🍷 Protected geographical indication

A protected geographical indication, PGI for short, is a protected name for wine from a certain area. The rules are looser than for a designation of origin. For a PGI it is enough that at least 85% of the grapes come from the named area. The rest may come from elsewhere.

PGI is part of the European Union system that protects the names of products from imitation. If a bottle shows a name such as "Toscana" or "Veneto" with a PGI mark, the wine really comes from there and follows local rules. In different countries PGI goes by different names: IGT in Italy, formerly Vin de Pays in France, OFJ in Hungary.

PGI differs from PDO, the designation of origin, in its freedom. A PGI has a wider area and fewer limits on grapes and methods. But this does not mean "worse": there are many excellent wines among PGIs. The category only shows how strictly the place of origin and the method are defined.