Piedmont | Wine region

Piedmont, the region at the 'foot of the mountains'. From the Alpine arc of the French-Italian border, the valleys fan out to the plains of Novara and Vercelli. To the south, the plain borders on the lovely hilly areas of the Monferrato and the Langhe, the only trains of the Apennine range towards the Po Valley, with tertiary soils and deep limestone cores over which strong layers of marl, sand or conglomerate have been superimposed. Despite the settlement of world-famous industries around the provincial capital of Turin, the Piedmontese have remained peasant in their basic attitude. This is also evident in the cuisine. The dishes are hearty, with lots of roast meat on the table. The culinary highlight of the year are the white truffles from Alba, which are searched for in autumn until the first snow and which are finely leafed over taglierini with butter or risotto.

Piedmont is traditionally the illustrious home of great red wines and has vineyards that have been cultivated since Roman times (read about it in Caesar and Pliny). Viticulture is mainly based on indigenous varieties that have been cultivated for centuries and have adapted to the soils of the region. The king grape here is Nebbiolo, the mother of the most famous Piedmontese wines: Barolo, Barbaresco, Gattinara, Ghemme. These DOCG wines and many others with DOC designation are marked by the character of this vine. The most common grape variety, on the other hand, is the Barbera grape, which in recent years has experienced a fabulous boom with new vinification techniques, producing such famous wines as Bricco dell'Uccellone. Among the white varieties, Moscato and Cortese dominate. Asti Spumante, with its fine, characteristic sweetness, is also the most widespread wine of the region. Like it, Gavi, made from the Cortese grape, has the DOCG label. Besides these, the authochtonous varieties Arneis and Favorita are also important, the former already quite well known also in Germany and for the latter some winegrowers have recently made a stand. - Gerardo

"Once again, Piedmontese wines have gained a bit in quality, in all production areas. The Langhe, as dynamic as ever, offers a number of novelties; Monferrato exploits the full range of its potential; Roero, for its part, is not only a land of beauty, but a wine land with enormous potential; and finally, Northern Piedmont, where winemakers seem to have hit a lucky streak at the moment." - Slow Wine

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