Celebrating Autumn between Piedmont Italy and Los Angeles California
Nebbiolo vineyard in Barolo
From Piedmont Italy, with a landscape of vineyards, and hamlets with churches and castles, to Los Angeles California, with its warm weather, beaches, mansions and palm trees, can there possibly be anything common between these two completely different places?
But as the weather turns cooler across the northern hemisphere and natural elements all around us go through a metamorphosis, from wine grapes that are ready to harvest, to plants and trees losing their leaves and preparing for colder months of winter ahead, from Italy to the US, we recognize and celebrate this transformational season with activities and customs that involve food and wine that remind us of autumn.
Fall in Italy
Though every season is special in its own right, there is something magical about autumn in Italy. Well it is ONLY the season of the great harvests, to say the least. For centuries autumn in Italy has been a time to harvest food and celebrate those harvests. Fall brings an abundance of produce from the rich soils that have always blessed the Peninsula, especially olives and grapes. The crowds start fading as the temperatures slightly begin to drop, the changing colors paint the idyllic countryside and best of all, the air is filled with the smell of fermenting wine as producers and friends alike gather for the much anticipated annual wine and produce harvest. Add to this, traditional festivals in little towns from Sicily to Valle D’Aosta where one can enjoy the seasonal produce with the locals. There is one region in particular that stands out for its territorial importance as the noble red wine region: Piedmont.
Harvest time in Piedmont
Briamara starts Nebbiolo wine making by crushing with feet
Piedmont is home to some of the best wine growing areas in Italy, like the Langhe, and has many lesser known areas where great wine is also made, like Alto Piemonte, aka, Northern Piedmont. Piedmont also has many interesting and important native grape varietals, like nebbiolo.
In 1787 Thomas Jefferson tasted a nebbiolo at the Hotel d’Angleterre in Torino, the capital of Piedmont, and wrote, "about as sweet as the silky Madeira, as astringent on the palate as Bordeaux, and as brisk as Champagne. It is a pleasing wine.” The name of this grape is said to come from the foggy autumn mist, or nebbia, that elegantly surrounds the nebbiolo grapes during harvest. With six key Nebbiolo wine producing regions, you can compare the nebbiolo grape from each one and take note of how terroir-driven it is.
For example, in the gentle Langhe hills, where VeroVino grower-maker Aldo Clerico is, and where the great Nebbiolo-based Barolo appellation is made, the Nebbiolo from here produce intense and elegant wines with a noticeable tannic structure. Then, moving north, to where Briamara is, next to the Parco del Gran Paradiso, Grand Paradise Park, when tasting their Nebbiolo, the acidity and fresh fruit takes you right to the foot of the alps which you can see from their vineyard.
Briamara’s terraced Nebbiolo vineyard at the foot of the Alps
Some of the great Piemontese foods harvested in this season include the prestigious white truffles from Alba, and to-die-for toasted hazelnuts from Asti. Also, like in other parts of Italy almonds, chestnuts, produce like arugula, broccoli, potatoes, zucchini, and of course, pumpkin is harvested. Fall is a foodies’ month to try all sorts of traditional seasonal delights.
Speaking of Foodies….
Shop Vero wines from Piedmont
