The wine country& its laws

The wine country& its laws

 

Now I was busy drafting articles about wines from Italy last weekend. At the restaurant, on Monday morning I was amid a discussion with my server staff about Dolcetto d’Alba , a wine I am currently writing about that I was asked this question, “What does DOC means?” To me this was a simple question. I replied it means Denominazione Origin Controllata similar to AOC, the law for classification of wines. The reply from a fresher right out of college was “You need to follow some law to produce wines? It sounds really funny”

 

Antinori Peppoli Chianti Classico

I patiently replied “May be? But then how would you guarantee that this Chianti is from the Chianti region, has 100% Sangiovese and made following the traditional process and is worth the price you are paying?” I handed an Antinori Peppoli Chianti Classico bottle in his hand. He curiously read the label and agreed to what I said.

 

A label of a Vino da tavola wine

 This made me think how the readers would understand the jargon when I mention DOC, DOCG or VDT. This is virtue of writing this blog article. The French lead the world in production of wine in terms of quantity and also quality. They have the first rank in export of wines to other countries. Italy however never produced wines to export them. They produced wine for local consumption. Most of the wine which is produced in Italy was with their local grapes like Nebbiolo, Cortese, Barbera, Fiano, Dolcetto, Montepulciano and such which did not have any international glamour or fame they have today. Till the 1980s, only Chianti was a world renowned Italian wine. But yes, Italy leads the world in the varieties of wine produced here. In Italy every place has its dominating grape varietal and wine. Here even the clones of the grape in different regions bore different names and character also. The added advantage is also the diversity of the terroir. It includes the snow clad Alps in the north and equally opposite the southern part surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea. I am not surprised to tell you but here a wine never taste the same though close resemblance may be expected in cases like Barolo and Barberesco.

 

Villa Antinori Bianco: An example of exceptional IGT wines

In the world history of wine it was only in the early 1980s that the world started looking for fine wines beyond Bordeaux and Burgundy. Italy was a country in the same subcontinent and had a history of making wines since the Greek civilization settled here. The sky rocketing prices of French wines due to their market demand encouraged buyers to look at other countries to search options. Here did countries like Germany, Italy, Spain and Portugal started gaining attention. When Italian varieties entered the market they were quickly absorbed because of the novelty, variety and the quality of wine which was enchanting. It was also because most of the wines were produced by traditional methods and not mechanised processes. One more reason being the prices were much lower than the French. The popularity also led to increase in the demand. However, the wine scene in Italy got completed ruined post this. The winemakers in order to match the unending demand started producing wines which lacked character. Under the pretentious names characterless wines started entering the market. Soave wine which is native to Soave region in Veneto was bottled from any place and labelled as same. The methods adopted thus to corrupt the wine business and earn heavy profits had to be stopped. This is the time where Italy decided to regulate the production of wine and focus on the quality. The closest option turned out to be the AOC ( Appellation Origine Controlle) from France. It was reintroduced as DOC ( Denominazione Origin Cotrollata) the literal translation meant controlling and regulating the production of a certain wine to their place of origin, adhering to the traditional methods involved in winemaking. Thus DOC zone would be an area where a certain style of wine would be made by the designated grapes abiding to a traditional style and bottled. The rule of bottling is included in all classification to eradicate the malpractice of blending any other wine to increase quantity. The Italians did not consider the fact while adopting the French classification that the French had excelled into the vine cultivation and production process with improved equipment and techniques. They had also identified the best definite grapes and vineyards. For example, a Chardonnay & Aligote are top whites grown abundantly in Burgundy. A Chardonnay from Chablis is bone dry where as a Chardonnay from Meaursault is oaky  with a buttery finish. In Italy, there were some sensitive areas like Chianti where the laws were not adhered to and substandard wines were produced, labelled as DOC and presented in the international market. Most of the buyers assumed that since the wine is a DOC it would be a quality wine. In order to uproot these malpractices completely, DOCG ( Denominazione Origin Controllata Garantita) a classification with more strict rules was introduced.

 



The Geometric representation of wine laws



 

DOCG: A DOCG zone is a geographical area where there are rules applied over the cultivation and the harvest. for example certain vineyard can produce 15,000 tonnes of harvest every vintage. The wine production is limited to certain number of bottles only. These rules enable a wine producer to pay more attention to the quality of wine being made. At harvest the wine is assessed by a panel which does the blind tasting. If the wine matches all the corners and is perfect it is awarded a DOCG. The law emphasizes on following the traditional methods of production to retain the uniqueness and history of the wine. Also, the law ensured that until the wine is bottled in the zone itself it did not receive DOCG.

 

 



Giovanni Goria



 By 1992, the Goria law was put into place. The law is named after Giovanni Goria.  The DOCG wines acquire the supremo status in winemaking of Italy. The law changed the scenario of the wine country and applied geometry to it creating a pyramidal structure which closely resembled the classification of wines native to Italy. At the base were the VDT vino da tavola, literally translated into table wine. The number of variations in this category are many. They do not abide by any regulations in cultivation, harvest or production. They also try out innovative methods & blends to make wines. The VDT wines don't carry the name of the grape on the label. The white are called Bianco and red as Rosso. Above VDT IS IGT Indicazione geografica tipica literally means the wine should belong to a geographic region or sub region. There's not much emphasis on following the traditional methods and using the typical grapes. The place of origin should be necessary the one mentioned on the label. Some IGT regions overlap the DOCG and DOC zones. Also some of the IGT wines are renowned in the world. One level up would be DOCs and the apex is crowned by the DOCG. So the DOCGs are the most carefully crafted wines and hence are the most expensive.

I guess this article provides a decent insight to all my readers. I never say that consume only the DOCGs. Try out various ones, explore them and then select your favorite but yes am sure while doing this you will spot out the difference..

CHEERS!!!

Anaddict