Asti DOCG. You may have heard of Asti Spumante, the semi-sweet low-fizz wine (and subject of numerous cheesy commercials), but this region in northwest Italy in Piedmont is more than just that.

The young man who listened so intently with every fiber of his being was Aldo Vaira, who was working his family’s farmland and would eventually make wine in a region, Piedmont, Italy ...