Regions
Piedmont
Located in the northwest of Italy, Piedmont is among the world’s very finest wine regions. It is the home of more DOCG wines than any other Italian region, among them such well-known and respected names as Barolo, Barbaresco, and Barbera d’Asti. Although famous for its austere, tannic, and floral red wines made from Nebbiolo, Piedmont’s greatest success story in the past decade has been sweet, white, sparkling Moscato d’Asti.
Piedmont sits, as its name suggests (pied = foot, mont = mountain), at the foot of the Western Alps, which encircle its northern and western sides. The alps form the region’s naturally formidable border with Provence to the west and, via the Aosta Valley, Switzerland’s mountainous Valais to the north.
To its southeast lie the northernmost Apennine Mountains. These low coastal hills divide Piedmont from its long, thin neighbor Liguria which runs along the Mediterranean coast beyond.
The Alps and Apennines are of great significance here, in various ways. They are largely responsible for the region’s favorable climate and, for many centuries, provided a certain level of protection from invasion.
The introduction and regular updating of winemaking technologies is one of the main reasons that Piedmont remains so viticulturally advanced.
Veneto
Veneto is a gem of a region in the northeast corner of Italy. Bound on the west by Lake Garda, on the north by the Dolomite Mountains and on the east by the Adriatic Sea, the landscape of the Veneto is rich and varied.
Veneto is known for having its own unique culture and traditions within Italy. This is primarily due to the fact that it was an independent republic for over 1000 years prior to the unification of Italy, having one of the country’s richest historical, natural, artistic, cultural, musical and culinary heritages, it is also the most visited region of Italy.
With a pleasant climate, devoid of the harsher, northern Alpine weather, the Veneto has become Italy’s largest wine producer, creating some of the country’s most noted varietals such as Prosecco and Pinot Grigio.
