The five regions of northcentral and northwestern Italy cover much of the great arc of the Alps and Apennines that wall in the Po as it flows east through its broad valley to the Adriatic. The types of wine – like the topography, soil and climate – vary to extremes in these regions, which are grouped rather loosely as neighbors but, in true Italian style, maintain their own proud identities.
This most affluent part of Italy comprises the "industrial triangle" between Milan, Turin and the Mediterranean port of Genoa and the agriculturally fluent flatlands of the Po and its tributaries. Since property is valuable and mountains take up a major share of space, vineyards are confined and wine is a commodity that must be either financially or spiritually rewarding.
Yet between the cool terraces of the Alps and the often torrid fields of the Po basin, contrasts abound. Alongside some of Italy’s most revered bottles can be found some of its most frivolous. But whether the label says Barolo or Lambrusco, the winemaker no doubt takes his work seriously.
Piedmont stands tall in the quality field with the most DOC/DOCG zones of any region, even though it ranks only
sixth in over all production. Emilia-Romagna contributes quantity with the fourth largest output among the regions after Veneto, Apulia and Sicily.
In contrast, Valle d’Aosta and Liguria are mere dabblers in wine. Valle d’Aosta, the smallest region, produces by far the least volume of wine from its rocky Alpine slopes. Its DOC output is surpassed by some single wineries in other regions. Liguria, with little space for vines between the mountains and the Mediterranean, is second to the last in production, offering wines that are intriguingly esoteric.
Despite the proximity of France, whose vines have been warmly welcomed elsewhere in Italy, growers in Piedmont,
Valle d’Aosta and Liguria prefer their own vines and tend to make wine in their own style.
Pedmont’s host of worthy natives includes Barbera, Dolcetto, Grignolino, Freisa, Cortese, Arneis, Brachetto, the Canelli clone of Moscato and the noblest of them all Nebbiolo, source of Barolo, Barbaresco and Gattinara. The vines of Valle d’Aosta often have French names – Petit Rouge, Gros Vien, Blanc de Valdigne, for instance – due to the Savoyard history of the region. Liguria favors the local Vermentino, Rossese and Pigato, while working with its own version of Dolcetto, known as Ormeasco.
Lombardy, the most populous region, ranks only thirteenth in wine production, but it does boast a major concentration of Nebbiolo vines for the DOC reds of the mountainous Valtellina. It also boasts spreads of Chardonnay and Pinot vines for the growingly prestigious sparkling wines of Franciacorta and Oltrepò Pavese.
Emilia-Romagna had been a leading exporter of wines with shipments to America of sweet and bubbly Lambrusco, whose vines spill over the fertile plains of Emilia. But lately growers have been concentrating on distinctive wines from the hills. Best known are the Albana and Sangiovese of Romagna, but Barbera, Cabernet, Chardonnay and Sauvignon from the Apennine foothills of Emilia are gaining notice.
