Il Nizza è
Three days given over entirely to Nizza DOCG — the top-tier Barbera grown in purity on the hills right around town — poured by its producers at Palazzo Crova.
Why it's special
This is the one weekend to taste the whole appellation at once: more than 120 labels from over 70 producers across six tasting stations, sommeliers on hand to walk you through them. If you want to understand what makes Nizza different from the wider Barbera d'Asti, start here.
Programme · 2026
Seventh edition. Over 120 labels from more than 70 producers across six guided tasting stations, led by AIS sommeliers, at Palazzo Crova. Plus meetings, presentations and photography exhibitions opening ceremony at the former Chiesa della Santissima Trinità. Organised by the Enoteca Regionale di Nizza with the comune and the local producers' association.
- Tastings run at Palazzo Crova (the Palazzo del Gusto) with a €25 ticket per tasting station, €15 if you carry an AIS sommelier card.
- The opening happens in the former Chiesa della Santissima Trinità.
- Book and check the year's programme at enotecanizza.it; the Enoteca Regionale is on Via Crova.
Once a year Nizza Monferrato stops talking about Barbera in general and talks only about Nizza DOCG — the Barbera grown in purity on the best-exposed hills around town, aged longer, and bottled under its own name since the appellation was carved out. For three days Palazzo Crova, the town's handsome 18th-century palazzo, becomes the Palazzo del Gusto.
You buy a ticket per tasting station and work your way through more than 120 labels from over 70 producers, with AIS sommeliers pouring and explaining. It's the fastest way to taste the whole appellation side by side — the leaner hillside versions against the broad, warm ones — and to argue, as everyone here does, about which slope does it best.
Check the year's dates and buy tickets through the Enoteca Regionale di Nizza (enotecanizza.it) before you come; the concrete dates for each edition are listed above.