The Other Piedmontese Wines

"Which grape varietal do you think is the most-planted in Piedmont?" A winemaker from the region raised this question to the audience at a wine dinner I attended a couple weeks ago.

I was at the trendy restaurant Mr and Mrs Fox in Quarry Bay for this dinner hosted by Ms. Raffaela Bologna from the 3nd generation of the family-owned winery Braida, located just outside Asti in Piedmont region. She was trying to make a point that while Nebbiolo, the grape behind Barolo and Barbaresco wines, may be the better-known varietal in the region, there were other grapes that were as significant, if not more, to this important wine region in Northern Italy (the answer to the question is Moscato, by the way, and Nebbiolo only came as fourth or fifth, if I remembered correctly) Of course, that’s particularly relevant to Braida winery, as they are famous in producing wines with Barbera grapes, Piedmont’s other famous grape varietal.

Day in Barolo, plus another wine and truffle lunch

Midway through our trip, we made a leisurely drive down the mountainous Langhe region in Piedmont to visit the town of Barolo, about 45 minutes south of where we stayed at Trezzo Tinella. It was a delightful scene as we went up the winding road leading up to this hilltop town, passing by the beautiful (and famous) Cannubi vineyards on our side.

Albino Rocca Winery at Barbaresco

After spending the first 2 days in Piedmont focusing on food - with white truffle fair on Saturday and Salone del Gusto on Sunday, we went off to explore the wines, another famous product in the region, for the next few days. Our first stop was the commune of Barbaresco, located in the Langhe region between the towns of Asti and Alba, and 15 minutes away from our villa.

Visiting Massolino

I was curious to find out more about the difference between wineries of different areas and sizes and styles within the Piedmont/Langhe wine regions, so after spending our first day near the village of Barolo visiting two of the wineries there, we headed down Serralunga Valley on the east side and paid a visit to the legendary Massolino winery in the afternoon on our last day of the trip.