Phadraig

Dear Craig, We have to "fight" more often. Thanks for the plug. Let's do this every month: I could use the business! Best, Patrick W Fegan

Craig, Believe me, I have worked harvests on two continents: my attitudes about winemaking and winelaws are anything but idealistic As for the industrial nature of many wines, granted. The really industrial stuff is labeled Vino da Tavola and rarely gets marketed here anymore. The cut above that is called IGT for the most part except for that small slice that is made that could not fit into DOC or DOCG. I don't believe I wrote that DOC or IGT were not used as marketing tools. If I did then that would be a classic case of Weinheimer's Disease. Of course they are used as marketing tools; but marketing was not the genesis of DOC. It was at its base a desire to build a credidible system of wine regulations for a world that had until really the last generation come to view Italian wines as of laughably poor quality. Obviously, the creation of the DOC laws helped turn the world's mind around about Italian wines (one need only look at which country sells us the most wine today versus which one did 30 years ago). To bash them for using DOC et al. as a marketing tool on top of its orginal aim as an assurance of authenticity is unfair. "...but you should not teach students that these laws are some sort of an indication of quality." You know better than that, Craig: I have never suggested or taught (nor have the Italian or French lawmakers, by the way) that DOC, IGT, or DOC & G are indicators of QUALITY, for that is impossible given not only personal tastes but defendable interpretations of a theme. I have always taught that they gauranteed AUTHENTICITY. Best, Patrick W Fegan

Dear Craig: I do not know why you are in such a bad mood about IGT (and DOCG for that matter: previous article). Wine is an agricultural product. It defies categorizations. What humans have done is to TRY to put some meaningful spin to it. All the systems of wine law I have ever studied never promised perfection and all the systems have allowed for evolution, for changes and re-structuring. Italy was stuck with Vino da Tavola as the sole back up for non DOC/DOCG wines and so created IGT. To me that's acknowledging the shortcomings of the process and refining it. That deserves kudos not brick bats. I'll pull out a few choices quotes. "No, that wasn't a sneeze, it was IGT.....the new wine classification introduced in 2002...." It was introduced in 1992. "To further confuse the matter, the phrase 'table wine' in the US is a legal designation set by the government to denote all wines of less than 14.5% alcohol." Were you trying to equate the Italian "Vino da Tavola" with something lowly or maybe even irrelevant? But do you really think most American wine drinkers know the diff, or care? I have been teaching them for 28 years and I don't think so. BTW, the limit for "Table Wine" in the US is 14% not 14.5%. "These producers were being forced to give their top wines...the lowly Vino da Tavola...designation". Yes, and Piero and Lodovico et al. were wringing their hands and crying about this indignity all the way to the bank. "There are oceans of 'Veneto I.G.T.' wine arriving in the USA....white, red, rose......39 permitted grape varieties.. from any of 7 provinces. Pretty demanding requirements, right?" One could say much the same thing about the French Vin de Pays (the IGT equivalent) "Vin de Pays d'Oc". Some are $5 great bargains and some cost $75 (rip-offs--rips-off?--or not). I hear no lamentations against Vin de Pays. "When you see an IGT wine at $50 you have a pretty good idea it is not in the industrial grade category. But, sorry, no guarantee". Is there EVER a guarantee that a given individual will love a bottle of wine, $5 or $50 whether it is IGT, DOC or DOCG at whatever price? Not! That's why there are blind tastings, that's why we read comments by others of (hopefully) more experience, that's what makes the market place the market place. "Italian wine law is bursting at the seams....Italy is overwhelmed by excellent wines, but they don't just fit well into the few categories and the constrictions of DOC & G, DOC and IGT". Craig, it's hard enough to teach students about Italy's four wine categories. Do you want 8? 20? I can see it now: "Let's see...it costs $35 and most of us think it's great, but it's not made with a famous grape: okay, that goes into the DEAL (Don't Expect A Lot) classification. This one is pure Sangiovese and the cooperage are classic botti but they're made from American oak, so that goes into the YAYK (Yin and Yank) classification." Oy! Sincerely, Patrick W Fegan