Where the treasure comes in a bottle

Nov 9 2007 by Helen Savage, The Journal

AUTUMN in Piedmont is wonderful. I love the region, sandwiched between the great industrial cities of Turin and Milan, that produces some of Italy’s finest wine.

The vineyards cling to the south side of every steeply-ridged hill; thick hazel woods cover the northern slopes. At this time of the year the vine leaves have turned every colour from pale yellow to deep red under a crisp blue sky, while thick mist lingers below in the valley bottoms.

There’s a feast of good smells in Alba, the wine capital of Piedmont, with roasted chestnuts from street hawkers and pungent truffles in the swish restaurants, shaved, for a small fortune, on to almost every dish.

And it’s at this time of the year too that the great red wines of the region really come into their own. They taste better, somehow, when there’s a nip in the air. The most celebrated are made from a grape called Nebbiolo. It’s said to be Italy’s finest black grape, but it’s a stubborn kind of treasure, and only gives of its best on these northern hills, where it ripens so late that the harvest often carries on right into November.

Nebbiolo is very tannic and quite acidic, but not always very deeply coloured. Its chief glory, I think, is its perfume, which is often described as an improbable and incomparable mix of tar and roses. I know of no other big red wine that’s quite so scented.

The best known wines made from pure Nebbiolo are Barolo and Barbaresco, but there are others, especially Ghemme and Gattinara and also Carema and Sizzano. Some good relatively light wine is sold as Spanna.

As there are more than a few people in Milan and Turin who can afford the good things in life the top wines cost a pretty penny. We don’t see many of them here. For the best retail selection you need to visit Edinburgh and spend a happy hour or so browsing the shelves of Valvona and Crolla, but their web site ( www.valvonacrolla.co.uk ) and online shop will save a journey.

There you’ll find treasures like the Barolo Le Vigne from my favourite producer, Luciano Sandrone, Gaja’s legendary Barbaresco and Aldo Conterno’s superb Barolo, Bussia Soprana. If you need to ask the price of any of these you probably can’t afford them. They are all indisputably great wines.

Locally, and much more affordably, Majestic have a good selection of wines from Piedmont, including my wine of the week, which is even quite a bargain. You’ll also find decent Barolo and Barbaresco at Oddbins, Fenwick and Richard Granger. Oddbins list the 2000 Le Vigne and Majestic stock the amazing Barbaresco Sori Tildin from Gaja – but at £190 a throw, it isn’t the kind of thing you’d open every Wednesday night with sausages.

The classic autumn and winter cuisine of Piedmont often makes use of the local wine (not, I hope, those made by Gaja or Sandrone), as in beef slow cooked in Barolo or risotto also cooked in red wine. Dishes like this are comfort food par excellence and one of the best ways I know to keep out the autumn chill.

As well as Nebbiolo, Piedmont is awash with a lot of very good gluggable Barbera – dark hued but juicy with light tannins – quite different from Nebbiolo. The raspberry scented Freisa and delicate Grignolino are snapped up by the locals, but some very good wine from the ‘little sweet one’ – Dolcetto escapes.

Like Barbera it is also deep coloured but juicily fruity. Oddbins have a superb example, Dolcetto d’Alba 2004 from the maestro Luciano Sandrone himself at a more than reasonable £12.99. It’s a great way to sample the unforgettable Sandrone house style. They also have a decent cheaper Dolcetto from Ascheri at £8.99 and Majestic have the 2006 de Forville for £6.99 (but buy two and save £2). It’s autumn in a glass.

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Wine of the week

Nebbiolo, Langhe, 2006 de Forville Majestic, £7.99 (buy two and save £2)

Ruby red from North West Italy with a lovely scent a bit like tar, roses and forest fruits. It has plenty of bite, but the scented smell comes through too – and lingers. Try it with slow cooked meat dishes.

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Wine bites

THE ancient Greeks called Italy the 'land of wine'. It still offers more variety – and surprises – than any other major wine producer.

In particular, there are a host of minor but often delicious grape varieties that are found nowhere else.

Last week, for example, I tasted a dry white newly arrived at Majestic made from a grape totally unknown to me, confusingly called Pecorino (the same name as a famous fine Italian cheese).

The wine comes from the Abruzzi hills, near the town of Chieti, not far from the Adriatic coast. Pecorino 2006, Gran Sasso is bone dry with an inviting honeyed smell and a lingering, surprisingly mouth-filling, almost mineral-salts taste but with clean lemony acidity.

I can well imagine that with grilled sea bass it would be just about perfection, and at £7.99 (but buy two and save £2) it's invitingly priced.