Rather than post all of my articles each day about Italian Indigenous Grapes, I thought I would repost some other pieces I wrote about one of my other favorite topics – sparkling wine. Italian sparkling wine is dear to my heart so I am going to post on different days about all of the important regions that make sparklers leading up to that most festive of days – New Year’s Eve.

First up, Alta Langa DOCG wines. These are sparkling wines made in the classical method in Piedmont. These wines are available in the US but are still somewhat hard to find but I predict we will see more of them in 2023. Here is a look at Wine-Searcher.com where the wines are sold. The wines are made from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The percentages are variable and the wines come in white or rosé. They can be brut or pas dosé but they must age on their lees for at least 30 months. Additionally, Alta Langa DOCG is always a vintage wine. Harvest is always indicated on the label. In terms of where they sit in the Italian wine spectrum, they are on a par with Franciacorta DOCG and Trento DOC but they are a much smaller production and come from a limited number of producers. The cost of Alta Langa is also in line with Trento DOC and Franciacorta. Furthermore, many of the Alta Langa producers are very well known for the other wines that they make in Piedmont so perhaps that will help them to get there sparklers into the market.

This is not a new region for sparkling wines. In fact, sparkling wine has a long history in Piedmont but the Consortium of the Alta Langa was only created in 2001, got DOC recognition in 2002 and became a DOCG wine in 2011. The grapes are grown in the hills of the provinces of Asti, Alessandria and Cuneo. Other rules for producing an Alta Langa sparkling wine are that the vineyards must be at 250 meters above sea level. Vines are trained either using low espalier, traditional Guyot and spurred cordon.

Cin-Cin.