A Guide to Piedmont Wines: From Nebbiolo to Moscato d’Asti

Ep 95

Are you ready to uncover why the Piedmont region of Italy, often overshadowed by the famed Tuscan hills, is a hidden gem in the wine world? 

Would it surprise you to learn that there are many similarities between the famed Burgundy region and the Piedmont region?

Today, I’m diving into the intricate geography of Piedmont and rich history that makes it such a unique wine region. I share the red wines you have probably heard of such as Barbera, Dolcetto, and the famed Nebbiolo grape, as well as lesser known indigenous varieties like Freisa and Ruché. I’m also digging into the similarities and differences between Barolo and Barbareso. And we can’t skip the white wines! I share about Gavi and Moscato d’Asti. And finally, you simply cannot drink Italian wine without food! So, I touch on the region’s French influences that create a truly unique culinary experience.

If you are ready to understand the nuanced differences between Barolo and Barbaresco and learn about the amazing Italian wine beyond the familiar Tuscan landscape then this episode is for you!

MGA’s

Barolo 

• Barolo
• Castiglione Falletto
• Cherasco
• Diano d'Alba
• Grinzane Cavour
• La Morra
• Monforte d'Alba
• Novello
• Roddi
• Serralunga d'Alba
• Verduno

Barbaresco

• Barbaresco
• Terzo
• San Rocco
• Seno d’Elvio

Episode Highlights:

• Introduction to the region of Piedmont, Italy

• The importance of Piedmont, Italy in wine

• Unique wine traditions in Piedmont

• Popular Piedmont wines

• Characteristics and flavors of the Nebbiolo grape

• Differences and similarities between Barolo and Barbaresco

• History of Winemaking in Piedmont

• Geography of Piedmont and it’s impact on wine production

• Wine Classifications and Regional Variations

• The specific wine regions and communes in Piedmont

• Styles and Differences of Barolo and Barbaresco

• White Wines and Sparkling Wines in Piedmont

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Transcript

0:14

Hit that. Okay. And we are currently recording. Okay. Welcome back to the Cork and Fizz Guide to Wine podcast. Today, we are continuing our Italian miniseries, Italian wine miniseries, and we are doing a deep dive into one of the most important regions in all of Italy, and that is Piedmont. I'm sure for a lot of people, your mind probably goes to Tuscany. When we think of Italian wine, we think Tuscany and the the Tuscan hills and the sunshine, and we're gonna talk a little bit about that, on why I chose Piedmont instead. But one of the biggest reasons, I one of the first Italian wines that I absolutely fell in love with, most of them actually, not even just the first one, like, many of them are from Piedmont. So one of my favorite wine shops here in the Seattle area is called University Wines. It's one of the first places I went to that kind of helped me discover this love for wine, and they specialize in European wines, mostly French, but they have a good amount of Italian wines as well. And one of the times that I went, they would do tastings on the weekends, and they actually had the winemaker in from Piedmont, that made I think it was for it was either Roberti or it's another one that's one of my favorites. And he was in tasting the wine. And so we got to taste his Barolo, the Barbaresco, the Barbera, and like all of these are such incredible wines. And I think he had a Barbera Rose too. That was Barbera was actually the first wine that I fell in love with. And then I tried Barolo, and I'm like, oh my goodness. This is really good too. So we purchased wine that day, my husband and I, from that winemaker, and we actually still have those wines today, in our storage locker that we're hoping to taste maybe in another, like, five, ten, fifteen years. We'll see how long we can wait. But like I said, the Piedmont wines are just so incredible. I also have this really strong memory. There's an amazing Italian restaurant here in Seattle. It's called Spinasse. And I'm gonna talk a little bit at the very end of this podcast about the food of Piedmont. And Spinasse, in my opinion, is a really good representation of Piedmont food. I don't think it's, like, their only thing they do, but the thing they're most known for is actually a popular dish in Piedmont. But we like to go there for special dinners. And one of the times we went and I had never I don't I knew more about Barolo than Barbaresco, and you're probably like, what are these? I'm gonna tell you what both of those are. Don't worry. But they're two red wines made from the same grape grown literally like I think they're like 12 miles apart from each other, so super similar. But I I really only heard of Barolo. So when we're at this restaurant, I I was like, hey. Let's let's try something new. We'll try, ordered a bottle of barber, ordered a bottle of Barbaresco. And wow. Did it was just it's this big bold red while also being super elegant, and there's a lot of finesse to it. And I just still have memories of that plus the tardine, pasta that was just mind blowing. Highly recommend if you're in the Seattle area. So all that to say, I wanted to talk about Piedmont. Now we're gonna talk about some Tuscan wines as well. There's gonna be an an episode all about Sangiovese, which will go into that. But today, we are talking about Piedmont and because it makes some of the most beautiful wines in all of Italy, Perolo and Barbaresco being two of them. So while Tuscany is full of these rolling hills of warm colors, Piedmont is a remote white amphitheater at the foot of the Alps in Northern Italy. So Piedmont literally means foot of the mountain. It's also in Italian, they say Piemonte instead of Piedmont. It is bordered by France and Switzerland to the north. And while I'm making this comparison to Tuscany, Piedmont is actually far more similar to Burgundy, France as a region. And there's a couple different reasons for this. One, the there are small wine estates all over Piedmont, very similar to in Burgundy, and they are meticulously cared for. Also, wine tradition was molded by Benedictine monks in both of these two regions, and they are believer that a single grape variety makes great wine. Now Tuscany may be known for sangiovese, but they blend that sangiovese with a lot of different things, when they're making their wine versus here in Piedmont, they care about nebbiolo. And then in Burgundy, obviously, there's Pinot Noir. Now there's also the whites as well and there's I'm gonna tell you about plenty of wine grapes that grow in Piedmont that are not, nebbiolo, but it's kind of just that idea that, like, one single grape done well, grown right is phenomenal, and that's kind of like the belief that these regions have. So while we're covering the basics, it's also important to note that Piedmont is far more than just Barolo and Barbaresco. They also have really incredible dinner red wines. That's kind of what you'd call them like everyday red wines like Barbera and Dolcetto. They also have, and this was new to me, a lot of indigenous varieties like lesser known varieties that you probably won't be able to find in a lot of wine shops, but would be fun to look for, things like Fresa, Gregnolino, Ruche, Nascaeta, Temeroso. They also have great white wines like Gabi and Arnes, and they make sparkling wine, both dry and sweet, but the most popular of which is Moscato de Asti. I know. Crazy. Right? Like, a region known for its, like, bold, structured, elegant, reds also has this really fun and playful sweet sparkling white wine, Moscato de Asti, which is just so fun. So before we dive into the wine, let's go over the history a little bit of Piedmont. So some say that winemaking goes as far back as the sixth century BC, and this is when the Celtic people inhabited the region. Who? Let's try that again. And they say this is when the Celtic Liguarian people inhabited the region and practiced viticulture. Now the earliest reference to more modern winemaking is in the middle ages. So early references to Nebbiolo wine, which again is that prized grape of the region, were documented in the Castle Of Rivoli in December and in the village of Canale in the Roel in thirteen o three. Nebbiolo was also highlighted in a book of stat stat stat statues statutes. I know how to say this. Try again. Stat. Statutes. Statutes. How the hell do you say that word? I feel so dumb right now. Duh. Duh. Nebbiolo was also highlighted in a book of statutes in the village of La Mora in 1431, wherein a five liar fine was imposed on anyone who cut nebbiolo vines. And it was said that repeat offenders were at risk of getting their right hand cut off or, in more serious cases, being hanged according to the statutes from that period. Nebulos was really important, still is very important. Piedmont was also formally part of the Savoy Kingdom, so there's a lot of French influence here. Another reason why it's a lot easier to compare Piedmont to Burgundy than it is to Tuscany, and this shows up a lot in the region's cuisine and in the wine culture. Now I think when we're talking about a region, it's always good to get a lay of the land. So let's talk a little bit about the geography of Piedmont. As I mentioned earlier, Piedmont is in Northern Italy. It's at the foot of the Alps and it borders France and Switzerland. It is the second largest region in Italy. However, much of the land is too steep or too cold for vines, So the region is not a leading producer by volume despite the size of the region. However, it is a leader in fine wine, and that's if you consider, and I think most people would, the designations, in Italy. So the DOCG and the DOC, if a wine is considered DOCG or DOC, it's considered to be more of a fine wine than one that is just like a wine of the country. I think they have IGT. We talked about this in the episode just before this, and I'm already like, oh, man. It's confusing all the classifications, but DOCG is the top of the pyramid. DOC is one level below that, but it's basically saying, like, there are certain rules when you are making your wine that you have to follow. And Piedmont has the most DOCGs, and it's tied for the second most DOCs. So it has 19 DOCGs and 41 DOCs. The best vineyards are in the eastern and southern parts of Piedmont, obviously, since our Alps are in the North. The easiest way to think about think the easiest way to think about Piedmont is to think of the two large hills of one of them is Monferrato and one of them is Langue. And on these hills are three major towns, so the best vineyard surround. So you have Alba, A L B A, Alba, like Jessica Alba. Then you have Asti, and this is if Moscato de Asti is a wine you like, that should sound familiar. Asti is one of the towns, A S T I, and Alexandria, whereas the last one isn't quite as important. You'll hear Alba and Asti more. Now Alba is probably the most important town when we're talking about Piedmont because on either side, about a dozen miles apart, you will find Barolo and Barbaresco. Alba is also known for their ridiculously good white truffles, so definitely a thing to keep in mind if you ever go to visit. The soil in this area is gonna be a combination of clay, limestone, and sand. Another thing to think about for the geography of Piedmont, all of the best vineyards are gonna be on the hills facing south. And why is that? It's because the Equator is to the South, and these hills are where they get maximum sun exposure. So Piedmont is basically between the ice cold Alps. Piedmont is between the ice cold Alps and the warm Mediterranean. The temperature variation makes this whole area fill up with morning fog that slowly burns off during the day. In the land that's higher up on the hills facing the sun, they get riper grapes, which means they have better wine in this case because it's a cooler climate. Obviously, in other areas, it could get too ripe, but here cooler climate means that we want riper grapes. Okay. So the rest of this episode is dedicated specifically to the different wines made in Piedmont. I wanted to make sure I had plenty of time to talk about it because there are lots of different wines that are made in Piedmont even like I think some people just would think of Piedmont as one thing and somebody else might think of it as something else because there are so many great wines that come from this region. So let's start of course, we're gonna start with the red wine. So we're gonna start with our leaders, the wines that I think most people probably think of Piedmont for, and that is Barolo and Barbaresco. And these are two different red wines. Now as I mentioned earlier, these are very profound, serious, highly structured red wines, and they come from the Longue Hills on either side of Alba. They are both made from the Nebbiolo grape. This grape is just a tannin monster when it is young, as in, like, tannin is that, thing in wine that makes your mouth feel dry, almost like you had cotton balls in your mouth or, like, your gums wanna stick to your like, the inside of your lips. That is tannin. And so nebulo just naturally, genetically produces a lot of this tannin. So we're gonna talk about kind of how they work with that. But in terms of just like general aromas and flavors that these wines are known for, think licorice, violets, leather, porcini mushrooms, dried leaves, and wild strawberries. Nebbiolo is often also referred to as tar and roses, and this refers to both the aromas and flavors you get and then also the, like, sensation of that just, like, grippiness that you can get with nebbiolo. It's also one of those grapes that you really don't find much outside of Piedmont, which I think is really fascinating. I you see it coming up more in California, but and I've had great California nebbiolo. Don't get me wrong, but I definitely remember talking to a winemaker and just being like, like, yeah. No. There's a reason nebiolo isn't anywhere else. It is really hard. It's a hard grape to grow. It does not like to be in the it's it's not easy in the vineyard and it's also hard in the cellar. So they're like, it's just difficult and it's it's you know, there's only certain regions that it likes and one of those is Piedmont. Now fun fact, prior to the mid eighteen hundreds, we're going back a little more history for you, Barolo wines were actually really sweet and fruity, which is like, how? How did they do that? So nebbiolo is late ripening. So it takes a while to fully ripen and get those flavors, again, which is why we like a lot of sun exposure. So these winemakers would wait until October to pick their grapes. Now that's getting close to the winter. Right? So during the winemaking process god. I thought there was a bug on me. So during the winemaking process, the temperature would drop in November and December and it would halt fermentation. Now fermentation needs a certain temperature to be able to start, and then once it gets too cold it'll stop. And so when it got cold it stopped and it left behind sugar. So these Barolos were actually really fruity and very sweet because they didn't fully go through the fermentation process. Now, of course, that has totally changed. They figured out ways to get around that, and work through that, and they've actually even created a more modern style of Barolo and Barbaresco, but we'll get to that. Now Barolo and Barbaresco are both also very site specific, so meaning that they used to they actually used to blend the grapes from different vineyards together, but now it is essentially like this these grapes came from this vineyard, keep them together and keep them separate from the grapes from the vineyard over there, and then they will name the wine bottles based on the vineyards that they came from. So in Piedmont and in Barolo and Barbaresco, they have MGAs, which are essentially cruise. It stands for I think is how you say that. And then these MGAs are organized into communes. There are 11 in Barolo and four in Barbaresco. And so these commune names are what you're gonna find on the bottle. And so because you'll see these on the bottle, I thought it'd be helpful just to kinda, like, go through them quickly, but I also recommend looking them up. We can also put them in the show notes for you. So in Barolo, you have Barolo, so the the one that's just its namesake. Then you have Lamora, Castiglione Faleto, Manforte De Alba, Ferralunga De Alba, Novello, Grenzane Cavour, Verduno, Diano De Albo, Tarasco, and Rodi. So 11 in Barolo. And, again, you could find these on the label itself beyond just the Barolo. And then for Barbaresco, which is much smaller in production, so there's only four of them, you have the Barbaresco, which is just the the namesake, and then you have a Nave Trezo and, also it says here San Rocco, Seno de Elvio. Might not be saying that totally right. I'm reading these from, by the way, if you wanna, like, dive deeper into all of this, so much of my research in these regions comes from Karen McNeil's wine bible. Amazing book. If you're a wine nerd like me and you don't have that yet, I highly highly recommend. Okay. So last thing I wanted to talk about, are the different styles of Barolo and Barbaresco. Oh, and then we're also gonna talk about the difference between them because so far I've basically been treating them the same, and they are slightly different. So we'll go over that. But first, for and this is for both of them. There's essentially a traditional style and a more modern style. Now the traditional style is highly tannic. So, again, a lot of that drying sensation, you really should not drink these wines until, like, give it at least ten years. Like, it is sacrilegious if you try to drink it any earlier than that. Because the grapes were late ripening, if there were cooler vintages, some of those grapes may never even fully ripen, so you just get a lot of acidity and a lot of tannin from the skins of the grapes. The cellars were also quite cold in this region, so fermentation would take a really long time. Now, again, in the 1800s, it just stopped, but it did stay warm enough for them to finish fermentation in this traditional style, but they would leave it on the skins for the entire fermentation process. And if that takes longer, more contact with the skin would cause more, at least with this grape in particular, grippier, more intense tannins. Plus, the winemakers would then take the wine and age it for years in barrels. So the only this style is wonderful and obviously it's made a huge name for itself, but it lost a lot of the fresh kind of fruity flavor. And again, not approachable until at least 10, 15 years old. Now there's actually a more modern style and this is the idea of trying to make a wine that is more approachable when it's younger, but also be able to age and have those layers of flavor, you know, eight, ten, fifteen years later. So in order to do this, winemakers have been using temperature controlled tanks and what this does is it allows them to do a faster fermentation. It's funny because I think of these temperature controlled tanks, I think of places using them in warmer climates in order to keep it cool, but it's interesting because here in Piedmont, they might actually be using them in the opposite way to keep it a little bit warmer so the fermentation can keep going. They also do this thing where they pump the juice over the skins and so this allows for them to get a maximum color from those skins but a shorter fermentation time and less tannin. They also divide the wine between barrels and bottles, so the barrels can age, develop those flavors from the oak, but then putting it directly some of them directly in a bottle saves that fruity quality. The cool thing about oak is it softens the wine. The bad thing about oak is it often diminishes the fruity flavor. So this more modern style, there was definitely, like, a little bit of a fight on it for a while. A lot of the traditional winemakers did not wanna hear anything of it, but it's becoming far more common and especially with climate change as well. Even that traditional style is changing because it's not as cold. Okay. Last thing to say here, umbrella and barresco. Let's talk about the difference between the two. So, again, both made with Nebbiolo. They are the region. So these are wines that are named after the region. Right? So Barolo is a region, and Barbaresco is a region both made with the Nebbiolo grape. Now a lot of these, like, take it with a grain of grain of what do I say? A lot of these take these with, like, a grain of salt. They're not totally a % true, which is kind of what people consider. So, some of them are facts, though. So with let's start with Barolo. So Barolo has a higher elevation which means that they're going to have a cooler climate. This could result in a little bit more tannin, a little bit more acidity. They also have a steeper terrain so they're going to get a little bit more of that sunshine, coming down. Barolo requires three years of aging versus Barbaresco only requires two years of aging. I don't know if it's because of that or just because of how well known. Barbaresco is actually slightly less expensive. Has been around longer. That could also be another reason why Barbaresco is less expensive. Has been around for about fifty years longer. Generally, Barolo wines are considered a little more robust in brewing. I said that with an Italian accent. Oh, boy. Generally, Barolo is considered, a little more robust in brooding versus a Barbaresco is considered more elegant. Also in Barbaresco, you're gonna have more of a nutrient dense soil, so not quite as much tannin. And they also have a maritime mic they also have a maritime macroclimate because they're near a river. So, again, a little bit warmer climate, so a little bit more ripeness. Probably, that would lead to a little more fruity flavor, a little less tannin, as we've said before for other reasons. So those are kind of the general those are kind of the general differences between the two, but, again, they're gonna be super super similar, and it's gonna depend on the winemaker. Okay. So I promise this is not just a podcast about Barolo and Barbresco. Let's talk about the other wines of Piedmont. Okay. So let's talk about another red wine. It's called Barbera. And I know you're like, why do they all start with a b? And that's all so confusing. I know. It's difficult. It's Italy. So this next grape is Barbera, and Barbera is actually the name of the grape, not the region. Okay? So this is the name of the grape and the wine is actually named after the grape and sometimes region, but they always say Barbera on them. So I love that about this. Up until about the nineteen eighties, Barbera was kinda treated as the stepsister for Nebbiolo. So it was planted basically everywhere except for the best vineyards, which were saved for Nebbiolo. But by the nineteen eighties, it was recognized as a diamond in the rough, and they started making much better quality Barbados. You're gonna get flavors of cherry, violet, licorice, dark chocolate. It is a great everyday dinner wine, and in general, you're gonna see these labeled. The two most popular are gonna be Barbera de Alba and Barbera de Asti. And so these basically stand for Barbera is the name of the grape, De Alba since it's from the town of Alba versus De Asti is from the town of Asti. My personal preference, I love a De Alba, but they are both really, really wonderful. Don't ask me the difference between them. That could that's a whole other podcast for us. Okay. The other popular, dinner red wine here in Piedmont is Dolcetto. And if Barbera was considered, like, the stepsister of Nebbiolo, like, I don't even know what you would consider Dolcetto because it was given, like, no attention at all. Like, it is that sister in the closet, I guess. I don't even know. But it is it is again there's been a resurgence, and there's been a focus on this one, and I'm so grateful for it because it's a delicious wine. This one's gonna have a little bit of a lower acidity, and it's gonna be a lot softer. It also has this really firm spicy fruitiness and again a little bit of that chocolate, a little bitter chocolate note. You can find Dolcetto and Alba, so Dolcetto de Alba, but also in Dolciani. And in this region, it does not say Dolcetto on the bottle. Alright? So this one, for the most part, Dolcetto, again, the name of the grape, you're gonna find it on the bottle except in Dogliani because it's the only grape that they grow. Okay. Other so talking about red wines, there are also some other nebbiolos. Remember, nebbiolos is the grape, that are not in Barolo and Barbaresco. So first, you have nebbiolo Langhe, and this basically means any nebbiolo that's grown in the hills of Langhe, not in Barolo or Barbaresco. Definitely gonna be a little more approachable wine, definitely gonna be a lot cheaper as well. So if you wanna try something like this or see if Barolo and Barbaresco would be something you might like, but you don't wanna pay $50 or more for a bottle, look for a Nebbiolo Langue. Also far north from Langhe, so we're gonna be in a colder we're in the alpine foothills, you're gonna find, Gemme, G H E M M E, in Gattinera. No. And Gatinera. It's G A T T I N A R A. These are generally leaner, but they're super harsh because of that colder climate, so you need to have food with them. Not that you'd have any Italian food or not that you'd have any Italian wine without food. Okay. And lastly, for the red varieties, there are also some lesser known indigenous, meaning they are local to the Piedmont area, Indigenous red varieties. They're not incredibly common, but they all still have their own DOC, if not multiple DOC. And, again, that DOC is a designation that, like, says this region produces this style of wine, and there are certain rules they have to follow. So the only of the three that I'm gonna tell you about that I've tried is Freresa. I really remember loving this. Freresa equals strawberry in Italian, and it shows up in the flavor a lot. There's also a lot of this herbaceous green olive bitter, almond note to it, which I think is what makes it kind of polarizing. It is sometimes sometimes produced in a slightly frizzante style. I have not had this style, but sounds great. High acidity, grippy tannin, and then the bottles should include in the name. There are five DOCs, but each of them have, f r e I s a, in the name. These other two, I have not tried, but I'm definitely gonna keep my eye out for them. One of them is Grignolino. This is a pale in color but really bold in flavor. I feel like Piedmont that that should be like the, like, the catchphrase of Piedmont, like, pale in color but bold in flavor. Like, that is truly what it is. Nebbiolo, whenever I see, it looks really light and then you have a taste when you're like, So apparently, a lot of the other wines are like this too. So Grignolino, another indigenous grape variety. You can get flavors of cherry, almond, rhubarb, and it's gonna be quite earthy. Again, there are I think there's two DOCs for Greek Greek GreekNolino, and you'll see that in the name, GreekNolino. The final one is Ruce, r u c h e. It is a very rare indigenous variety. Lots of spice, violet, red pepper, just black pepper, mint, cinnamon, and again, yeah, super rare. I have not had a chance to try this. I think this one only has one DOC, but it has in the name. Alright. Hopefully, this hasn't gone on. I don't think this has gone on for too long yet. Now we gotta talk about the white wines because, yes, there are amazing white wines in Piedmont. So first, we're gonna talk about gavi and, gavi. If you've not tried gavi and you love pinot grigio, you you gotta get your hands on a Gavi. It's also really great. It's, like, really minerally. So Gavi is a region. So it is made from the Cortese grape around the village of Gavi, and it is a DOCG, so very top of our our pyramid. You can also find Cortese in three other DOCs, but I'm specifically talking about the ones from the Gavi DOCG. It's a pretty easy and accommodating grape to grow, and in terms of flavors, you're gonna get this, like, minerally lemon, apple, melon, chalkiness, goes really well with seafood. And speaking of seafood, the next grape varieties I'm gonna tell you about are all indigenous varieties. So, again, kind of lesser known, grapes that are local to Piedmont. So the first one is Arnes, and it actually means rascal in the Piedmontese dialect. And it is a really great match for seafood. Again, dry, lively. It's got peach, apple, lemon, and a little bit of spice to it. The other two grapes here in terms of, like, the lesser known indigenous varieties were saved from extinction. So the first one, was saved from extinction in the nineties by Elvio Cogno family, and now there are over 35 producers of this grape. Like, how cool is that? It's very bright and aromatic. It's got the salt and pepper minerality, almond bitterness, and a peachy creaminess. I'm definitely gonna be keeping my eye out for this grape. The last one is called timoraso, and this was saved by extinction, saved from extinction, I should say, saved from extinction by Walter Masa in the region of Colli or Tonese. It is often likened to dry German Riesling, so all of the sommeliers love it as sommeliers love a good high acid wine. It is very bright, crisp, and floral. Okay. Still more white wine found in Piedmont. You will find Chardonnay. It is good. Piedmont is a cooler climate. They have limestone hills. Those two things combined together tell you they're gonna make a good Chardonnay. Just not as, like, exciting. Right? Like, we all know what chardonnay is, but definitely give it a try if you find it out there. Lastly, let's talk about the sparkling wine in Piedmont. So I'm gonna say Moschato d'Asti. We're gonna talk about that in a second, but first, let's talk about a wine you may not have heard of before, but you may have tried. It's called Asti, and it used to be called Asti spumante. And this is different from a Moscato dei Asti despite the fact that they're made from the same grape. But Asti is, the spumante is the important part. It is a more sparkling. It actually it is a true sparkling. It is made using the tank method, so the same way that they make a Prosecco, and it is made from the grape called Moscato Blanc a Petit Curran or you can call it Moscato. The best versions of these are very they have ripe peaches and apricots. And the thing is you can find an Oste or also used to be called Oste Spumante that is semi sweet or as of 2017, they can be dry, meaning not any sugar leftover. And then they are usually between about nine and eleven and a half percent alcohol. The lower the alcohol level, likely the higher the sweetness. Okay. So the true like, the sparkling that I think everybody knows of Piedmont for or if they ever hear Oste, they go, Moscato de Oste, and that is totally fair. It's a really delicious wine from this region. They make it in tiny batches. They use that tank method, same thing, but they usually don't let it ferment all the way. And this is what's really interesting about it because they only want it to get a tiny bit frizzante. So they only save some of that c o two when it's going through fermentation, and that also means that they only have about 5% alcohol. So you could, like, you could drink this thing all day, like, not feel it. It is sweet, but not, like, syrupy sweet because of that frisante. You get flavors peaches, oranges, apricots. I think this goes well with angel food cake. It's one of my favorite pairings. It is also a great brunch choice if you prefer more of a sweet brunch because I think sweet and sweet go well together. And then also in Piedmont, they do make traditional method sparkling. So the same kind of style of wine that's made in champagne, they do make it in Piedmont and often made with the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grape. Okay. Before we finish this episode, I wanna talk a little bit about the food of Piedmont because, like, you can't have Italian wine without having some food. So despite the region, like, it's being in the North and I think a lot of people would think seafood, it is not light food. They eat a lot of meat, and they also borrow a lot of ingredients from French cuisine. So they use a lot of butter instead of oil, olive oil, which is found more throughout Italy. As I mentioned before, if you are in the Seattle area, go try Spinasse. They have some amazing Italian food, and I think a lot of it's Piedmont inspired. The most popular dishes of Piedmont include antipasto misto, which is basically just this, like, huge appetizer plate full of, like, a million different things. They also have bagnacauda, which is fried oil, garlic, and anchovies, I believe, and then it's kinda like you dip bread in it. And then the last pasta, of course, pasta and one of their best pastas actually, both of these I I love. Taglarani is one of them, but the even thinner version of that is taglaran. That is a dish you can find at Spinasse. It is these tiny, thin, little noodles, and typically, you just mix it with, butter and sage, like fried sage, and it is so good. The other pasta, I never had before until I went to a local wine bar here in Seattle called Molly's Molly's Bottle Shop. You've actually heard Molly on this podcast if you've been around a little bit. But she brings in different chefs and, different little kind of pop ups, and they did a pasta pop up. And they made agnolotti, and it was oh my god. Like, I think it's the best pasta. It might even be better than the spinasse tagine. But agnolotti is basically like these little raviolis filled with meat. And then, again, the sauce is like a butter herbaceous sauce and so so good, and both of those go beautifully with, like, gavi, barolo, babaresco. They all go wonderfully. So if you're not drooling by now, I hope you have food coming to you soon because I'm hungry. Alright. I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Cork and Fizz Guide to Wine podcast. If you loved it as much as I did, you know what to do. Please take a quick second, rate it, leave a review, send me a message on Instagram. Let me know which of these wines you're most excited to try. Give me your feedback. I'd love to hear it, and please share this with other wine lovers in your life. In next week's episode, we will be learning about the island of Sardinia. And not just from me, we will be talking to Nikki Dickerson who is at sip with Nick on Instagram. She is a wine blogger, a vigneron. She actually has planted her own vineyard and is starting her own wine winery with her husband in Sardinia, and she does so many other amazing things. She's a writer. She's just it's gonna be you're gonna love this. I've actually already done the interview, so I know it's amazing, and Nikki has so many things to share, about the island of Sardinia. So you're gonna wanna tune in for that. Thanks again for listening. And if you wanna learn more about wine, come follow me at corknfizz on Instagram. And if you're interested in exploring new wines and joining an incredible community of wine lovers, be sure to sign up for my virtual tasting club, The Court Crew. Head to thecourtcrew.com to learn more and use code wine one zero one when signing up to get your first month free. Cheers.