Italian wine

The ancient Greeks used to call Italy Oenotria (Land of wine), and with good reason! This famous boot-shaped country is covered with inland and peninsular vineyards, from tip to heel, from the Mediterranean to the Alps. Trying to understand and get to know the wine and vineyard classification system in Italy is really an endless adventure.

This country is overflowing with winemaking potential; there are approximately 377 recognised and classified native varieties. Some people think there could be even more than that. Each region produces wines with very unique and characteristic styles. This is possibly the country that offers the biggest variety of wines.

The Italian character is faithfully reflected in their wine legislation and in the wines they make. Italian wines are so varied that trying to classify them is a daunting task, quite literally.

Italian wine in numbers

To give you an idea, here is a snapshot of Italian wine in numbers:

-8.6 million tonnes of grapes harvested in 2018
-2nd place in world production, second only to China
-Around 700,000 hectares of vineyards, and counting...
-About 1000 different types of wines
-More than 300 different locations
-Around 377 native varieties
-20 winemaking regions
-4 different levels of Wine Quality Classification

Official classification of Italian wine

So much diversity in varieties, productions and geographical areas makes Italy’s wine quality classification system really complicated. Italian wine laws classify them in descending order as follows:

Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG)
There are about 20 denominations that produce wines that meet the requirements of a DOC, which we will see below, and that are also bottled in the region they are produced and have been approved by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture.

Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC)
This is the equivalent of the French AOC (Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée) and specifies geographical area, variety and yields.

Indicazione Geografica Tipica (IGT).
This is the equivalent of France’s Vin de Pays and specifies the area the wines come from in a more general manner.


Vino da Tavola
This is the most basic wine classification, equivalent to table wines, which do not specify the origin of the grapes or where they come from. They are simply Italian wines.

These classifications unfortunately do not tell the whole story, because there are exceptional wines which, because of their characteristics cannot be classed as one of the two main quality levels.