Italian Wine Labeling Terms Flashcards
Abboccato
A medium-dry wine with a maximum of 1.2% or 12 g/l of sugar.
Amabile
A medium-sweet wine with a maximum of 4.5% or 45g/l of sugar.
Annata
Vintage
Bianco
White wine
Chiaretto
Term used to indicate a rose wine made in specific DOCs.
Classico
A wine produced from the original historic winegrowing area of a DOCG or DOC.
Dolce
A sweet wine (more than 4.5% or 45g/l of sugar).
Fermo
A still wine.
Frizzante
A semi-sparkling wine.
Imbottigliato all’origine
Estate-bottled
Liquoroso
A fortified wine.
Novello
A wine released shortly after it is made; similar in concept to Beaujolais Nouveau. By law, a wine labeled as novello must include at least 40% of wine made by the carbonic or semi-carbonic maceration methods. Some appellations require a higher percentage than this standard.
Passito
A wine made from semi-dried grapes.
Riserva
A wine that went through an extended period of aging before release compared to the non-riserva version. A riserva wine usually also has stricter production requirements (such as lower maximum yields and higher minimum alcohol content).
Rosato
A rose wine.
Secco
A dry wine (maximum of 0.4% or 4g/l of sugar).
Spumante
A fully sparkling wine.
Superiore
A wine with a higher minimum actual alcohol content compared to the non-superiore version of the same wine (ranging from 0.5% to about 1% or more). Often superiore wines also have stricter production criteria (such as lower maximum yields and longer aging requirements) than non-superiore wines.
Vendemmia
Harvest or vintage.
Vendemmia Tardiva
Late harvest; indicates a wine made from late harvested grapes. The wine can be sweet or dry.
Vigna/Vigneto
A single vineyard; the term vigna is followed by the name of the vineyard. The designation can by used only if the grapes come from that vineyard. The wines must follow stricter production criteria than non-single vineyard wines from the same DOC or DOCG.
Vino
Wine
Vivace
A lively (lightly fizzy) wine.
