Pleasures of Piedmont Tour: Wine, Truffles & Celebration

You can practically taste the white truffles, dark chocolate, and wine emanating from the whispers of Alba. The town thrives in October during the Truffle Festival offering aficionados and curious amateurs the chance to savor decadent cuisine. Vines from local vineyards line the Langhe Hills and spread to the horizon. Grapes sprout and dangle with radiant color against flowering hazelnut groves. Medieval towers rise over the city and the rolling lush hills around the region. Vibrant shops decorate the ancient narrow streets winding through the city. The medieval history thrives in the rich, red towers hovering over the streets.

In the evening, the music begins to sweep through the streets, echoing off of the stone buildings. The aroma of rich pasta emanates from the restaurants, and the stalls from the truffle fair call you to taste each dish. The red towers turn pink in the setting sun. The old Roman gate surrounds the city center and marks the border of the ancient cityscape. Immerse yourself in the truffle market to see the exuberance of truffle hunters from around the world searching for the perfect pairing with the delicate treat. From a distance, the white truffle looks like a gold nugget guarded in each stall near enticing cheeses and fresh rolled pasta.

In the morning, you can look out over the hillsides around Alba and see the sunlight spreading across the verdant vineyards and fields. The red hue returns to the medieval towers stretching over the rooftops. After breakfast, your private guide meets you at the hotel and escorts you into the Piedmont countryside to visit four distinct villages. Verduno sits atop a hillside surrounded by terraced vineyards. The aroma of verdant vines and fertile earth encompasses the landscape, capped with the red roofs of the medieval town.

The entire township is less than three square miles and sits near a celebrated 18th-century castle that continues to produce extraordinary wines. Once in town, you can taste the Pelaverga, an ancient grape once on the verge of extinction, used most often for sparkling wines with a pale color and hints of strawberry flavor. Visit the Castello di Verduno for a tour of the sensational winery dating back to 1838.

Follow your guide through the soft soil of the hillside where you can see the vines sloping down into the valley. You can see harvesters competing, each trying to clip the grape bundles the fastest under the drifting sunlight. Pass through the naturally cool climate of the cellars to find mounds of wine barrels absorbing the flavors of the wooden containers. When you are offered a sample of the Nebbiolo d’Alba, you immediately notice the ruby coloration of the wine. A soft aroma of rose and violet notes wafts from the glass. You delight in the wine’s full-body and smooth finish.

The Langhe Hills speckle the horizon with rugged mountaintops. Greenery rolls across the plain until reaching the foothills in the distance. After breakfast, your private guide takes you into the countryside once more to view the exceptional villages dotting the Northern Italian state. When you reach the town of Barolo, you find charming cobbled streets encircled by vineyards and trees climbing up the hillside. Barolo Castle stands at the edge of the city protecting the smaller shingled rooftops decorating the villages. The road follows the ridged hills passing the ruins of Volta Castle.

The vineyards are famous for their production of Barolo wines. The doors of Borgogno Winery have been open since the 18th century. Large, oak wine barrels sit in the cool cellar carved into the hills underneath the historic center of town. Tractors crawl along the countryside venturing in and out of the pathways created by the vines themselves. Your guide leads you through the store where wines practically cover the walls and tables. Sample the Borgogno Barolo Cannubi to find an abundance of aromas on the nose, from dark berries to forest floor, with elegant mineral and earthy flavors on the palate to create an old-world tasting experience.

The Piedmont countryside is known for its truffles, wines, and castles. The hills make an ineffable mark on the day, cast in bright light sprawling over terrace vines and emerald forests. Today, your guide leads you to a collection of marvelous villages including Barbaresco, a commune of wine, and a town built around a square design underneath the central tower. The three square miles of town date back to the Romans who overtook the oak forests and placed Barbaresco grapevines around the landscape. You come across a sea of vineyards emanating a luscious, verdant aroma. A central tower of the city stands 115 feet tall and the local wine cellar is located in the 19th-century church of San Donato.

Narrow, cobbled streets bisect the village. In the afternoon, you make your way to the ancient village of Neive, an unspoiled town situated on a small hilltop. Cobbled lands open up to picturesque views decorated with cottages and rolling hills with cascading vineyards. Locals venture into the marketplace with traditional shopping carts and linger in the small piazzas. Villas dot the valley outside the village varying from the 13th to the 16th centuries. Stop in to sample the traditional flavors of La Contea, a centuries-old house in the heart of town near the medieval church. Fireplaces roar in the evening underneath the frescoed ceilings. The traditional cuisine creates an inspiring, succulent Risotto al Barbaresco.

The morning begins with the aroma of fresh espresso accompanying breakfast. A cool mist layers the hills and vineyards before dissipating and leaving behind a blanket of sweet dew. After breakfast, your guide leads you out into the splendid green of the countryside arriving at the terraced vineyards rising up to the pearled medieval facades of Casale Monferrato.

Baroque castles border the town. A Romanesque Cathedral stands with a distinct antechamber adding majesty to the antique structure. Ancient courtyards hold remnants of the town’s history, from the elegant design to blossoming pink and purple flowers. Towers speckle the skyline above the colorful buildings. The area is also home to a unique cookie that has remained unchanged for centuries. Krumuri Rossi emanates a particular sweet aroma wafting through the streets. The factory is in fact a small bakery home to a number of rooms that imitate the historic methods that created the cookie in the 19th century. You can tour the bakery and enjoy the room full of the soft, sugary aroma of baking cookies. At the end of the tour, you get to sample a cookie and every bite will burst with a buttery, crumbly tenderness. On market days, the cobbled streets fill with locals perusing the open-air stalls. Tomatoes grow nearby against the verdant trees. The scent of Krumuri Rossi shifts into the succulent aroma of simmering sausages.

The images of the countryside filter through the village with spurts of laughter and the rural scent of vineyards all around you. After breakfast, your guide meets you at the hotel and escorts you to the graceful reaches of Turin, the capital city Piedmont. Trees line the wide boulevards and locals linger in art nouveau cafes. Fabulous arcaded buildings line elegant squares and the 17th-century grandeur leftover from the Savoy dynasty remains prominent throughout the streets.

The Palazzo Reale has a basic 17th-century façade guarded by the mythical twins, Castor and Pollux. The interior erupts with opulence once you step inside the royal apartments. The Queen’s Throne Room was constructed in the 18th century with marble ovals. Marble tiles pave the Royal Armory, one of the largest armories in all of Europe. Statues of horses and mounted knights line the walls displaying shimmering armor. Lavish jousts, swords, and gloves hang from the walls. The gilded ceiling leads you down the hall of the Beaumont Gallery, showing intermittent swirls of Baroque artistry intersecting the gilded molding. You can even find weapons once owned by Italian Kings, the Savoy family, and Napoleon Bonaparte himself.

In the morning, you find the aroma of dark chocolate passing through the city’s vibrant streets. In shop windows, delicate truffles are wrapped in gold and silver foil reflecting in the morning light and catching your attention. Each sweet treat has a depth of flavor, ranging from a touch of bitterness to graceful rosewater melting in your mouth. In Turin, there is always time for chocolate no matter what time of day it is. You pass the street-side cafes and watch people sip their morning coffee while reading the newspaper, lingering in the soft light of day on the way to work.

After breakfast, your private transfer meets you at the hotel and escorts you to the Turin Airport for your flight home. As with all Italy vacations, this one has come to an end. Spend the flight home planning your return to this fabulous country!