How to Read an Italian Wine Label

You may be one of those people who love Italian wine but don’t know how to speak Italian. It may seem impossible to read the label without knowing the language, but even if you don’t speak Italian you can still learn how to read Italian wine labels.

1. Recognize the wine name. The wine's name is generally prominently displayed in the middle of the label, as with any other wine label.


2. Understand the wine appellation or grape type. There are anywhere from 1,000 to 2,000 indigenous grape varietals.  Here are some of the most common ones that may or may not appear on a label:  Sangiovese, Barbera, Pinot Grigio, Soave, Dolcetto, and Trebbiano.  Learn the winery and bottler name. The wine producer and bottler's name generally appears at the bottom of the label. There are many Italian words for the winery and a popular can include: Cascina fattoria, and tenuta and means the winery, "Farm or vineyard name. The word for vineyard is Vigneto, produttore means producer, cantina is winery and azienda is company.


3. Understand the denominations (DOC, DOCG, IGT) of the wine. There are over 300 categories in “Denominazione d'Origine Controllata” (DOC), which is the most common. The most highly regulated one is “Denominazione d'Origine Controllate e Garantita” (DOCG), which has over 20 categories. Indicazione Geografica Tipica” (IGT) are wines that are in the minority of production regulated wines. Vino da tavola or table wine, can be found often in supermarkets, and is considered the most common and generic category, although they can contain fine and bargain wines.


4. Recognize the vintage year of the wine. Annata or vendemmia means the vintage year. At least 85 percent of Italian wine must be from this vintage. Imbottigliato means bottled and (les common) invecchiato means aged. There may be additional aging designation followed by the year such as riserva for reserve, which means the wine was aged longer than usual. Vecchio means old, secco is dry, and dolce or amabile sweet.


5. Locate the alcohol content of the wine. Alcool or alcohol content generally appears at the bottom of the front label, or either on the side, just as most other wine labels are.