Italian wine classifications

There are three quality classifications for Italian wines:

• Denominazione di origine controllata e garantita (docg)
  The highest honour is reserved for certain wines from specific producers, not entire regions. If it says docg on the outside, it’s got the highest quality inside.
• Denominazione di origine controllata (doc)
  This regulates the geographical origin of the grapes, the harvest and the permissible grape varieties, as well as wine production and storage.
• Indicazione geografica tipica (igt)
  Covers a larger winegrowing area than doc wines.
• Vino da tavola (vdt)
  The lowest classification, «vini generici» without geographical designation.

So how does a Super Tuscan wine like Tignanello «only» have the igt rating? Docg and doc ratings also stipulate which varieties winemakers can use, so the Tignanello Sangiovese-Cabernet blend bears the igt seal, which affords more flexibility in terms of grape varieties. By the way, this doesn’t affect the quality.