Wines and spirits

Piedmont is a renown Wine Country, with 45 thousand hectares of vineyards. From the magic of the Langhe and Monferrato hills, with prestigious labels and the allure of noble wines, to the heroic mountain vine cultivation, which has been plucking its fruits from the rock for centuries in Europe’s highest vineyards. Numerous and various, like the landscapes of Piedmont, they are promoted by 14 Regional Wine Boards and from the Wine Trails they provide the most inebriating trips discovering the various faces of one single region.

Barolo, Barbaresco, Barbera, Dolcetto and Grignolino. The great white wines, such as Arneis and Gavi, Erbaluce di Caluso, the precious Timorasso from the Tortonese hills and the renowned Moscato d’Asti; mountain wines from Valsusa and Pinerolese Doc to “Ice Wine”; and then the Nebbioli from the hills of Novara and Vercelli: Gattinara, Ghemme, Boca, Fara and Sizzano. There are around 20 thousand wine making companies, producing three million hectolitres each year, almost all coming from about 20 native varieties, from which 16 DOCG and 41 DOC wines are produced, with names famous throughout the world and symbolic of Piedmont- and Italian-made products. In keeping with mountain tradition, however, the production of spirits and liqueurs also merits full respect in Piedmont. Aside from grappas made from the marc of the most highly prized wines, a wide range of products is made from high-altitude aromatic plants, flowers and fruits, roots, barks and spices. The liqueurs made from alpine herbs include Genepy, Genziana, Arquebuse and elixirs; from fruit and flowers come Ratafià di Andorno, Rosolio and Nocciolino di Chivasso; from skilful blends of wine or alcohol and spices, the vermouths, Garus Susino, elixirs and ‘vini chinati’ (aromatised wines), and neither is there any shortage of herb essential oils, particularly mint, from the cultivations in the Pancalieri area.