What are the different types of labeling a consumer might encounter when considering Italian wine for purchase.Italian wine has long been a subject...

Italian wine labels contain much of the same information
found on American labels with a few added features.  The first reference is an excellent
primer on the Italian wine label, showing a typical wine label and locating/identifying
and explaining each piece of information found on the
label.

The basic information to be found on Italian wine
labels is as follows:

Wine
Name

Grape Growing
Region

Estate (wine
producer)

Alcohol
Content

Vintage
(year)

Government Classification (based on production
volume and wine quality)  Examples of govt. classification are Vdt, DOC,
DOCG.

Knowing this information may still leave doubts in
you mind when choosing an Italian wine, especially since there are over 2,000 varieties
of Italian wine grapes and 37 Italian wine growing regions.  So you will have to learn
through the recommendations of others, or by
experimentation.

The second reference is a beginner’s guide
to Italian wine.  It is helpful in understanding the names of grape varieties, and
qualities of the wine regions.