To be able to understand what biodiversity means, we must take a step back and start to learn first a little bit of the Italian wine geography, and then get into the specifics of each territory.
To do so, we should start splitting the country into its region which are 20…
I’d start with the region I live in….Piedmont…
…… First of all, a bit of geography……:
Piedmont stretches on the great Alpine arc: Maritime, Cotian, Graian, Pennine Alps and a little part of the Lepontine Alps. It includes two large wine hilly areas, the Langhe and the Monferrato. The Po river has its source in Piedmont. The region is crossed by several Alpine streams flowing into the Po. Many Alpine lakes, with those of the morainic area of the Canavese, dot the region. In the eastern part, we find two bigger lakes: Lago Maggiore and Lago d’Orta.
Imagine how the composition of the soil can be different….
…. We pass from soils like in the Alps with a glacial origine characterized by a thin fertile stratum, high presence of clayey and loose gravel; ideal to produce high fruity white wines with a great percentage of acidity and strong scent of minerality, to Clayey solis in Langhe Area characterized by Saint’ Agata ‘s grey fossil marl with an alkaline ph. Able to gives great red wines with longevity performance and power like Barolo and deep sandy alkaline soils; territory characterized by hills with high slope; great permeability; those elements gives wines with excellent freshness and elegance in the white wines : Roero Arneis .
Piedmont is the region that produces the largest number of best known, noble wine, such as, Barolo, Barbaresco, Dolcetto, Nebbiolo, Grignolino, Ruchè, Arneis, Malvasia and Asti Spumante among others.
Most of its wines are produced on family estates made up of relatively small parcels of land. I can still say firmly that the majority of the wine production in Italy,follows this tendency; we are still able to describe an Italian wine by telling the story of the man who produces it; and the story of the wine producer is still bound to the history o and the culture of the territory where the grapes grow. Only this is what we have left of romanticism in wine making.
……Let’s go back to knowledge…..
Piedmont is too big to be discussed as one single territory, and from an hoenological point of view, we should split the Region into 3 big different area: North, Langhe and Asti
North of Piemont
D.O.C.G: Gattinara, Ghemme
D.O.C. Boca, Bramaterra, Canavese, Carema, Colline Novaresi, Colline Saluzzesi, Collina Torinese, Coste della Sesia, Erbaluce di Caluso, Freisadi Chieri, Lessona, Pinerolese, Sizzano, Valsusa, Valli Ossolane
Langhe Area
D.O.C.G: Barbaresco, Barolo, Roero, Dolcetto di Dogliani superiore, Dolcetto di Ovada Superiore
D.O.C: Barbera d’Alba Dolcetto d’AlbaDolcetto delle Langhe MonregalesiDolcetto di Diano d’AlbaDolcetto di Dogliani, Dolcetto di Ovada, LangheNebbiolo d’Alba, Verduno Pelaverga, Alta Langa
Asti area
D.O.C.G: Asti e Moscato d’Asti, Brachetto d’Acqui o Acqui; Barbera d’Asti;
D.O.C: Albugnano, Dolcetto d’Asti, Freisa d’Asti Grignolino d’Asti, Loazzolo,Malvasia di Casorzo d’Asti, Malvasia di Castelnuovo Don Bosco, Ruché di Castagnole Monferrato, Cisterna d’Asti.
……………….Are you confused??? I am sorry.. let’s start with Nebbiolo grape then.
The main grape grown here or at list the most famous, is the distinguished Nebbiolo, which is the base for the famed Barolo, Barbaresco, Gattinara, Ghemme, Carema, and Roero among others.
Its name derives from the Italian word” Nebbia”, or fog, because of a velvety, whitish coating over its berries in addition to the fact that it grows in an area where, at ripening time in September or October heavy morning fog is a given and the humidity that it provides gives the grapes an ideal habitat…..very Romantic!
Debora Bonora
Vinsider
