产区详情

Vino da Tavola was the most basic classification for the wines of Italy. It is now renamed simply as "Vino", appearing on labels as Vino d'Italia. The original name means literally "table wine", as distinct from higher-quality wines from specified geographical locations (see EU Wine Label).

In May 2011, the first legal steps were taken to abolish the Vino da Tavola category, in favor of a new wine classification named simply Vino. The typical Vino is an inexpensive wine blended from multiple regions and sometimes multiple vintages. It is not labeled with its region/s of origin, nor with its vintage.

Vino (da Tavola) is now returning to its intended lowly status. But in the 1980s and 1990s some of Italy's most respected (and most expensive) wines were labeled as Vino da Tavola. This upside-down situation arose due to failings in the wine laws and classifications introduced in Italy in the 1960s (see Italian Wine Label).

Although it was modeled closely on France's appellation contrôlée system, this new DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controlata) system was less successful than its French counterpart. The problems arose primarily because the DOC laws were too rigidly focused on tradition. Winemaking freedom was reduced to a minimum, and experimentation was suffocated.

Many prominent Italian winemakers chose to continue making wines their way as Vini da Tavola, rather than conforming to their local DOC title. The confidence and competence with which they rebelled against the system earned them and their wines a great deal of cachet. The most prominent of these top-flight Vino da Tavola wines came from Tuscany, which earned them the nickname "Super Tuscans". 

Among their ranks were wines which remain Italy's most famous – the likes of Tignanello and Sassicaia. The latter was from a coastal area laregley dismissed in terms of winemaking potential. Tignanello did not qualify for the DOC as it was aged in barriques and contained a supporting component of untraditional varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon.

This situation rankled with Italian bureaucrats. Neither did it go unnoticed by the European Union. It began pressuring Italy to bring sort out its upside-down wine classification system. This eventually led to the 1992 Goria Law, named after the Minister of Agriculture Giovanni Goria. Tellingly, he had just returned to Italian office after three years at the European Parliament.

Among other changes to the existing DOC system and its laws, the Goria Law introduced the Indicazione Geografica Tipica (IGT) category (see Toscana IGT). The IGT category has proved significantly more successful than the DOC category ever was in its early days. It provides a respected, higher-level category for the Super Tuscans. Across Italy IGT covers most less well-known or intensively planted production zones and gives winemakers plenty of latitude.