Piedmont has more than forty DOCs and seven DOCGs
and is the second largest wine region in Italy. Piedmont means "at
the foot of the mountains" where cold winters are annual and
snowfall is abundant.
The Po River valley is where the hills of Langhe
and Monferrato are rich with volcanic, rocky soil and clay marls.
This area is where four of the DOCGs are produced: Barolo, Barbaresco
and Gattinara representing the red wines and Moscato d'Asti or Asti
representing the white.
The reds of this group are made with the high-acid
and tannic Nebbiolo grape while the Asti, made as an intense, fruity
still and sparkling wine, is made from the Muscat grape that has been
around for millenniums. Barbera grapes supply a great majority of
the regions table wines, while the most popular white is Gavi, made
from the Cortese grape.
Dallas Bartenders
Barolo is produced in a zone south
of Alba that is made from 100% Nebbiolo grapes and makes an intense,
dry wine with a velvet texture. Barolo must be aged for three years
with two in the cask; reserva must be aged for a minimum of five years.
Barbaresco is made from 100% Nebbiolo
grapes from an area east of Alba and resembles Barolo but only requires
a minimum of two years aging with one in the cask; riserva requires
a minimum of four years aging.
Gattinara is made from the Nebbiolo
grape grown around the town it gets its name from in northern Piedmont.
It is a blend with 86% minimun Nebbiolo, with 14% maximum of Bonarda
and Vespolina to soften the wine. Gattinara must be aged for three
years with a minimum of one year in oak or chestnut casks and cannot
be consummed until it has reached the required level of 12% alcohol;
riserva must be aged for four years with two years in casks and a
minimum alcohol content of 12.5%
Piedmont: Italian Wine Regions- Dallas Bartenders
Another wine produced from Nebbiolo is Ghemme
from the viticulture area of Colli Novaresi. The laws mandate that
Ghemme is produced by blending Nebbiolo (55-85%) with a 10-30% of
Vespolina and up to 15% of Bonarda Novarese. The wine must be aged
a minimum of four years with at least three of them in oak or chestnut.
The most popularwhite wine
Gavi is made from the Cortese grape grown in the the southeast
section of Piedmont.
