You know, if I could only drink red wine from one region in the world besides Burgundy, it would be the Piedmont in Italy. I was recently reminded of this when I got to hang out at this rep’s house with a guy in from Prunotto. We had fantastic food. That’s another thing about Piedmont wines; they are INCREDIBLE with food. We had chanterelle mushrooms with pasta, grilled sausages, and grilled lamb chops. Basically, the wines of Piedmont are like this, from cheapest/lightest to super-pricey/full-throttle. (Of course, like everything in the wine world, these rules can change.)

Dolcetto: your everyday quaffer; you can get great ones for under 15 bucks
Barbera: starting to get serious; these can be still everyday wines but some can age like a fine wine
Barbaresco/Barolo: these wines can outlive you; serious wines for aging