Barbera is the most common grape in Piedmont and the third most-planted grape in the country. It is used in varietals and blends. Nowadays, it is considered to have great potential to produce excellent quality wines, although it was once considered as a grape designated for rustic, everyday wine.

Dark Barbera-based wines are typically low in tannins and high in acidity. The flavors usually include a combination of raspberries, blackberries, cherries, and strawberries, sometimes with a hint of spices. Oak-aging will typically improve the tannin structure in Barbera wines. 

Nebbiolo is the highly-praised Italian grape that is mostly cultivated and gives the best results in its native Piedmont. Wines made with this red-skinned grape tend to be powerful, age-worthy, and high in tannins as well as acidity. Distinctive aromas found in Nebbiolo wines are often described as tar and roses, with the accompanying notes of cherries, violets, leather, truffles, licorice, and undergrowth.

The grape is mostly used as a varietal, and it is best known as the backbone of the exceptional and expensive Barolo and Barbaresco. A small amount of Nebbiolo is also cultivated in California and Australia. Nebbiolo-based wines should be paired with rich meat dishes, but they can also work well with acidic or mushroom-based sauces, moderately spicy Asian cuisine, truffles, and aged cheese.

Dolcetto is a red grape that is mostly cultivated in Piedmont. Although its name translates to a sweet little one, the variety is used for the production of dry, medium-bodied red wines. Dolcetto based wines are usually deep ruby and have well-balanced acidity.

They may vary from soft and fruity styles to more intense and powerful expressions. The flavors and aromas found in Dolcetto wines include a combination of red and dark berries, plums, and violets. They will usually have a subtly bitter finish. Dolcetto wines can be enjoyed young, and though they are sometimes aged for longer periods, it is generally considered that they are best consumed within three to five years of age. 

Arneis is a native grape from Piedmont that gives the best results in Roero—where it is used in the production of the famed Roero Arneis DOCG. Its exact origin is not known, but it is assumed that it has been cultivated in the area since the Roman times.

Between two world wars, it was on the verge of extinction, but in the 1960s, it was reintroduced to the region as a variety that has excellent potential to produce refined dry wines of great character. The grape is also used in the production of dessert and sparkling wines. 

Fragola di Tortona is an Italian strawberry variety originating from Tortona, hence the name. These strawberries are not much larger than raspberries in size. They are highly perfumed and fragrant, with a delicate and sweet flavor. The strawberries are grown on the hills surrounding Tortona, and they peaked in popularity in the 1930s.

Nowadays, the strawberries are traditionally sold in woven wood baskets. They don't keep well – when picked in the morning, they must be consumed the same day, otherwise they will start to deteriorate. The harvest takes place between May and June and the strawberries are available only for ten days. 

Grown in the Piedmont provinces of Cuneo and Turin, Mela Rossa Cuneo refers to fresh apples of the Red Delicious, Gala, Fuji and Braeburn varieties. The temperate sub-continental climate of the production area featured by cold winters and hot, dry summers provides the perfect conditions for apple growing, and the orchards are positioned in such a way that the tree crowns are maximally exposed to the sun which gives Cuneo apples their distinctive, bright red color.

Because of its particularly firm, crunchy and juicy flesh, Mela Rossa Cuneo is often used as an ingredient in numerous recipes of the local cuisine, some of which are Polpette alla Cuneese - veal and apple meatballs, Cuneo apples and rice soufflé or Cuneo apples and saffron pasta.