Piedmont (or Piemonte in Italian) is home to some of Italy's greatest and most powerful wines. Red wines like Barolo and Barbaresco, made from the Nebbiolo grape, are long-lived, complex, and very serious.
Barolo used to be a wine that took years and years to age, before it revealed a core of intense cherry fruit and an array of evocative flavours, such as chocolate, roses, tar and tobacco. However, a new generation of modernising producers such as Gaja, Aldo Conterno and Giacosa, are making wines that are approachable when they are much younger, and are far less tannic and forbidding. Barbaresco is similar, but lighter.
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Location
Piedmont is the central and most significant region of North-West
Italy.
Grapes
- Red: Nebbiolo, Barbera and Dolcetto.
- White: Arneis, Moscato
(the Italian name for Muscat) and Cortese.
Look Out For
- Barbera-dominated regions: Barbera
is grown everywhere in North-West Italy.
- Nebbiolo-dominated
regions: Barbaresco, Barolo, Carema, Gattinara, Langhe, Nebbiolo
d'Alba.
- Dolcetto-dominated regions: DOCs include Dolcetto
d'Acqui, Dolcetto d'Alba and Dolcetto d'Asti.
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Top class Barolo and Barbaresco are extremely expensive. If you want to sample similar wines, try a fairly simple Nebbiolo from a good producer - although it still won't be cheap. There are other Nebbiolo wines, such as Langhe, Nebbiolo d'Alba, Carema and Gattinara, which range from rough and ready, to juicy and ripe.
However, it is the Barbera grape that dominates this area's vineyards. Its key characteristics are high acidity and low tannin, together with flavours of raisins and plum. Although the best examples of these wines will age well, most can be drunk young. Barbera d'Alba and Barbera d'Asti are the best wines from this grape.
The third main red grape of North-West Italy is Dolcetto, which is fruitier and juicier than Nebbiolo and Barbera, but has a good streak of tannin, and that typical Italian sweet-sour tang. Examples are Dolcetto d'Asti and Dolcetto d'Acqui, or the slightly heavier Dolcetto d'Alba.
The North West is not well-known for its white wines, with the exception of the sparkling wines made from the Muscat (Moscato) grape. This includes the deliciously sweet Asti Spumante: a fun, creamy, appley fizz. There's also some refreshing Gavi and aromatic Arneis, made from Cortese grapes.
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