Northwest Italy: Lombardy & Piedmont
The wines of northwest Italy are numerous and diverse. From the plentiful, everyday whites and reds to ultra-low production, truly world-class red wine, Piedmont makes it all. These reds can be huge, tannic monsters capable of great age and development in the bottle but there are many very good wines at an affordable level.
Top-notch Nebbiolo is produced in Barolo and Barbaresco and fine examples of the juicy Barbera grape can be found everywhere. Together with Dolcetto, these grapes dominate red wine production in the Piedmont region. The Lombardy region produces some interesting red from Nebbiolo and good sparkling wine from Franciacorta.
One very famous white comes from the Piedmont region: the sparkling Asti we all know and love, made from the Muscato grape. Recent years have also seen the ascendance of the Cortese grape in Gavi.
Key grape varieties:
R Nebbiolo, Barbera, Dolcetto
W Arneis, Cortese, Muscato
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