[3] On an average vintage more than ten times as much Asti is produced in Piedmont than the more well-known Piedmontese red wine Barolo.

[5][6] This landscape covers five distinct wine-growing areas and the Castle of Cavour, an important site both in the development of vineyards and in Italian history.

When the wine was promoted to DOCG status in 1993, producers sought to distinguish themselves from that reputation and dropped the use of Spumante altogether in favor of the shortened Asti name.

[4] Asti is produced in the southeastern region of Piedmont where the large concentration of rolling hills provides ample space for vineyard plantings.

[7] The area was first defined in 1932 as comprising the following 45 communes: In Asti: Asti, Bubbio, Calamandrana, Calosso, Canelli, Cassinasco, Castagnole delle Lanze, Castel Boglione, Castel Rocchero, Castelnuovo Belbo, Cessole, Coazzolo, Costigliole d'Asti, Fontanile, Incisa Scapaccino, Loazzolo, Maranzana, Moasca, Mombaruzzo, Monastero Bormida, Montabone, Nizza Monferrato, Quaranti, San Marzano Oliveto, Sessame and Vesime.

In Alessandria: Acqui Terme, Alice Bel Colle, Bistagno, Cassine, Castelletto Molina, Grognardo, Ricaldone, Strevi, Terzo and Visone.

Since 1976 production of the wine has additionally been permitted in the communes of Castino and Perletto in Cuneo as well as San Giorgio Scarampi in Asti.

After the grapes are harvested, they are crushed and pressed, with the must transferred to large tanks where the temperature is lowered to just above freezing in order to prevent fermentation from beginning.

While it is often drunk as an aperitif, it can be paired with salads, spicy Asian cuisine and even, as wine expert Oz Clarke notes, with Christmas pudding.