Piedmont

Piedmont was fundamental for the development of modern Italian winemaking. It was here that the extraordinary revolution that brought Italy back to the top of high quality production began. Piedmontese wines, apart from a few exceptions, are mono varietal, that is, produced with a single grape.

The vines grown in Piedmont are mostly black-berried: Nebbiolo, Barbera, Dolcetto, Croatina, Freisa, Bonarda, Grignolino, Brachetto, black-berried Malvasias from Casorzo and Schierano. Among the white grape varieties we point out the autochthonous Cortese and Erbaluce and the white Moscato, which finds some of its highest expressions in the region.

The protagonist of the Piedmontese oenology renaissance was the Barolo, thanks to the French winemaker Louis Oudart. Giulietta Falletti, Marquise of Barolo, asked Oudart to improve the Nebbiolo wines produced in his cellar. Oudart understood the potential of Nebbiolo and realized that an excellent dry wine could be obtained. Thus was born Barolo and it was thanks to Camillo Benso Count of Cavour, who decided to convert the cellars of his Grinzane estate for the production of Barolo, that this wine began to acquire its fame nationally and internationally.

The Barbaresco for years it has been considered as the “little brother” of Barolo, but in fact it is an extraordinary wine made from Nebbiolo grapes which owes its name to the homonymous city in which it is produced, not far from Barolo. Thanks to the intuition and stubbornness of Angelo Gaja, who began to produce wine according to the principles learned in France, Barbaresco has become one of the most sought after wines in the world.

In the Langhe, which are located near the city of Alba, to the right of the Tanaro river and also include the areas of Barolo and Barbaresco, in addition to Nebbiolo, other grapes are grown, such as Dolcetto and Barbera. Dolcetto gives a wine with a marked fruity note, good tannins but low acidity, which does not allow long periods of maturation. Barbera is a grape that until a few years ago was considered suitable only for the production of current and widely consumed wines, but recently it has managed to obtain great results, thanks to careful and quality vinification. In Monferrato Barbera is also found lively or slightly sparkling, while in Asti a firmer and more full-bodied wine is produced. Asti is famous for its white Moscato and for the sweet sparkling wine that bears the name of the city. The success of Asti Spumante is due to Carlo Gancia, who decided in 1865 to make the Moscato Bianco grape sparkling.