Piedmont
Italian Geography
4 Major Regions
1. Northwest
2. Northeast
3. Central
4. Southern
Northwest Italy
1. Includes the great Piedmont
region.
2. Also, Liguria, Lombardy and
Valle d’Aosta
Piedmont (Piemonte)
Touted alongside
Tuscany as on of Italy’s
top two wine regions.
What makes Piedmont
unique?
• Climate
• Geography
• Culture
Geography
Piemonte means “the foot of the
mountain.”
You can see why.
Surrounded by the Alps and the
Appenines.
Po River cuts through it, creating
a fertile plain, too rich for grape
growing.
Most grape growing happens in
the area south of the Po Valley.
Some in the foothills of the Alps.
Monferrato Hills – Appenines.
Langhe Hills – Appenines.
terms
• Bricco, Sori
Weather
• Continental Climate (cold snowy winters,
hot dry summers, cool with fog spring and
fall).
• Receives a rain shadow from the Alps.
Culture
• Fine dining.
• “Burgundy of Italy”
• One of the gastronaut capitals of the
world.
• And of course, the wine.
Many great and differing styles of
wine.
• Big bad reds
• Softer reds.
• Delicious, fresh whites.
• Highly perfumed and delicate whites.
• Sparkling whites.
Italian Label Help
• Look for DOCG labels.
• di – preposition which means of
• d’ – di can become d’ when used before a
vowel
• del – preposition with a definite article di il,
meaning of the
Often times, you will have DOC(G)s like this
varietal di region
Sometimes they stand alone, like Barolo,
Barbaresco
DOCGs of Piemonte
• Barollo • Dolcetto di Dogliani Superiore
• Barbaresco • Dolcetto di Ovada Superiore
• Ghemme • Dolcetto di Diano d’Alba
• Gattinara • Brachetto d’Acqui
• Roero • Ruche di Castagnole Monferrato
• Barbera del • Cortese di Gavi (Gavi)
Monferrato • Erbaluce di Caluso
Superiore
• Moscato d’Asti (Asti)
• Barbera d’Asti
And some 40 DOCs!
How to organize
Sparkling (18%)
White (17%)
Red (65%)
Sparkling
• Asti/Moscato d’Asti
• Brachetto d’Aqui
Varietal
• White – Arneis, Cortese, Erbaluce (ACE)
• Red – Nebbiolo, Barbera, Dolcetto, Ruche
• Or if you want to mix up the colors:
ABC NERD
White (only, still) DOCGs
• Cortese di Gavi
• Erbaluce di Caluso (very close to
Valle d’Aosta)
Nebbiolo
• Barolo Tanaro River
Roero
• Barbaresco
• Roero
• Ghemme
• Gattinara
Barolo and Barbaresco come from Really Good Grapes.
Nebbiolo
• Thin skinned
• Named for the morning fog of the region (la Nebbia) that
prolongs the grapes ripening process in the fall (and also
seems to cover the skin of the grape).
• High alcohol, acid and extreme tannin.
• Best examples offer extreme aromatic complexity and
longevity.
• Aromas of tar, truffles, rose petals, dried fruits.
• Moderate in concentration and orange tinged even in
youth.
• Also known as Chiavennasca in Valtellina and
Picotendro in Valle d’Aosta.
Nebbiolo - What’s the difference?
• Barolo “the king of wines, the wine of kings”
• Barbaresco
• Roero – Across the Tanaro river from B&B.
• Gattinara and Ghemme – Foothills of the Alps.
Barolo/ Barbaresco
• Big, bad manly (especially Barolo) wine.
• High in alcohol and tannin.
• Use care when pairing this with food.
• Needs to age!
• Excellent Vintages: 1990, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999,
2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
For reference.
Cannubi on Barolo and Rabaja in
Barbaresco..
Monferrato Hills
• Barbera d’Asti
• Barbera del Monferrato Superiore
• Ruchè di Castagnole Monferrato
Dolcetto
• Dolcetto di Dogliani Superiore
• Dolcetto di Ovada Superiore
• Dolcetto di Diano d’Alba
Sweet black fruit in a typically rustic frame.