Nizza (also Barbera d'Asti Superiore Nizza before 2014) is a DOCG red Italian wine produced in the northern Italian region of Piedmont. It is made from the Barbera grape, and the zone of production is limited to the comuni (municipalities) of Agliano Terme, Belveglio, Bruno, Calamandrana, Castel Boglione, Castelnuovo Belbo, Castelnuovo Calcea, Castel Rocchero, Cortiglione, Incisa Scapaccino, Moasca, Mombaruzzo, Mombercelli, Nizza Monferrato, Rocchetta Palafea, San Marzano Oliveto, Vaglio Serra and Vinchio within the province of Asti.[2] In this area Barbera is the leading grape variety grown, because the pedoclimatic conditions here are particularly favourable for its ripening.
The zone of production is centered on the town of Nizza Monferrato, from which the wine derives its name.
Barbera d’Asti DOCG and Nizza DOCG are two high-quality wines produced in Piemonte (Italy) from Barbera grape variety (Vitis vinifera), an autochthonous vine cultivated in that region since 16th century. The designation Barbera d’Asti was firstly labelled as DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata) in 1970, approved with DPR 09/01/1970 [1] and later on as DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita) in 2008, approved with DM 08.07.2008 [2]; the designation involved 116 communes in the Asti province and 51 communes in the Alessandria province for a total surface of 53 km2 (5300 Ha), of whom nearly 40 km2 (4000 Ha) claimed in 2018. The DOCG designation also provided the possibility of using an additional, finer specification as Barbera d’Asti superiore for wines produced with minimum ageing of 14 months, 6 of whom in barrique; moreover, there was the possibility of adopting the three specific labelling Barbera d’Asti superiore sottozona Colli Astiani, Barbera d’Asti superiore sottozona Nizza and Barbera d’Asti superiore sottozona Tinella in the case of wines produced, within the whole Barbera d’Asti area, in the three corresponding geographic sub-zones, considered as the more suitable in terms of quality. Recently the Barbera d’Asti superiore sottozona Nizza has been elevated to the rank of a new DOCG [3] called simply Nizza, according to more severe rules that included production in only 18 communes inside the Asti province, located around Nizza Monferrato (Figure 1), for a total area under vines of 7.2 km2 (720 Ha), of whom nearly 2.0 km2 (200 Ha) claimed in 2018
