Published earlier this summer, David Way’s Northern Piemonte Report analyses the wines, wineries and terroirs of this resurgent region.
“I didn’t plan this, this is just how it turned out due to natural interest.”
During his research for The Wines of Piemonte, published by the Académie du Vin in 2023, David began to consider what lay beyond Langhe.
“When people say ‘Piemonte’, they usually mean Barolo and Barbaresco, they often don’t think outside of those two denominations. What I discovered looking outside was an extraordinary array of wine styles. As I began to organise my research by denomination – realising that there are 60 denominations in Piemonte – I was considering areas where many English-speaking journalists never go.”
His eye was drawn to one part of the map in particular. ‘Northern Piemonte’ is the informal name given to the zone which stretches from Fara in the east to Canavese in the west via the likes of Gattinara, Lesona and Carema. The term ‘Alto Piemonte’ can be used for the eastern section of this wider region but not the Canavese zone.
The result of multiple visits to the region and tasting wines from 90 wineries both in Italy and with samples sent to the UK, David’s inaugural Northern Piemonte Annual Report offers a comprehensive state of play, with ratings for wineries and their wines as well as an overview of the soil, climate and history of each appellation. Although the report was sponsored by us at Nebbia e Luce, David was given full editorial control – his insight is just as useful for us in the trade as it is for the enthusiast.
Decline and recovery
Once a major area for wine production with perhaps 40,000 hectares under vine in the late 1800s, Northern Piemonte suffered a catastrophic collapse in the last century as a result of industrialisation, war and vine diseases causing an exodus from its vineyards. In recent decades it has undergone a slow, steady but sure regeneration.
This is partly thanks to Langhe winemakers such as Roberto Conterno and the Pasquero Elia family of Barbaresco’s Paitin buying wineries in the region (Nervi and Bianchi respectively). Foreign investment has played a role too, as seen in the case Christoph Künzli who switched from the role of wine importer in his native Switzerland to producer, founding Le Piane in Boca. There is also a whole cohort of young men who having left their homeland then returned to found new wineries.
“The arrival of multiple ex-sommeliers in their mid-30s into Carema has only raised the profile of the region,” remarks David, alluding to the similar backgrounds of Gian Marco of Monte Maletto and Sopravvento’s Matteo Melfa.
Keeping cool
A major reason why heads have been turned by Northern Piemonte in recent years is its climate. Although the scorching 2026 growing season has been a reminder that climate change is not some distant threat but a present reality, Northern Piemonte does have some resilience compared to more southerly wine regions.
“If you consider average growing season temperatures, there’s a whole degree of difference between La Morra and Ghemme. That doesn’t sound like an enormous amount, but it really is,” he points out. “There’s also a wider diurnal range because of the proximity to the Alps, cool air descends at nighttime, which is really critical in September and early-October because that is when Nebbiolo achieves its greatest aromatic expression.”
Plus, though it might not seem like it this summer given how dry it has been, Northern Piemonte generally receives much higher rainfall – about 45% more than in some parts of Langhe – reducing the risk of vine stress.
“It all makes a big difference to the wines. Typically, Barolo and Barbaresco today might be 14.5% ABV, whereas top level Gattinara, for example, is closer to 13.5%. The milder climate of Northern Piemonte makes the wines slightly more drinkable at an earlier stage.”
What lies beneath
These climatic conditions may be something of a common thread which ties the different DOCs and DOCGs in the report together, but David points out that Northern Piemonte is a geological mosaic. Glacial activity, shifting sea levels, the formation of the Alps and a 282-million-year-old supervolcano (fortunately long extinct) all contributed to its remarkable diversity of terroirs.
“There’s such a range of soil types in such a tiny area,” he explains. “From pure porphyry in Gattinara and bits of Boca through to these vivid yellow marine sands in Lessona which hold no water at all and result in incredibly low yields, sometimes half of what you could get in Barolo. But, the wines of Lessona are genuinely distinctive – elegant, light tannins, super aromatic. They are very different to the wines of Gattinara which is just 15 minutes away by car.”
The Nebbiolo connection
David was aware of the wines of Northern Piemonte well before he began writing about the north-west of Italy.
“Northern Piemonte’s different expressions of Nebbiolo and its different uses of Nebbiolo, in single-varietal and blended styles, really appealed to me.”
When it comes to the blended styles, such as that found in Boca and Sizzano, David suggests that careful winemaking is required to find the right balance between the Nebbiolo and the grapes it is partnered with.
“I do think that Nebbiolo is probably the greatest grape variety in the world, so it’s difficult for varieties like Vespolina and Croatina to be as elegant, but if you want something with a bit more body and chunkier tannins, then they can do that for you.”
The promise of Erbaluce
Although most of Northern Piemonte is very much Nebbiolo country, that is not the case in Caluso where the white grape Erbaluce is king. In the report, David pulls no punches when it comes to the “baffling” rule that forbids the use of ‘Erbaluce’ on labels for anything other than Erbaluce di Caluso DOCG.
“Erbaluce is a grape variety and you cannot protect a grape variety’s name – it would be like being able to call it Sangiovese in Romagna but not in Chianti Classico. It is just bonkers and I do not understand the legality of it,” he argues.
“Of course,” he continues, “Erbaluce is not as historically important in Alto Piemonte as it is in Caluso. However, with wine drinkers shifting towards white wine, wineries and consorzi are going to realise that it is difficult to promote this outstanding white variety due to the rules. I think it will become an issue once producers understand how the wine market has changed.”
Future opportunities
It isn’t just an increase in white wine production, bureaucratic hurdles aside, which David forecasts, he also believes that we will see more pink wines from Northern Piemonte.
“Like Sangiovese, Nebbiolo can make amazing rosés with great aromatic complexity and acidity.”
In order to keep one step ahead of rising temperatures, David believes that viticulturists will need to consider different planting strategies.
“Gattinara has almost universally south-facing vineyards, so there the issue will be about measures to increase shading of the bunches, such as permitting more growth of the canopy. Outside of Gattinara, it seems that there are opportunities to plant on cooler slopes because there is abandoned land everywhere – you could plant on a south-east rather than a south-west slope, you might even begin to experiment with east and west-facing.”
He also foresees more Langhe producers following in the footsteps of Conterno and Paitin.
“The big advantage Northern Piemonte has is that it has much more opportunity to plant vineyards in new places than Langhe,” says David. “Should interest in Northern Piemonte pickup, there is plenty of land to be reclaimed as vineyards, whereas Barolo and Barbaresco are fully-planted.”
David’s Northern Piemonte Annual Report 2026 can be downloaded and read for free at this link.
This post was originally published on our Substack.