Piedmont

I have been lurkng on Rogov's board for a while and thought I'd come swim in the big people's pool
After searching the forum a bit I have come up with some great info but I'm delving into Italian wine and as a new comer to the wine tasting world I have much to learn. My focus at the moment is on Piedmont. Being from Israel we ae sort of stuck with what is imported but my question here is that I want to learn a bit more about the region. My idea started here:http://www.wineloverspage.com/forum/village/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=37627
I want to combine my love of cycling and wine and this year's Giro start's in Piemont. So I now turn to you to please point me in the directio of more info. Googlehas turned up some info but I am confused between the Regions, Grapes, Wine names and how everything is organised. I want to learn about Italian wines and this is the seems to me a fun way to go about it. Borrolo is apparently 100% Nebbilio, ect....
Please just chuck anything you know about the region out there.

For starters, Barolo is made from Nebbiolo

For starters, Barolo is made from Nebbiolo

As is Barbaresco. They are the most prestigious wines of the area. The DOCs of most many other wines have both the variety and the region name in them, so if you recognise one or the other you can usually work out what you are drinking. Thus you have Langhe Nebbiolo, and Barbera d'Asti.

I am not really sure where to start otherwise. There is so much - it is a beautiful area, and the wine and food is good. Perhaps get hold of "Barolo to Valpolicella" by Nicolas Belfrage?

Nebbiolo is grape of the most famous wines, Barolo and Barbaresco. It is also produced as a single varietal wine in other appellations such as Ghemme, Gattinara, Spanna, etc. as well as larger areas like the Langhe. And you can have Nebbiolo d'Alba. I'm forgetting a few.

The most planted grape is Barbera. The most famous areas are Alba and Asti.

Dolcetto is the 3rd major red grape.

There's also Friesa, Grignolino, and others

Arneis is a popular white grape, as is Cortese (is that right), used for Gavi. Moscato d'Asti is lightly sweet and lightly sparkling. A few producers make fully sparkling wines from Arneis I believe.

Probably easier to ask specific questions re what you want to know

Nebbiolo is grape of the most famous wines, Barolo and Barbaresco. It is also produced as a single varietal wine in other appellations such as Ghemme, Gattinara, Spanna, etc. as well as larger areas like the Langhe. And you can have Nebbiolo d'Alba. I'm forgetting a few.

Ghemme and Gattinara are the two DOCGs in the North of Piedmont (there are another 5 DOCs - Bramaterra, Lessona, Boca, Fara, Sizzano) but no Spanna, which is the local name of Nebbiolo grape there.

The following link could be of some help where to start going through the Piedmont (and the rest of Italy as well)
http://www.italianmade.com/wines/home.cfm

The mist is rising a bit. So the DOC's are just the area's where the wines are made. In this case for Piedmont: Bramaterra, Lessona, Boca, Fara, Sizzano, Ghemme and Gattinara. Then there is the better DOCG. Does this stamp of approval mean anything towards the way the wine is made or is it just a guarentee of the place of origin.

Right, but the 7 mentioned DOCGs and DOCs are only those where the Nebbiolo grape is being called Spanna. There are many others in Piedmont, even for Nebbiolo, that are more important than these from the North, altogether over 50 in Piedmont.
The Appellation is the guarantee of the place of origin but on the other side can stipulate how to make the wine as well (f.e. proportion of the specific grape varieties in the final wine - as an example - together with Spanna also Bonarda and Vespolina should be used...)

DOC and DOCG are the Italian equivalent of AOC in France - they all map onto the same concept in EU regulations. They very much stipulate the method of production, yields and grape varieties, as well as origin, but are really only a very loose measure of quality.

The G bit stands for the Italian for guaranteed - these wines have a level of testing that the DOC ones do not, and have a little paper seal over the cork. I think the idea was that the DOCG ones should be better than DOC, but in practice some very (how shall I put it?) cheap and nasty wines have made it to DOCG status, so IMO it is a bit of a joke. For example Asti - not the rather nice Moscato d'Asti, which also happens to be DOCG - but the wine that used to be called Asti Spumante and is one of the cheapest sparkling wines you can buy anywhere in the world..

Actually, Asti, is a weird one. It is a region that produces decent wine, hence Moscato d'Asti - a good quality lightly sparkling wine - Muscat from Asti. There are also many other decent wines from the area, like Barbera d'Asti. But the name Asti by itself indicates this low quality sparkling wine, also using Muscat. Apart from being confusing, it's an object lesson on how to destroy a brand!

[Jenise]

but in practice some very (how shall I put it?) cheap and nasty wines have made it to DOCG status, so IMO it is a bit of a joke.

From what I've understood the original idea was good, but good old Italian corruption has made it unreliable.

I think that legal appellation definitions like DOC or AOC define how bad the worst wine should be (hopefully not too bad), but have little to do with the work of the better producers.

[David M. Bueker]

I think that legal appellation definitions like DOC or AOC define how bad the worst wine should be (hopefully not too bad), but have little to do with the work of the better producers.

Unless they do something imaginative/groundbreaking/too interesting for small minds, and then the AOC/DOC rules are used to exclude them.

Yes, David. Maybe the way the Italian system is set up is more tolerant of eccentricity in wine, but there are so many examples of very good French producers being hounded by the system.

Right, but the 7 mentioned DOCGs and DOCs are only those where the Nebbiolo grape is being called Spanna. There are many others in Piedmont, even for Nebbiolo, that are more important than these from the North, altogether over 50 in Piedmont.
The Appellation is the guarantee of the place of origin but on the other side can stipulate how to make the wine as well (f.e. proportion of the specific grape varieties in the final wine - as an example - together with Spanna also Bonarda and Vespolina should be used...)

Stanislav - Not to nitpick, but the name Spanna is also used in a few others, most notably the Colline Novaresi DOC. Of course, it is understandable if you can't keep track of all of the DOCs and DOCGs that use some form of 'Colli' or 'Colline' in their name; I have trouble keeping them straight.

On various DOC, DOCG, AOC comments:

I am unaware that any wine got DOC or DOCG status through corruption. I think DOCG is rather achieved through box-ticking, and that is how Asti managed it. Not that corruption does not exist in Italy...

It is perhaps correct to say that they define how the worst wine should be. But less cynically they do also give an indication of the style to expect.

Yes the rules do exclude some good wines. But don't think it is small-mindedness that does that. It is just that some wines are good but different. I cannot say I am concerned about it, and I don't think the producers are. They will sell well anyway. To be a VdT or (later) IGT super Tuscan is almost a badge of honour.

Finally, maybe I was a bit unfair about Asti - it is sweet, frothy and grapey, but not really nasty unless you are expecting something like Champagne. It is actually a very different style. But I still find it bizarre that it is DOCG.

It is perhaps correct to say that they define how the worst wine should be. But less cynically they do also give an indication of the style to expect.

I was perhaps making too obvious a point, that rules define minimum standards rather than best possible behaviour; but having been an importer of Italian wines for more than 15 years a certain amount of justifiable cynicism is inevitable. The DOC/G rules are in effect often defined and changed at will by large producers, producers whose interest is typically not the same as that of the best artisan producers. This is true equally of rules that define quality, such as maximum yield, and rules that define style, such as the use of Cabernet in Chianti Classico. The best producers define quality and style, in my opinion, independently of the wine laws. It is always better to follow the best producers than to worry about the law.

Andrew, of course, you are right. I mentioned only the more frequent Apellations...
There are some other DOCs like Coste della Sessia or Carema where Spanna synonym is used, (while in Carema they use also Picutener as other name for Nebbiolo grape - to make the things more complicated)