Wines of Northern Italy
According to the poet John Keats, autumn is a ‘season of mists and mellow fruitfulness’, and nowhere is this more true than in Piedmont, a region which lies in the north-east of Italy, a couple of hundred kilometres from Fidenza Village.
This area, whose name means ‘at the foot of the mountains’, must surely be one of the most beautiful wine regions in Italy. The vineyards of Barolo and Barbaresco hug the contours of steep hills whose peaks are crowned by villages, many of which boast a turreted castello. In the far distance, the peaks of the Alps, some of them snow-capped all year round, create a magnificent backdrop to the lush splendour that surrounds you.
Glorious at any time of the year, the region really comes into its own in autumn, when the vine leaves turn a rusty red colour and mists hang heavy in the valleys each morning. It’s this mist, the nebbia, which is said to have given the region’s most famous grape, Nebbiolo, its name.
Wines made from Nebbiolo are said, in their youth, to smell of tar and roses and, as they age, these aromas are overlaid with earthy truffled notes. In a strange example of serendipitous congruence, the white truffles from the nearby town of Alba are prized the world over for their heavenly perfume. The area’s traditional dishes – chopped raw veal larded with truffles, hand-made tajarin pasta over which truffles are shaved in thin slices and beef braised for hours in red wine and herbs – are complemented to perfection by wines made from the Nebbiolo.
The most prestigious of these wines are made in the DOCG (‘controlled origin denomination’) zones of Barolo and Barbaresco. Intense and rich, these are wines whose firm structure requires them to be aged for a good ten years before their fierce tannins mellow. Inevitably, they command a high price, so the canny wine lover may well choose to invest in wines from the denomination of Nebbiolo di Langhe or Nebbiolo d’Alba. These wines are made from the same grape as their more aristocratic cousins, yet come from lesser vineyard sites or younger vines. Less concentrated, certainly, but also more accessible in their youth these wines will give you a thrilling hint of the grape’s full potential – at a far more reasonable price.
If you fall in love with the area and its Nebbiolos – a near inevitability for any visitor – you may also want to experiment with some of its other reds. Wines made from Barbera are juicy and full-bodied, with flavours of ripe, spicy plums. Dolcettos are not, as the name might suggest, sweet – instead they’re sweet-natured, fleshy, easy-drinking wines that pair well with the region’s hearty charcuterie.
Discover them all by visiting any of the following wineries – but remember to call or email first to book an appointment. Davide Rosso, a rising star of the region, makes wonderful Barolo and Barbaresco at Giovanni Rosso. Try the perfumed, pretty Langhe Nebbiolo at Cascina Fontana, or the powerful, rich Nebbiolo d’Alba made by Luciano Sandrone – but while you’re there, don’t forget to try their other wines too.
- Wine farmer: foto di Davide Dutto, archivio Ente Turismo Alba Bra Langhe Roero.
- Vergne and Barolo: Mark Mitchell
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09-05-2011
