Italian Wines

[plonk]

Hello,

I'm always confused when it comes to selecting a good italian wine. So I look for if the bottle is marked as

"Denominazione di origine tipico", "Denominazione di origine controllata" or "Denominazione di origine controllata e garantita"

...assuming that the 3rd one is the best.

But lately I saw bottles with only "Denominazione di origine tipico" for over USD 100 -- that can't be a bad wine, I guess.

Can anyone give me a hint how to sort out the better from the worse? The price might say something, but then there are also really bad overpriced wines.