Italian sparkling wines

We can all recognize white, red and sparkling wines, so long as the glass bottle is not too dark. But increasingly wines are going into cans and opaque dispensers. And supermarkets offer so much choice, we have to try to decipher the labels. Here's a quick guide to what some of those labels mean.

Glossary of Italian wine label words

Asti spumante
spumante - sparkling
Asti - town
Gancia - wine making company, after the owner's family name
Asti Gancia
Di / d' - of / from
Prosecco - bubbly, cheaper than Champagne and usually sweet (rather than the French brut which means dry)
nero - black
Pino Nero  - same black/dark red grape which the French call Pinot Noir
Pino Grigio -Pinot Gris
metodo - method
classico - classic
metodo classico (Champagne style)
Lambrusco - grape and region - think Lombardy, L L, can be sweet or dry
Marsala - from the city of Marsala in Sicily
moscato - muskat (grape variety)
rosso - red
vino - wine
DOCG - denominazione di origine controllata (control over who can use this name of place of origin)

Dolce - sweet
Amabile - sweet
seco - dry

frizzante - slightly bubbly - not as bubbly as spumante
IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica)

cantucci - almond biscuits
In shops also look for truffle oil - yummy!

Useful Websites On Sparkling Wines

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparkling_wine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparkling_wine#Italian_sparklers

http://winefolly.com/review/sparkling-italian-wine/

http://winefolly.com/tutorial/understanding-italian-wine-list/

http://www.yourguidetoitaly.com/italian-sweet-dessert-wines.html

http://www.yourguidetoitaly.com/italian-wine-labels.html

Wine Spectator School courses

www.winespectator.com