The Alps have always formed a physical barrier between France and Italy. Apart from the coast road along the Riviera there are only two other main routes from France into Italy, the Frejus tunnel from Modane and the tunnel under the Mont Blanc, or as Italians prefer to call it, the Monte Bianco. If you drive through the 14km long Frejus tunnel you arrive in Italy in high in the Alps, at the very uppermost reaches of the Piedmont. Keep driving downhill from here and you pass steep-roofed chalets covered with huge irregular slates, fairy-tale castles on rocky outcrops, and as you get further down into the valleys as you approach Turin, in its lower reaches, you'll find the first grapes.

This is the outpost of viticulture in Italy, about as far north as you can get and still high enough above sea-level to have a cooling effect on the climate. Large boulders exposed to the sun that have dropped to valley floor from above are covered in vines. The idea is to use the boulder as a storage heater and keep the vines free of frosts. Further down the valley you reach the rolling hills around Turin, and here you can find many of Italy's great wines. Barolo, Barbera, Nebbiolo and Barbaresco are all from here, plus a host of lesser-known wines.

Alba is like many Piemontese towns: neat, ordered and surrounded by rolling hills covered in vines. It's also world-famous for another of its products, the legendary white truffle that despite the efforts of many, will only grow in the hills surrounding Alba. It commands idiotically high prices and to people who have been lucky enough to taste it, it's worth every cent. Above the ground, Alba grows Barbera and Nebbiolo grapes, and the appellation Barbera d'Alba is often regarded as the most full-bodied and tannic of the Barberas.

The Barbera grape is very widely diffused in the Piedmont, grown in Asti, Monferrato and Alba, as well as in other regions, such as Lombardy and Emilia / Romagna, making it the most predominant wine of northwestern Italy. The consequence of this is that Barbera comes in a multiplicity of guises and styles, each different and differing from the others. Classically it's dry, generous, solid and dependable - a sort of wine equivalent to an honest, sturdy yeoman. At its best it can be remarkably easy to drink and is well adapted to go with the strong, mountainy food of the Piedmont.

Wine of the Week

Barbera d'Alba, Torriglione, Renato Ratti 2000

This is the better of two Barberas made by Renato Ratti and it has all the typical hallmarks of the variety. It's robust and full, with plenty of tannic bite in the aftertaste. It's not a wine to drink without food, it would make a good accompaniment to strong cheeses or red-meat roasts. It's above average in alcohol at 13.5% and would age well in the bottle if it were allowed.
Available Karwig Wines Carrigaline, Molloys, The Grape Escape, RRP €22.80