ASTI (AH-stee)
Italian
city and wine center
Common
clues:
Bubbly source; Spot of wine?; Vino venue; Wine
city; Piedmont wine center; Italian wine center; ____
Spumante
Crossword
puzzle frequency:
9 times a month
Video: Asti
Asti is a city and commune in the Piemonte or Piedmont region, in north-western Italy, about 80 kilometres west of Turin in the plain of the Tanaro River. It is the capital of the province of Asti.
Some of most important Italian wines—including the renowned Barolo—are produced in the nearby Langhe (Province of Cuneo). Monferrato generally, which includes the Province of Asti, is an important area for the production of fine wines. But perhaps the wine most famously associated with Asti worldwide is the sparkling Asti Spumante (DOCG). The name today is usually shortened to ‘Asti’ in order to avoid associations with the many wines of dubious quality which are labelled as Spumante. Asti is typically sweet and low in alcohol (often below 8%). It is made solely from the moscato bianco white muscat grape. A premium version known as Moscato d'Asti (DOCG) is seldom seen outside Italy.
While Asti province became famous around the world thanks to Martini, Gancia and Riccadonna which made commercial wines like Asti Spumante, it is now also becoming famous internationally for its classic red wines such as Barbera d'Asti, Fresia d'Asti, Grignolino d'Asti, Bonarda and Ruchè di Castagnole Monferrato. These wines and many others can be sampled during the week-long Douja d'Or wine exhibition which is held at the same time as the Palio and Sagre.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Asti".
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