The ongoing wine renaissance in the alto Piemonte, or “upper Piedmont,” is one of the great stories in Italian wine. A century ago, vineyards blanketed the Alpine foothills north of Novara and the region produced more Nebbiolo than Barolo or Barbaresco; today, northern Piedmont makes a fraction of what it once did, while Barolo and Barbaresco enjoy global reach. But the time is now to re-discover northern Piedmontese appellations such as Gattinara, Ghemme, Lessona, and the source of this wine, Bramaterra. What you’ll find, in wines like “Al Forte,” are reds that cede no ground whatsoever to their more-famous Nebbiolo cousins.