Fara is a red wine-specific DOC of Piedmont, in north-western Italy. Created in 1969, it is one of several DOCs clustered around the region's northern hills and divided east from west by the Sesia river – the boundary between the Vercelli and Novara provinces.
All Fara wine is made from a base of Nebbiolo (known locally as Spanna) and Vespolina, with an optional component of Uva Rara, one of several northern Italian varieties which share the name Bonarda. The relatively cool climate here leads to a lighter, fruitier style of wine than those found in southern Piedmont DOCs such as Barolo and Barbaresco.
After their creation, the Fara DOC laws were not revised for another 41 years, when a widespread DOC review took place across northern Piedmont in the summer of 2010. Considering the changes which have taken place in Italian viticulture and winemaking over the past five decades, this is quite unusual. The neglect was limited almost entirely to the DOCs of northern Piedmont; similarly, the legal documentation (disciplinare di produzione) of Sizzano, Freisa di Chieri and Bramaterra also remained unchecked between their creation (1969, 1973 and 1979 respectively) and the 2010 review. Fara's northern neighbor Boca fared only slightly better, being finally updated in 2008, 39 years after its inception. This leaves Sicily's Etna as the record holder: it has been unmodified since its creation in 1968.
