Even if Italy and France produce the same amount of wine, many of Italy’s best bottles somehow get lost along the way. Too often critics talk about Pinot Grigio or Chianti without venturing beyond. There are hundreds of DOCs in Italy, and 36 top quality areas, known as DOCGs. When it comes to grape varieties, there are around 350 official varieties, and around 500 more unofficially.

Italy is really a country that rewards getting intimate with one area. Take a broad approach, and it is very easy to get lost. Look closely at one region, and it’s easy fall in love. During the winter, that has to be Piedmont, where white truffles grow around the pretty town of Alba and snow falls heavily in the gorgeous Piedmont Mountains.

It is known for its succulent, warming reds that come from the Nebbiolo grape; one of the world’s truly great red wine grapes. Barolo and Barbaresco are best known, but there are plenty of other DOC and DOCG zones (52 in total) to be explored.

2006 Barbera d’Alba Campass, Cigliuti (£21.50)
The tannins are more evident in this wine than the Dolcetto, although the Barbera grape still has a natural softness to it. An indulgent wine, with exuberant flavours of black fruits and rich chocolate, all aged in 50 percent new oak. Campass is the name of one of the vineyards owned by the Cigliuti family, who still grow hazelnuts alongside the vines on their small (eight hectare) estate. They were one of the first families in the area to bottle and sell their own wine, back in the 1960s, instead of selling the grapes. Everything is farmed organically on beautiful slopes of the Serraboella hill, 350m above sea level, overlooking the village of Neive. The same family makes a wonderful Barbaresco as well, that is worth looking out for.

Malvira Langhe Nebbiolo 2006 (approx £10)
Malvira is two brothers, Massimo and Roberto Damonte, working 42 hectares of vines in a remote part of Piedmont that is also one of its most beautiful, full of rolling hills hiding castles, wild deer and white truffles. The wine is fermented in stainless steel, then aged in French oak for around 14 months. A less well known area that also uses the Nebbiolo grape, this is softer than the Barolos and Barbarescos, with softer tannins, but still with rich black fruits, and some lovely wood smoke flavours. As with many of the growers here, the brothers prefer Slovenian oak to French oak for the ageing of the wines, and use it for just a short period of up to six months. This win is great value alternative to its better-known siblings.

2006 Dolcetto d’Alba Santo Stefano di Perno, Monforte d’Alba, Mascarello (£13.20)
Mauro Mascarello is one of the best producers in Piedmont, and yet his wines have still managed to stay reasonably priced. This is a wine that makes people smile from the very first sip – full of juicy, fresh plums, wild violets, and tannins that are so soft and round they really makes buyers think they need to drink more Italian wine! Dolcetto is a grape variety whose name means ‘little sweet one’, and produces wine that is often seen as being early-drinking. It’s certainly easy to slip down at just 13 percent alcohol, but this is not a simple wine, it has good length, and gathers strength in the mouth.

Pio Cesare Barolo 2005 (approx €40/US$60)
Another 100 percent Nebbiolo, and a beautiful, long-living, example of a Barolo, this uses grapes sourced from both their own family vineyards, and the best local growers, following the same pattern as many Burgundy winemakers. Founded in 1881, this is still a family business, run today by Pio Boffa. Very stylish wines, with the deep colour and classic tannic structure of a Barolo, providing a grown-up frame for the rich fruit. Of all the wines in this tasting, this is the one that shows most clearly the truffles that we associate with Piedmont. Spicy fruits, smoky tar and plenty of roasted game make this a complex wine to sit back and relax with.

La Spinetta Barbaresco Starderi 2005 (approx €95/£100)
One of the big names in Barbaresco wines, despite having been founded only 30 years ago, and this bottle immediately tells buyers why. These are unmistakably impressive flavours, with rich broad strokes that have been confidently assembled. The Rivetti family, behind La Spinetta, began making white Moscato wines, and moved into red wines in 1985. These are now widely admired, and the Starderi is a great example, from the renowned Neive vineyards. Bright flavours, sweet tannins, and a weight and concentration of fruit that keeps you hooked. This is 100 percent Nebbiolo, from 40-year-old vines. It’s a big wine at 14.5 percent, but is so well balanced it’s difficult to notice.

Boglietti Barbera d’Alba 2007 (£12.95)
Winemaker Enzo Boglietti has become a serious player in Piedmont, known today for his modern-style Barolos, but he got started with Barbera d’Alba, and this is a sweet and charming reminder of why. Velvety-smooth, soft plum fruits, and a fresh acidity that makes this a great, uncomplicated food wine, one that you’d be happy to go back to. Boglietti is also lucky enough to have vineyards in La Morra, one of the most spectacular locations of Piedmont as he is happy to proclaim, and somehow his joy at all of this comes across in the taste of the wine.