Since Tore, who is the owner of the farm, studied and certified himself as a Sommelier at level WSET Level 3, we have collected some material here so that you, as guests, can familiarize yourself with the region and its wines.
The most widely grown grapes in Piedmont are as follows, the number in brackets is the percentage of cultivated vineyard area:
Blue grape varieties
Green grape varieties
Nascetta
Il Barolo è una regione vinicola del Piemonte. Questi vini sono spesso definiti il "Re dei vini" d'Italia. Di seguito troverete alcune informazioni sui vini Barolo.
View from the village of La Morra towards the village of Barolo which see at the far end of the valley.
Il Barbaresco è una regione vinicola del Piemonte. I suoi vini sono spesso definiti la "Regina dei vini" d'Italia. Di seguito alcune informazioni sui vini Barbaresco.
View from the medieval tower down on the village of Barbaresco.
Alta Langa is a sparkling white wine of the highest quality from Piedmont, or as you can say Piedmont's white gold! Alta Langa has the highest quality level in Italy, DOCG.
Alta Langa has come on strong in just the last 10 years, becoming increasingly popular as Piedmont's and Italy's answer to Champagne.
Gavi is a white still wine that is considered as one of Italy's best white wines, if not the best. The area in which it is grown is the southeast corner of Piedmont towards the border with Liguria. Gavi is considered by many to be the white jewel in Piedmont's crown.
In the EU there are common rules for which designation may be used on the label based on how much sugar the wine contains. For most wines, Brut is a dry wine, this also applies to Champagne / Alta Langa.
In recent years, it has become popular not to add any sugar to the dosage and make a so-called "Brut Nature". There are more unofficial names for this type of wine, such as Zero Dosage, which was used in the past and still appears in speech. The fact that the wine is Brut Nature has nothing to do with "natural wine".
Note that the terms can be a bit confusing. For example, it says Extra Dry on many Prosecco but these are sweeter than a Brut.
Name | Sugar content grams/litre | Description |
Brut Nature | 0-3 | Dry |
Extra Brut | 0-6 | Dry |
Brut | 0-12 | Dry |
Extra Dry, Extra Sec, Extra Seco | 12-17 | Dry with little sweetness |
Dry, Sec, Seco | 17-32 | Half dry |
Demi-Sec, Semi-Seco | 32-50 | Half Sweet |
Doux, Sweet, Dulce | 50+ | Sweet |
In order to fully enjoy a wine, it is very important to serve it at the correct temperature. This is to highlight all the flavors and
charasterictics of the wine. Below is a table for recommended serving temperatures, these may appear to be low temperatures, but you have to remember that the wine is quickly heated by the temperature of the room as well.
Tipo di vino | Temperatura di servizio in gradi Celsius |
Vini spumanti più semplici (Prosecco) | 6-8 gradi |
Vini spumanti di ottima o eccellente qualità (AltaLanga) | 8-10 gradi |
Vini bianchi eleganti, rosati giovani | |
Vini bianchi freschi (Gavi, Sancerre, Riesling) | |
Vini bianchi (Chardonnay) potenti, corposi e affinati in botte. | 10-12 gradi |
Vini bianchi dolci | |
Sherry, Maderia | |
Vini rossi giovani e leggeri | 14-16 gradi |
Vini rossi eleganti | |
Porto e vini rossi dolci | |
Vini rossi corposi e intensi (Barolo, Amarone) | 16-18 gradi |
Vini rossi tannici o corposi |
Wine Appellation
A wine appellation, such as the Italian DOC/DOCG, French AOC/AOP or German PDO/BGA, is an important classification that protects the origin of the wine and ensures its quality. The wine appellation is often a limited geographical area where this "brand" can be used. By following strict rules for grape varieties, cultivation methods, harvest and production methods, it is guaranteed that the wine reflects the specific terroir.
This system helps to preserve traditions and protect consumers, where smaller geographical areas often have stricter requirements and offer potentially higher quality wine. Examples of wine appellations are Barolo, Barbaresco, Chianti Classico and Champagne.
Classico
When you see the terms of Classico on the bottle, it means that the wine is made in the area of origin. Simply from the area where the wine began to be made. There are often, stricter rules in this area also apply, which leads to better wines that are usually a little more expensive as well.
Riserva
When it says Riserva on the bottle, it means that the wine has been aged longer than the traditional wine. Often the storage time is doubled for a Riserva such as e.g. for Barolo, Barbaresco and Amarone.
Superiore
When it says Superiore on the bottle, it means that the wine is made from grapes of extra high quality. Often it also means that the wine has been stored longer and has more body and usually 0.5% higher in alcohol.
Metodo classico / Metodo tradizionale
It is the Italian names for the traditional method of making sparkling wine. The same method used to make Champagne.
Tank method / Charmat method
Is today the most common method of making sparkling wine in Venice (Prosecco). A still base wine is poured into a pressure tank with sugar and yeast for a fairly quick fermentation. When the wine is fully fermented, it is sweetened and bottled. Also called the tank method or charmat method.
Frizzante
When it says Frizzante on the bottle, it means that the wine is slightly sparkling or bubbly, often 2-3 bar pressure. Also often on the bottels of carbonated water that it is frizzante.
Spumante
When it says Spumante on the bottle, it means that the wine is a sparkling wine at 3-6 bar pressure. A champagne usually has 5-6 bar pressure in the bottle. The word spumante is not in itself an appellation of its own. The appellations are Franciacorta, Prosecco and AltaLanga they are all spumante, i.e. sparkling wines.
Tranquillo
Tranquillo is sometimes written on the bottle and then it simply means that it is a white still wine.
Barrique
Barrique today has almost legendary status, they are French oak barrels that were first used in Bordeaux and are 225 litres. A barrique barrel is usually used a maximum of two or three times for aging because it can lose as much as 85 percent of its aromas even after the first aging.
In Burgundy, the corresponding cask holds 228 liters and is called piéce instead.
Tonno
The Tonno barrels we use in our production usually come from Burgundy and range in size from 300-500 liters.
Botti
Large Slavonian oak barrels that can be in varying sizes, but often in Piedmont between 2700 - 3200 liters.
Appassimento
Appassimento is a production method in which grapes are first dried before being pressed to make wine. It comes from the Italian word appassire, which means to dry. When the grapes are dried, water evaporates while sugars and aromatics are concentrated.
Ripasso
When making an Amarone wine, the leftovers from the pressing are used and mixed into a regular Valpolicella wine and fermented a second time. This method of fermenting the Amarone leftovers a second time is called Ripasso.
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It makes things a lot easier if you have an understanding of Italy's wine laws and the various classifications.
The super short version of the classifications below is that if you want a quality wine in Italy, look for a blue label with DOC on the neck of the bottle and you will get the second highest classification. If you find a bottle with a gold-colored label around the neck and the name DOCG, it is Italy's highest and best classification. If you want to know more, continue reading below.
EU produced 3 new classifications in 2012 that apply to all EU countries. However, it takes time to fully transition to this and for level 3, Italy has been allowed to divide it into two own categories called DOC and DOCG.
Vino (table wines)
No geographical origin is indicated for these wines.
If the name of the grape is stated on the label, the rule is that at least 85% of the grapes must come from the specified grape variety and vintage.
IGP (Indicazione Geografica Protetta)
Is the second level in the quality classification for wines.
For wines with this designation, at least 85% of the grapes must be grown in the specified geographical area. Some winemakers still use the older equivalent IGT designation that applied before 2012
DOP (Protected Designation of Origin)
This is the third and highest classification of wines, however very few print this on the label. Here, Italy has divided this into two additional levels called DOC and DOCG, it is these two quality levels that all Italian wines today print on the label.
DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata)
DOC = a blue colored DOC label around the neck of the bottle.
This is like the third classification of wines practically used in Italy. Here, 100% of the grapes must be from the specified area. At least 85% of the grapes must be of the specified grape variety and vintage. Here you can say that you have found a really good quality wine, but whether you like the taste is a completely different matter.
DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita)
DOCG = a gold colored DOCG label around the neck of the bottle.
This is like the fourth classification of wines practically used in Italy. The wine is produced according to the rules for DOC and undergoes more and more accurate analyzes and checks. Here, 100% of the grapes must be from the specified area and that it must be bottled precisely in the geographical area. At least 85% of the grapes must be of the specified grape variety and vintage. All DOCG wines must be tasted by an independent committee before bottling. Piedmont is the region in Italy with the most DOCG wines.
Here you can say that you have found a really, really good quality wine, but whether you like the taste is a completely different matter.
MGA (Menzione Geografiche Aggiuntive)
To give another dimension, an even higher level has recently been introduced, which should correspond to the French "Cru" level of wines. However, this is still used to a rather limited produceras in Italy.
Here you have a link if you want to read more about our Tonette vineyard
Here you have a link if you want to read more of some nice Piedmont vineyards
On the link below you will find Quiz about the wines of Italy, Piedmont and Podere Tonette. If you want to test your new knowledge about wines, take one of the Quiz below, it is free to use them of course.
Podere Tonette wine quiz
Quiz Podere Tonette
Piedmont wine quiz
Quiz Medium
Italy wine quiz
Quiz Medium
Podere Tonette
Strada della maggiora 75
15011 Acqui Terme (AL), Piemonte, Italy
