Affordable Piedmont – Dolcetto, Barbera and Langhe Nebbiolo

It’s easy to get discouraged these days as prices for the most desired Barolos and Barbarescos continue to spiral upward. The reality is that top-flight Piedmont wines don't have to cost a fortune. Readers will find plenty of terrific values next to the icons, but it will take careful selection given the current vintages on the market. These are some of the best Piedmont values I tasted this year. Many of the wines in this article retail for $25 a bottle or less.

2014 – Later than Late

Two thousand fourteen will go down as one of the most interesting and challenging vintages in Piedmont. I spent an entire month in the region during the early part of the summer. The weather was cold, unstable and often overcast. The calm of the countryside was interrupted regularly around 5pm with the sound of hail cannons in nearby Barbaresco.

Peronospera was everywhere. The only question was how much. Barolo got the worst of the weather, including three hailstorms and heavy rain. All told, production was down around 40% across the board. Mother Nature was kinder in Barbaresco, which saw no hail and dramatically less rain, setting the stage for a vintage in which the overall quality of Barolo and Barbaresco is likely to diverge by a wide margin.