Using IGT as a topic this week is obviously fairly open ended. Every wine producing region of Italy has an IGT (I think except Piemonte) so to ask what we’re expecting to taste is a bit of a funny one to answer. But you know what they say, ask a stupid question…
…get a hopefully not too stupid answer! Well, it’s not stupid, but it is obvious. It’ll taste of the grape it was made from. That does sound a bit too obvious, right? But that’s the beauty of IGT. It’s a stamp on the label saying this wine will taste like this grape grown in this area.
The producers can’t mess around with it too much, so expect very varietal (i.e. the single grape variety it’s made from) wines. I’m not going to list off a long stream of them now, but let’s take a couple of the picks from earlier in the week. IGT Puglia and the now famous Primitivo.
Puglia is hot and flat, so expect ripe fruits. The other thing to expect is alcohol. The sun and the heat mean the grapes are chock full of sugar so, fermented out, you’ll be looking around the 15% level.
Primitivo has a tendency to give spice flavours. Pepper and Star Anise are likely to be in there. Again, I can say that because I know that the IGT level will mean the wine will be pretty much exactly what I expect from a Primitivo from a hot area.
It’s not one to have too many bottles of in one sitting, but IGT Primitivo will do exactly what it says on the tin!
Cheers
Mike
