The Wonders of Piedmont

Piedmont (pronounced Pee-ay-MONT-ay in Italy) is a wine and food lovers paradise. Meaning “at the foot of the mountains,” Piedmont sits just south of the Alps in northern Italy and is home to some of the world’s most sought-after wines, including Barolo, Barbaresco and Barbera. The region was historically aligned with the Kingdom on Savoy and many French influences are still felt there today, especially around food and wine. 
 
Piedmont is famous for its morning fog (nebbia in Italian), which lends it name to the region’s most grown grape, Nebbiolo. Barolo and Barbaresco, known respectively as the King and Queen of Italian wines, are made from Nebbiolo. Barolo shows bold, intense fruit and earthy flavors, as well as heavy tannins. Barbaresco is more elegant, with softer tannins, featuring red fruits and floral notes. The villages of Gattinara and Ghemme in the north of Piedmont grow Nebbiolo, known locally as Spanna, to produce wines known for being more rustic and aromatic with prominent tannins and acidity than their cousins to the south. 
 
While Barolo and Barbaresco reign, the wine most Italians of the region open for dinner is Barbera. Barbera produces fresh, light-bodied red wines with low tannins and high acidity that magically pairs well with almost any food.  The wines of Barbera d'Asti tend to be bright in color and elegant while Barbera d'Alba, where Barbera competes with Nebbiolo for plantings, tends to have a deep color with more intense, powerful fruit. 
 
Despite the dominance of red grapes, Piedmont also has a few white grapes that should be on any wine lover’s radar. Two of the most interesting, and delicious, are Arneis and Cortese. Arneis, primarily grown in Roero, just outside Alba, is light and fruity with a hint of floral notes. Cortese is the grape behind Gavi wines, known for being crisp, light white wines with a chalky minerality that might make you think you’re drinking a fine white Burgundy.