There is a good wine columnist in the Tribune who has had a couple of articles on Italian wine terminology. Here are a few I've learned. Some of it seems complicated, like the IGT, DOC and DOCG. They apparently have strict standards. I also had no idea that Italian wines are the largest selling imported wines in the U.S.

Frizzante: Half the bubbles of a fully sparkling wine.

Asti: Wines labeled Asti can be either sweet or dry. The sweet includes the fully sparkling Asti or the frizzante moscato d'Asti. For the dry version, barbera d'Asti is the most widespread example.

Gallo Nero (black rooster): A producers group in the Chianti Classico region. While they do require producers in the consortium to submit samples of every vintage for quality assessment, producers aren't denied the Gallo Nero seal. It's Not a guarantee of high quality or a guard against low quality.

Ripasso: A process in which some Valpolicella wines are "re-fermented in casks containing the lees from a prior batch of amarone wine. Amarone is a big and expensive wine made by fermenting partially dried grapes. Ripasso wines can be excellent value and a way to enjoy a hearty, full-bodied wine for under $20 per bottle. Although many books indicate that the word ripasso cannot appear on the label, it often does.

Barrique: Although this is a French word, it was popularized by the Italians, particularly "super Tuscan" and Barolo producers who wanted to distinguish their wine style from traditional wines which were aged in large oak containers.

Rufina: A wine region known for its Chianti. It is a sub-region of the large Chianti region.

Tenuta, an estate that grows its own grapes and bottles the wine

Vendemmia or vintage, and vigna or vigneto, both meaning vineyard.

Indicazione geografica tipica (IGT): Wines that must be representative of their geographic region. There are 118 appellations listed on the Italian Trade Commission's Web site, italianmade.com.

denominazione di origine controllata (DOC), which controls not only the geographical area but types of grapes used, production standards and aging periods. The Italian Trade Commission lists 315 DOC zones, but that number is always changing.

denominazione di origine controllata e garantita (DOCG), which has the strictest rules of all. There are 35 DOCG appellations.

There are some individual wines listed on that first Web site, including with pronunciations. Now I just need to try more Italian wines. Pinot Grigio is about as far as I go.

I like vin santo - sweet wine, often used as communion wine (so I'm told).