What do the Italian Wine Designations Mean?
Table wine has no stringent regulations for production and is often considered the least desirable. This may or may not be the case, as quality wines have been produced in the past that came as a result from imaginative mixtures of grapes and fermentation techniques. These experimental practices produced highly palatable wines, but failed to meet DOC(G) regulations. Table wines are not permitted to disclose their regions of origin or vintage dates. The IGT classification is considered the next step up in terms of quality and prestige. This classification was created in 1992 as a way to recognize quality wines that did not meet the stringent DOC(G) guidelines. This classification has relatively mild regulations for production and is permitted to put its geographic location (production zone) on the label. This location on IGT wine labels is generally a larger area than those described by the wines of the more prestigious DOC(G) classifications, which often put villages, estates or specif
