Astignano
Langhe and Roero 
Monferrato 
Northern Piedmont www.vqprd.it | The wines of PiedmontComing from France, as soon as you have crossed the Alps, passing through Frejus, you arrive in Piedmont. wineandfriends today presents this Italian region which produces quality wines, of great renown in Italy and the world over, and whose leading variety is Nebbiolo.From the rice fields to Monte RosaThe links between Piedmont and France are geographical and historical. We should of course remember that Piedmont and Savoy were for centuries a single political entity, the Duchy of Savoy, the origin of that kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia whose capital would become Turin. Piedmont is thus at the origin of the movement for Italian unification known as the Risorgimento. By way of recognition of the military support provided by Napoleon III for this enterprise, the states of Savoy were divided into two, and Savoy and Nice became French in 1860.
Piedmont is the largest region in Italy after Sicily, with an overall surface area of around 25,400 square kilometres, in other words 8.4% of Italy, or to put it another way the equivalent of the region of Champagne-Ardenne. The population numbers around 4.4 million inhabitants (the 6th largest region), mainly concentrated in the plains around Turin and the Po valley.
The mountains, which surround the region on three sides, represent around 44% of Piedmont. To the east and to the north, the Alps reach peaks of 4000 m, such as the massive Monte Rosa, while the Apennines form a natural barrier to the south. 26% of the territory is composed of the plains of the Po Valley, partly urbanised and partly occupied by rice fields. This is one of the few areas in Europe where the climate is sufficiently hot and humid to allow the growing of rice (which accounts for its great risotto tradition).
The remaining 30% of the region is made up of hills whose height varies from 300 to 500 m, with a continental climate and a wide temperature range, which is extremely favourable for winegrowing.
The winegrowing region Piedmont is in 6th place in Italy in terms of the quantity of wine produced, with around 2.7 m hectolitre (ISTAT figures for 2007). But above all, Piedmont is in first place for the production of quality wines, because 83% of the wines produced are DOC (the Italian equivalent of the French AOC) or DOCG (a sort of ‘super DOC’, a category which does not exist in France).
Vines since antiquity The culture of wine, and of quality wine, to tell the truth, is ancient and firmly rooted in the culture of Piedmont. The culture of winegrowing was almost certainly introduced through Liguria by Greek merchants in around the 5th or 4th century BC, but became a systematic activity with the Romans. Following the fall of the Roman Empire, the monasteries managed to preserve the wine growing and vinification techniques.
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