Moscato d'Asti

The province of Asti with the capital of the same name in the Italian region of Piedmont encompasses the entire southern Monferrato hill region with 1,500 km². However, the sparkling wines(Spumante and Frizzante) produced from the Moscato Bianco (Muscat Blanc) grape variety, also known as Moscato d'Asti or Moscato di Canelli, which was already mentioned in 1203, are particularly famous. It thrives particularly well in the Langhe mountains around the municipality of Canelli, the centre of the sparkling wine industry. Sparkling wines were already produced here in the Middle Ages. In the 17th century, when Piedmont still belonged to the Duchy of Savoy, Giovanni Battista Croce, the court jeweller to the Dukes of Savoy, improved the cultivation and cellar techniques of his dominion. In 1606, he wrote the treatise "On the Excellence and Variety of the Wines Produced in the Turin Mountains". In 1870, Carlo Gancia, known as the "father of Italian sparkling wine", introduced the méthode champenoise and founded the famous white sparkling wine. The "Consorzio per la Tutela dell'Asti" (a consortium for the protection of Asti wines) was founded as early as 1932.

DOC/DOCG areas

In this very large wine-growing area in Piedmont there are numerous DOC and DOCG areas, but some of them extend across borders in the three provinces of Asti, Alessandria and Cuneo:

• Albugnano (DOC)
• Asti - Asti Spumante, Asti Spumante Metodo Classico, Moscato d'Asti (DOCG)
• Barbera d'Asti (DOCG)
• Barbera del Monferrato (DOC)
• Barbera del Monferrato Superiore (DOCG)
• Brachetto d'Acqui - also Acqui (DOC)
• Calosso (DOC)
• Canelli - formerly Moscato d'Asti Canelli...