Region of the Month

                                           November 2008

Region : Piedmont

Capital: Torino

Location: Northern Italy

Provences: Alessandria, Asti, Biella, Cuneo, Novara, Vercelli

Wine production ranking: 7th

Gastronomy:  Piedmontese uphold their heritage of food and wine with unequaled staunchness. Turin, as the home of the Savoy dynasty that reigned as Italy's royal family, shared a culinary savoir faire with neighboring France. But the noblest examples of the good tastes of the past are to be found in the substantial cooking of the hill country. The flavors of Piedmont reach peaks in autumn, when the harvest is in and wooded slopes from the Alps to the Apennines supply game, mushrooms and white truffles, whose magical aromas enhance pastas and risottos, meats and cheeses.
www.italianmade.com/regions/foods2.cfm

Soccer Team:  Torino, Asti, Juventus

Area of vineyards planted: 142,050  acres

Famous Wines: Barolo, Barbaresco, Gavi, Gattinara and Ghemme

White wines: Arneis, Cortese, Gavi, Moscato

Red Wines:Barolo, Barbaresco, Barbera, Nebbiolo, Dolcetto,Gattinara

Barolo Crus-  La Morra, Barolo, Castiglione, Falletto, Serralunga d'Alba and Monforte d'Alba (4500 acres under vine)

Wine Production: Ranked 7th in  wine production.  Piedmont  holds the number one spot for classified DOC and DOCG  wines in Italy.

DOCG Wines:  11- Acqui, Asti, Barbaresco,Barolo, Dolcetto di Dogliani, Gattinara, Gavi, Ghemme, Roero,Moscato di Asti

DOC Wines:  43 -  Albugnano, Alta Langa, Barbera d'Alba, Barbera d'Asti, Barbera del Monferrato, Boca, Bramaterra, 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 delle Langhe Monregalesi, Dolcetto di Diano d'Alba, Dolcetto di Dogliani,Dolcetto di Ovada, Erbaluce di Caluso, Fara, Freisa d'Asti, Freisa di Chieri, Gabiano, Grignolino d'Asti, Grignolino del Monferrato Casalese, Langhe, Lessona, Loazzolo, Malvasia di Casorzo d'Asti, Malvasia di Castenuovo Don Bosco, Monferrato, Nebbiolo d'Alba, Piemonte, Pinerolese, Rubino di Cantavenna, Ruche di Castagnole Monferrato, Sizzano, Strevi, Valsusa, Verduno Pelavrega o Verduno

Famous producers: Gaja, Marcarini,Vietti, La Spinetta, Sottimano, Luciano Sandrone,Paolo Scavino,Sella,Elio Grasso,Aldo Conterno, Conterno Fantino, Giacomo Conterno, Coppo,Renato Corino, Matteo, Malvira, Correggia,Einaudi,Filippo Gallino,Scrimaglio,Cascina Val del Prete,Garetto,Attilo Ghisolfi, Fontana bianca,Marchesi di Barolo,Fiorenzo Nada,Paitin, Elio Altare,  Produttori del Barbaresco, Bersano,  Gianfranco Bovio,  Braida,   Giacomo Brezza & Figli, Busso,  Ca' del Baio, Ca' Viola, F.lli Cavallotto,  Domenico Clerico,

Web-Sites:
www.regione.piemonte.it

http://www.piemontefeel.org/EN

Tourist Office: via Avogadro, 30
10121 Torino TO
Tel. +39 011 4321354 Fax +39 011 4326218
E-maill: atrinfo@atr.piemonte.it

                                             Overview

P

Piedmont, Italy's westernmost region with borders on Switzerland and France, is hemmed in by the Alps and the Apennines, which explain why its name means foot of the mountain. Though it ranks only seventh among the regions in total production, Piedmont is considered a giant of Italian wine in every other way.

Piedmont has the most DOC-DOCG zones with 50 and stands proud as the region with the largest percentage of its wines officially classified. It has no IGT. For craftsmanship, respect for tradition and devotion to native vines in their historical habitats, the Piedmontese have no rivals in Italy.

The climate is rigid by Italian standards, with distinct changes of season. Winters are cold with plenty of snow. Summers are for the most part hot and dry. Spring and fall are temperate to cool with fog normal at harvest time. A majority of the region's vineyards are located in the Langhe and Monferrato hills, which are connected to the Apennines in the southeast. But several wines of significance are also grown along the foothills of the Alps to the north between Lake Maggiore and Valle d'Aosta.

The focal point of premium production is the town of Alba on the Tanaro River. In the nearby Langhe hills, Barolo ("king of wines and wine of kings") is produced at the rate of about 6 million bottles a year and Barbaresco, which many experts rate its equal, rarely reaches 2.5 million bottles. Both come from Nebbiolo, which gives them the powerful structure that makes them capable of improving for many years from such fine vintages as 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996, 1990, 1989, 1985 and 1982.

The traditional Barolo and Barbaresco were admired almost as cult wines, though often criticized as too elaborate for modern palates. But the combination of favorable vintages and perfection of techniques among winemakers, many of them young, seems to be changing the old-fashioned image. Barolo and Barbaresco have retained their ample dimensions while becoming better balanced and more approachable than before.

The Alba area is renowned for its smooth, supple Dolcetto under several appellations, and for first-rate Nebbiolo and white Arneis from the Roero hills. But the most dramatic progress in the Alba and Asti areas has come with the ubiquitous Barbera, which after ages of being considered rather common has rapidly taken on aristocratic airs.

Certain aged Barberas have emerged to stand comparison with fine Nebbiolo reds. Piedmontese drink more red wine than white, and about half of the red is Barbera, which can also be attractive in youthfully fruity and bubbly versions. Three other red wines that have recovered after decades of decline are the crimson Grignolino, the often fizzy Freisa and the buoyantly sweet and bubbly Brachetto from Acqui.

In the other major area of Nebbiolo production, the hills to the north, modern styles are emerging in such reds as Carema, Lessona, Sizzano, Fara and the long vaunted Gattinara, which along with neighboring Ghemme has been granted DOCG. Piedmont is a leading producer of sparkling wines. Foremost among them is Asti, the world's most popular sweet bubbly wine. The market for this fragrant white is actually larger abroad than in Italy. In fact, worldwide demand is so great that a shortage of Moscato di Canelli grapes has developed.

Piedmont is also a major producer of dry sparkling wines by both the classical and charmat methods, though many of the Chardonnay and Pinot grapes used for them originate outside the region, mainly in neighboring Oltrepò Pavese in Lombardy or in Trentino-Alto Adige.

Among still whites, Gavi shows a crisp yet elegant style that explains why admirers consider it one of the best with seafood and why it was recently promoted to DOCG. Smoothly fruity Arneis continues to gain ground in Roero, where the light, zesty Favorita is also emerging. Some predict a revival of the ancient white Erbaluce di Caluso from near Turin.

Although Piedmontese growers were among the first to experiment with such foreign varieties as Cabernet and the Pinots early in the19th century, those vines had largely faded from favor. Just recently, though, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Bianco and Nero and, especially, Chardonnay have shown promise. The regional Piemonte DOC applies in part to sparkling wines from Chardonnay, Pinots and other varieties. Still, as admirers have noted, even wines from international varieties bear a stamp that is unmistakably Piedmontese.

Taken from Italianmade: 

www.italianmade.com/regions/wines2.cfm

Italys Regions: 

Abruzzo, Apulia, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Emilia-Romagna,

Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Latium, Liguria, Lombardy, Marches,

Molise, Piedmont, Sardinia, Sicily, Trentino-Alto Adige,Tuscany,

Umbria,Val D’aosta,Veneto