A hundred years ago, there were some 40,000 hectares of vineyard in Alto Piemonte. Today the figure is a tiny fraction of that, with 650 hectares of Nebbiolo registered in 2025 and less than 15 hectares in the Ossola Valley. However, if you spend an afternoon in the Val d’Ossola, you can discover that there
Diary 76: DEA, Val d’Ossola’s youngest producer Read More »
The town of Domodossola is surrounded by Piemonte’s most northerly DOC: Valli Ossolane. Switzerland lies 20 kilometres to the north; Barolo is a distant 225 kilometres to the south. Here, the main variety is Prünent, the biotype of Nebbiolo, specific to Val d’Ossola. In my Northern Piemonte report (free download at www.winefriend.org), I describe it
Diary 75: Prünent and Pergola with Cantine Garrone Read More »
In March 2026, I had the pleasure of attending a press trip to Tortona, alongside the public tasting Derthona DueZero, a celebration of the Timorasso grape variety and the wines of the Colli Tortonesi. Early spring days, committed growers and winemakers, great hospitality and the charm of Tortona itself made for an informative and thoroughly
Diary 73: Timorasso updated Read More »
Update: for my comprehensive report on Northern Piemonte, download the free report here. When wine lovers say they love Piemonte, nine times out of ten, they are talking about Barolo and Barbaresco. The well-informed might mention the Langhe, the area around the two world-famous Nebbiolo denominations. This is entirely understandable given the exceptional quality of
Why Northern Piemonte? Read More »
It’s been another busy year, packed with my continuing work for WSET (two days a week) and much Italian wine travel. Here are some highlights from a hectic year, with apologies for the long post. Winery profiles for Nebbia e Luce 2025 saw me completing my ‘dream job’, writing profiles of 25 wineries for the
2025: hectic but fulfilling Read More »
How have the wines of the difficult 2023 vintage in Barbaresco turned out? The wines will be released in January 2026. However, thanks to Vinexus, who import these wines into the UK, it was possible to get an early tasting of wines from some top producers. Many of the wines were cask samples, bottled and
Diary 70: Barbaresco 2023 in anteprima Read More »
I am delighted to start work this week for Nebbia e Luce, a Nebbiolo-focused company founded by Simon Farr. The company’s name means ‘Fog and Light’, encapsulating its Piemontese roots. It has been buying and storing Nebbiolo wines from various parts of Piemonte. It will then release the wines when they are fully mature and
Diary 69: Nebbia e Luce, a great Nebbiolo project Read More »
I was hugely honoured to present ‘Piedmont: off the beaten track’ at Texsom in a tasting/seminar in Dallas. If you had told me even a few years ago that I would present Piemonte in Texas, I would not have believed you. My session was on the Monday of the two-day event and was followed by
Diary 68: Piemonte in Texas Read More »
It is a year since I wrote to you about the publication of The Wines of Piemonte. It has been a full and exciting year. Here are the highlights in a review of the year: The Classic Wine Library which published my book has a new home. The Académie du Vin Library bought the company, founded by
Diary 67: review of the year–Piemonte reaches Turin, Dallas and Lisbon Read More »
Giuseppe Mascarello is one of the storied names of Barolo. I recently had the pleasure of tasting a Mascarello Monprivato vertical which merely confirmed the greatness of these wines. Mauro Mascarello, now approaching his 90th birthday, decided back in 1970 to bottle Nebbiolo from the Monprivato vineyard as a separate wine. What a great move
Diary 65: Mascarello Monprivato vertical Read More »
