Piedmont

Italy is the summer destination par excellence – with the exception of Piedmont. This region of rugged landscapes and rich natural scenery reveals its greatest charms in the autumn, when its forested hills are draped in mist and painted in a glowing palette of red, orange, yellow and brown. Piedmont, which means «at the foot of the mountains», is located in northwestern Italy and borders France and Switzerland. For many years it was ruled by the House of Savoy, and even today the Piemontesi speak a dialect that bears witness to this French influence.

The mere mention of Piedmont makes every wine lover’s heart beat a little faster. It is here – specifically in Langhe, a row of hills stretching between the Po Valley and the Alps – that you will find the home of Barolo and Barbaresco, two of the world’s most coveted grape varieties. Both evolved from Nebbiolo, a very exacting grape. It is named after the whitish film that forms on the ripe red grapes – “nebbia” is the Italian word for fog. Barolo and Barbaresco are not the easiest wines. When young they lash the palate with high acidity and tannin, and come across as sharp and reticent. But it’s a different story when they mature! Then they develop an enchanting bouquet of rose and violets, tar and truffle. This requires patience though.

Fortunately, the winegrowing area of Piedmont, which covers almost 50,000 hectares, also produces wines for laying down. The cheerful Barbera and the fruity-sweet Dolcetto are two exceptionally quaffable red wines. Among the white wines, the mineral Cortese di Gavi and the full-bodied Roero Arneis stand out – Cortese and Arneis are the grape varieties, Gavi and Roero the town and growing area, respectively, from which they originate.

And two inside tips for sparkling wine lovers can be found in Piedmont. Unconventional red Frizzanti are produced from the Freisa grape. And the light, effervescent Moscato d’Asti, made from white muscatel, can be considered a real discovery, now that it has left its common origins behind and blossomed into something truly special.

Piedmont has no shortage of sights worth visiting, such as the palazzi in the capital city of Turin or Isola Bella in Lago Maggiore, with its Baroque gardens. But let’s be honest, most people come to Piedmont to eat! The rare and expensive white truffles from Alba, the melt-in-your-mouth Gianduja chocolate from Turin, Gorgonzola cheese and the popular breadsticks known as grissini – Piedmont is home to all these famous delicacies. It is also where the Slow Food movement was born, and where kitchenware manufacturer Giovanni Alessi founded his now world-famous empire – in 1921 in the little town of Omegna. We also have Piedmont to thank for the Ferrero company, which conquered the world with truffles of the sweet kind. In the heart of every «Mon Chéri» chocolate you will find a «Piedmont cherry» ...

Alta Langa, Asti, Barbaresco, Barbera d’Asti, Barbera del Monferrato superiore, Barolo, Brachetto d’Acqui, Dolcetto di Diano d’Alba, Dolcetto di Dogliani, Dolcetto di Ovada Superiore, Erbaluce di Caluso, Gattinara, Gavi, Ghemme, Roero, Ruchè di Castagnole Monferrato

Alba, Albugnano, Barbera d’Alba, Barbera del Monferrato, Boca, Bramaterra, Calosso, Canavese, Carema, Cisterna d’Asti, Colli Tortonesi, Collina Torinese, Colline Novaresi, Colline Saluzzesi, Cortese dell’Alto Monferrato, Coste della Sesia, Dolcetto d’Acqui, Dolcetto d’Alba, Dolcetto d’Asti, Dolcetto di Ovada, Fara, Freisa d’Asti, Freisa di Chieri, Gabiano, Grignolino del Monferrato Casalese, Grignolino d’Asti, Langhe, Lessona, Loazzolo, Malvasia di Casorzo d’Asti, Malvasia di Castelnuovo Don Bosco, Monferrato, Nebbiolo d’Alba, Piemonte, Pinerolese, Rubino di Cantavenna, Sizzano, Strevi, Terre Alfieri, Valli Ossolane, Valsusa, Verduno Pelaverga

Aldo Conterno, Banfi, Batasiolo, Braida, Bruno Giacosa, Conterno-Fantino, Domenico Clerico, Elio Altare, Elio Grasso, Fontanafredda, Gaja, Gancia, Giacomo Conterno, Giuseppe Mascarello e Figli, Franco M. Martinetti, Parusso, Poderi Colla, Produttori del Barbaresco, Prunotto, Roberto Voerzio, Sandrone, Vajra, Vietti