices they used.
The Italian wine region where these latter two have been most concentrated is around Chianti in Tuscany, the wines frequently referred to as 'super-Tuscans'. The relaxation of the DOC and DOCG regulations in 1992, together with the creation of the IGT category, was intended to bring the winemakers behind these 'super-Tuscans' back into the fold. In general it hasn't worked More...
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