Piedmont, Italy's wine jewel - Gourmet Hunters Blog

The Piedmont region is for many the undisputed wine jewel of Italy, especially for the wines produced in Langhe, Roero and Monferrato. Located in the northwest on the border with Switzerland and France, it is a mountainous region, surrounded by the Alps.

Its 43,500 hectares of vineyards and almost 18,000 wineries are home to world-class wines. Here we tell you everything you need to know about this emblematic territory of Italian wine.

Characteristics of the Piedmont region

In Piedmont, located in the northwest of Italy, we can find 44 DOC (Controlled Denomination of Origin) and 12 DOCG (Controlled and Guaranteed Denomination of Origin), and it has 80% of the DOC and DOCG production in Italy alone.

The region can be divided into two wine districts: the district of Langhe, Roero and Monferrato, which includes the three provinces of Asti, Alessandria and Cuneo, and the district of Canavese, Coste della Sesia and the hills of Novara, which includes the provinces of Biella, Novara, Torino, Vercelli and Verbano-Cusio-Ossola. In Langhe, Monferrato and Roero, world famous wines are produced.

Wines of Piedmont

The wines of Piedmont are internationally renowned, whether it is the reds made from Barolo and Barbaresco, Nebbiolo, Barbera, Ghemme, Gattinara and Brachetto d’Acqui, or the whites Roero Arneis, Gavi, Asti Spumante and Moscato d’Asti.

The hilly areas of Piedmont produce the best wine thanks to two main aspects that affect the climate of the region, which are the icy Alps and the warmth of the Mediterranean. The temperature variation means that the whole area is filled with morning fog that slowly burns off during the day.

This means that the land higher up in the hills receives more sunshine, which has a positive effect on the grapes and consequently on the wine.

Nebbiolo, Piedmont’s star variety

This region has seventeen DOCG-certified wines and 42 DOC wines, most of them including Langhe, Roero and Monferrato. The Nebbiolo grape variety alone makes up thirteen of the DOC or DOCG certified wines.

When wine fans think of Piedmont, they immediately think of Barolo and Barbaresco, which are famous for their Nebbiolo-based wines, although these areas only account for 3% of Piedmont’s production.

Although the production of Nebbiolo wine is smaller than that of Barbera, it is considered the best wine of Piedmont.

Nebbiolo wines are only comparable to Pinot Noir wines because of the ability of both varieties to express themselves according to the terroir where they are grown, which is why Nebbiolo wines are named after the vineyard where the grapes come from.

Nevertheless, Nebbiolo wines tend to be light in colour (tending towards orange tones during bottle ageing), with high levels of acidity and tannins and with a disturbing range of aromas that include tar, gunpowder, smokiness, moss, mushrooms, sultana cherries, liquorice, violets and roses.

Some of the best producers of Nebbiolo are: Elio Altare, Enzo Boglietti, Ceretto, Aldo Conterno, Giacomo Conterno, Gaja, Bruno Giacosa, Elio Grasso, Giuseppe Mascarello, Bruno Rocca, Luciano Sandrone, Paolo Scavino, Vajra y Roberto Voerzio.