PIEDMONT

Photo from Michael Heintz on unsplash

Most Americans are surprised to learn that 95 percent of all the wine made from a given harvest is consumed before the next, so accustomed are we to buying and drinking wine in corked bottles that is a year old or more. 

Likewise, we imagine that the Piedmontese drink their famed Barolo and Barbaresco with every lunch and dinner. They don’t. They drink the everyday wines that they make, such as Barbera and Dolcetto. (They save the Barolo and Barbaresco to sell to us.) 

The land
Piedmont (in Italian, Piemonte) takes its name from the Latin roots for the words “foot” and “mountain,” in this case a vast rolling land that spreads out from its base at the Alps. 

The soils in Piedmont are as varied as they are in another famed red winemaking area, Burgundy. Indeed, these two areas share a common trait: one singularly important grape (Nebbiolo for Piedmont; Pinot Noir for Burgundy), grown on many different soils—the combinations of which make for a plethora of characterful wines.

The land itself gives Nebbiolo its name, for in the autumn months fog (nebbia) settles over the vineyards each morning. “Nebbiolo” means “the little fog.” 

Barolo and Barbaresco
These nearly twinned siblings, named after two Piedmontese towns 12 miles separated, are both borne of Nebbiolo. By and large, Barbaresco is gentler and more forward than Barolo, although the roles can switch given the vintage, winemaker or site. In either case, because Nebbiolo is natively high in tannin, both wines are not shy of backbone. 

Older styles of both were impenetrable when young and needed a decade or more in bottle. Some wines are that way still, even if made in a newer, fruitier and fatter style. But, generally, modern-day Barolo and Barbaresco make themselves accessible earlier on—though that may mean waiting five years nonetheless. 

Nebbiolo also makes a lot of other Piedmontese wines, such as Ghemme, Gattinara, Spanna and Nebbiolo d’Alba. By and large, these are lower-priced, lighter and leaner versions of Barbaresco and Barolo. 

Barbera and Dolcetto
If production of Barolo and Barbaresco is measured as rivulets, of Barbera and Dolcetto, it’s as Class 5 rapids. These are the wines for which most of the world knows Piedmont. 

Barbera’s deliciousness may lie in its high acidity, making it a perfect complement to the table. It delivers waves of chocolate- and cherry-like fruit, slid onto the palate by a supple and silky texture. Barbera has great currency in Piedmont and some producers treat it in world-class fashion (i.e., it sees wood). 

Dolcetto is aptly named (from Italian for “soft” or “sweet, as in the English “dulcet”). It is Piedmont’s gulpable wine, spicy, grapey, dark chocolate-y and low in tannin. The best comes from around the towns of Alba and Dogliani. 

Gavi, Arneis, Asti and Moscato d’Asti
These four white wines stand tall in a region made famous by its reds. Gavi, made of the Cortese grape, is crisp, lemony and very dry—perfect for seafood. Arneis (which comes from dialect for a mischievous rogue) is also dry and fresh, but with perhaps more body than Gavi. And it, too, makes a meal with fish. 

What was known for years as Asti Spumante (the “foaming,” or sparkling, wine from around the town of Asti) is now known simply as Asti. It gets all of its highly aromatic, semi-sweet lusciousness from Moscato grapes.  

Like Asti, Moscato d’Asti is lightly sweet and peachy, but is more delicate and light. It has less alcohol (5 percent) and less pressure. It is all the rage in Italy, well beyond its traditional use as a toast at Christmas.  

Piedmont at table
Well, if ever there was a place in Italy where food rules, it is Piedmont (though telling that to a Tuscan—or a Sicilian, or a Venetian, or any Italian still living with Mama—won’t make friends).  

Piedmont once belonged to the Kingdom of Savoy, part of France. No region of Italy cooks with more butter, cream and eggs than Piedmont. And nowhere else serves so much red meat. It is as if meat first dictated that Barolo should be made to accompany it.

Pasta sauces in Piedmont are less tomato-based than redolent of herbs (sage, especially), butter and eggs. Risotto and polenta—two Piedmontese favorites—are generally meat-rich. 

And, above all, especially in fall and winter, shavings of white truffle scent nearly every dish but the gelato. 

Eating and drinking in Piedmont are about weight. For fuller dishes, serve Peidmont’s reds. For fish and lighter meals (which may or decidedly may not include pasta preparations), whites will do. 

Moscato d’Asti is delicious as an apéritif; Asti, for dessert.