Italy

Italy has had a rough time gaining prestige for their wine industry. Years of harsh regulations that did more to hurt rather than help the industry and a history of cheap, mass produced wines has made getting back on track extremely difficult. However, a new set of regulations issued in 1992, deemed the Indicazione Geografica Tipica, or IGT, hopes to provide the possibility of more flexible movement within the old, rigid Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) classification system. Although winemakers are slow to adopt this new, pyramid set of regulations, it is more a question of time. The regulations are as follows: a Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) rating is at the top of the pyramid and awarded only to the highest quality wines, a DOC rating ensures a dependable high standard wine, and the VdT ratings are for everyday, good wines. Great Italian wine growing regions include Piedmont, Tuscany, Sicily, Sardinia and Veneto.