Italian wineries tours for wine lovers

The Province of Asti is one of the best wine producing region of Piedmont Italy. Across the region landscape you will see miles and miles of vineyards. Needless to say where you have vineyards you must also have wineries. Italian wineries come in all sizes depend on their location and the number of farms they support.

WHAT ARE WINERY?

These are wine centers that produce wines from grapes grown locally surrounding the area where the winery is located. The process of wine making involve fermentation of fruit, as well as blending and aging of the juice. Many wineries offers wine tasting tours and wine appreciation classes. At wineries you can buy wines either in bulk or in bottles.

INTRODUCTION TO LA MARANZANA

Located in small village named Maranzana near Nizza Monferrato is an Italian winery that produces some of Piedmont best wines. It is called La Maranzana. It boost a memberships of 250 vineyards owners with production of over 130,000 bottles of wines a year of various kinds. Quite obviously with the region being one of the best place for growing moscato grapes it is no surprise that this Italian winery produces over 50% of moscato wines.

When we visited La Maranzana we were shown the stringent process that are applied to every step of their wine production. With loyal employees having worked there for years they have managed to maintain a standard of production that have earned them many big contracts for producing wines for some well known labels. Presently, they produce 3 DOCG wines - Moscato d'Asti, Brachetto d'Acqui Spumante and Asti Spumante with another 16 registered DOC.

If we look back at history wine-producing industry is deeply rooted in Italian history for over two thousand years. It is worldwide acknowledged that Roman pioneered large-scale production and storage techniques using barrel and bottles. In 2005 it was reported that Italy produced one-fifth of world wine production with Italians leading the world in wine consumption by volume.

Piedmont Italy has the most DOC/DOCG zones total of 52. We are especially famous for producing sparkling wines. Overseas demand for this sparkling wine - Asti spumante there is a shortage of moscato di Canelli grapes to meet supply. Our weather with distinct changes in season is highly suitable for grape cultivation. Winters are cold with plenty of snow. Summers are for most part of the season is hot and dry. Spring and autumn are temperate to cool with fog at harvest time. Majority of our vineyards are located in Langhe and Monferrato hills. Our Langhe hills are famous for Barolo which is also known as King of Wines. Barbaresco is the other popular one. Barolo and Barbaresco were admired as cult wines where previously favored by older generation now with modern perfection in techniques the younger generation are also consuming it. Piedmont Italy is most admired for Italian red wines.

 

Some labels available through La Maranzana:

Asti Spumante	Chardonnay	Moscato	La Badia
Bonarda	Corpo	Trabucco	Vespro

 

If you are a wine importer or distributor La Maranzana may have the right wine for your market. Contact Barbara Pastorino for more information on Piedmont wines.

 

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ITALIAN APPELLATION SYSTEM

Italy classified their wines into four classes conforming with the EU category QWPSR (Quality Wine Produced in a Specific Region).

1. Vino da Tavola (VDT) denotes the wine is made in Italy.
2. Indicazione Geographica Tipica (IGT) denote wine from specific region within Italy. This appellation was created for wine that are of higher quality.
3. Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC)
4. Denominazione di Origine Controlla e Garantila (DOCG)

Both DOC and DOCG wines refer to zones which are more specific than IGT and the grapes are also more specifically defined. The main difference between DOC and DOCG is that the latter must pass a blind taste test for quality in addition to conforming to the strict legal requirements to be designated as wine from the region. There's also strict rules regarding the production of the grapes per hectare as well as minimum natural alcohol levels.

As of year 2006 there are 120 IGT zones with 311 DOC and 32 DOCG appellations reported by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture.

 

WINE TOURS AROUND PIEDMONT ITALY

If you decide to take a wine tour in Piedmont Italy you can't go wrong if you time it for autumn. This is peak harvesting season for grapes as well as our famous tartufo hunting activities. You can visit Italian wineries to do wine tasting or learn wine appreciation. Visiting an Italian winery such as La Maranzana will give you first hand experience of how Piedmont wine are carefully and lovingly produced by people who love their wines.

Read more on Italy wine tour.

Suggest: If you are not able to visit soon we suggest you read this book 'Touring in wine country: Northwest Italy' by Maureen Ashley who has authored several books on Italian wines since 1992. You will find maps, lists of recommended wineries with contacts, food specialties, hotels, restaurants recommendation as well as places of interests to explore while you are visiting us in Piedmont Italy.

 

 

For Quick and Easy Guide use Amazing North Italy sitemap to find information

 

 

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