General Information

Duration:

7 Days

Location Start:

Turin

Location Finish:

Alba

Phone:

1-800-557-0370 PST

Payment Types:

• Cash
• Credit Card
• Cheque
• Travellers cheque
• Paypal
• Wire Transfer

We Speak:

English

Last updated: 03/26/2009

Itinerary

Day 1

Arrive at our historic hotel. Welcome dinner at the hotel.

Day 2

Drive to La Morra, Italy with spectacular views of the Barolo wine valley. Optional walk (1 hr.) in the vineyards to visit Renato Ratti wine museum, housed in the Abbey of the Annunziata where wine production began in 1162. Personalized tour with one of the Ratti family.



Lunch at Ristorante Al Castello in hilltown of Santa Vittoria, Italy with lovely panorama.


Return to the hotel to relax. Early evening full menu cooking lesson at Real Castello.


Visit Real Castello wine cellars. Dinner of your creations at Real Castello.

Day 3

Drive to the scenic Barbaresco wine country hills and visit the famous Marchesi di Gresy winery and taste a wide range of acclaimed red and white wines including some of the best Barbarescos.


Travel high up into lush, green hills covered in forests and nut trees. In a little town in a well known bakery, the artisan baker owner will divulge his secrets to making his famous chocolate cakes like sachertorte and hazelnut cake in a three hour demonstration cooking lesson.


Drive down to a small, family farm to meet a man passionate about making his sheep cheeses in a totally natural way. Learn how he makes his cheeses in the cheese making room. In a divine picnic, you sample a range of his cheeses as he eagerly tells you all you’d ever want to know.


Dinner is in a typical restaurant full of local people in a little town in the hills.

Day 4

Visit a Barolo winery like Rocche Castamagno in La Morra. Taste their fine range of wines and chat and laugh with their sommelier as you deepen your wine knowledge. Weather permitting, you also walk through their vineyards and learn about how their vines are grown.


Stroll around this pretty hill town, and stop at the municipal wine store, one of the best for its Barolo selection and personal service.


Drive to a café in the hill town of Castiglione Falletto where, weather permitting, we lounge on a scenic patio al fresco, and enjoy some light local appetizers or salads with a good glass of wine.


Travel to the hill town of Serralunga to visit a unique medieval castle, renovated in 1340. With the castle's entertaining guide, discover ingenious architectural features that kept invaders out. On the top floor, marvel at the 360 degree views of the medieval town walls and the vine covered hills all around.


Dinner is in a typical restaurant for more delicate Piedmontese fare.

Day 5

Drive to the hill town of Grinzane Cavour to visit its imposing castle dating back to about 1000, formerly home to Count Cavour, Italy’s first prime minister in 1852. Admire wide panoramas or visit its interesting wine museum and wine showroom.

Visit a family farm where a delightful, hospitable couple, Giovanni and Francesca, share a slice of their everyday life with you. They produce cheeses, salami and most of what they eat. Eat a scrumptious farm lunch and chat and laugh with them as they candidly tell you about what their life is all about.

After lunch Giovanni takes you to visit the goats and other animals and birds, his cheese making room and the gardens.


If time, visit a nearby factory which makes torrone, a nougat candy filled with hazelnuts and covered with chocolate. So irresistible that you’re bound to leave with a shopping bag full!

Drive to pretty little Barolo in a valley with hills of vineyards all around. Visit the charming Brezza family in their winery cellars, where the father or son sits with you around a wooden table lit by candles and tastes their wines with you. Conversation with them may stray to topics like family and friendship, so when you see them again in their restaurant for dinner, they feel like old pals.

For dinner be sure to order their excellent Brasato al Barolo, veal roll slices served with a rich Barolo gravy, and torrone hazelnut nougat semifreddo with chocolate on top.

Day 6

Stroll through the delightful medieval heart of Alba, a small bustling city. Browse the high quality clothing and houseware stores or tempting gastronomy shops like “Peccati della Gola—Sins of the Throat”. Grab a cappuccino at a cafe in the main piazza with its cathedral dating back to 1486. This is the life, Mama-style!

Enjoy a cooking lesson of authentic Piemonte dishes with Chef Ester, the owner of a renowned restaurant in vineyards outside Barbaresco and a chef for the Italian Olympic team. Delicate rolls of roasted peppers stuffed with tuna and topped with a savory parsley sauce and aromatic rabbit simmered in Barbaresco wine and herbs are divine.


Sit around a cozy table for dinner with a glass of Barbaresco in hand and feel proud of your ever expanding cooking skills.

Day 7

Experience market day at the street stalls in Alba, bursting with local people. The color, pace and sounds of this action filled extravaganza will amaze you. A lively, genuine slice of Italian life!

After your shopping, enjoy a light lunch in Alba.

You reluctantly depart for Turin or for Alba's train station and leave your new Piedmont friends, taking with you heartfelt memories of all the laughter, sensual experiences, beauty, food and wine you shared together.

Extra Information

Inclusions -

6 nights accommodation in historic hotels

Exclusions -

Barolo and Barbaresco wines with meals

Extras -

Dates: on request for small group of 2-7 people so you feel you're travelling with friends.

The people are incredibly hospitable, taking the time to talk with you and helping you learn about their wines & food.

You meet lots of local characters you'd never meet otherwise in places you'd never find. A genuine immersion in Italian culture with local people!

This wine country is so beautiful with gentle hills falling at all angles, views of the Alps and castles on hills.

We can custom design this tour so you get just the Barolo wine country experiences you've always dreamed of.