In Piedmont, viticulture plays a critical role in the region's overall agricultural production. The fact that the vineyards in Piedmont are nearly all in the hills ensures quality and reputation; the climate, the terrain, the grapes, and the skilled and passionate involvement of man do the rest. Barbera, which accounts for one-third of the cultivated land, is widely distributed and reflects its character in a variety of ways. It produces more structured wines with a good predisposition to refinement in the Alba area, and fresher and fruitier wines in the Monferrato and Asti districts, always with great acidity. Other noteworthy vines include white moscato, dolcetto, a Piedmontese wine with structure and delicate aromas of fruit and white flowers, freisa, with hints of flowers and little red fruits, bracchetto, fresh and fragrant, and grignolino, from which we produce pleasant but not particularly structured wines. The prince of Piedmontese vines, however, is Nebbiolo, the father of the best Piedmontese reds, with very thick and tiny berries, dark blue in colour, particularly sensitive to the slightest variations in soil and temperature.  Above all, Barolo and Barbaresco stand out, but Gattinara, Ghemme, and Roero, as well as Boca, Fara, Lessona, Bramaterra, and others, may show their own personalities.  Barolo, the king of wines and wine of kings, is currently at the centre of a philosophical dualism between those who continue to produce it in an absolutely traditional manner, with ageing in large barrels, and those who prefer a passage in smaller barrels to soften the decisive and austere tannins more quickly. The white muscat grape vines, outnumbered by the red grape vines by about half, are worth mentioning. These grapes are used to produce the Asti Spumante and Moscato d'Asti; of the first, more than 80 million bottles were produced in 2002, accounting for one-third of all national sparkling wine production and roughly half of the region's VQPRD, the majority of which was sold on foreign markets where it is the highest estimator. In recent years, foreign grapes, particularly chardonnay, have been utilised to make high-quality wines in the Langhe, which have long been the unchallenged domain of outstanding reds. Piedmont is known for the manufacture of aromatized wines, such as Vermouth and Barolo Chinato, in addition to the production of sparkling wines of various varieties, acquired by refermentation in bottles and autoclaves, dry and sweet.