Walking amongst the vineyards of Barbaresco

Ascheri Vineyards

Matteo Ascheri presenting a tasting of his wines

Piemonte Vineyard Walk

6 - 12 May 2012, 5 - 11 May 2013

Piemonte is a beautiful region of rolling countryside nestling at the foot of the Alps in the North West of Italy and makes for superb vineyard walking territory. On this truly wonderful wine walking holiday, you’ll enjoy the full spectrum of Piemontese wines ranging from the best of the powerful Barolos and elegant Barbarescos, made from the Nebbiolo grape, to the fun and frothy Moscato d’Asti. Piemonte can be compared best to Burgundy, due to the individual vineyard plots.Also the Nebbiolo grape, due to its ethereal qualities and ability to display ‘terroir’, is referred to as a ‘holy grail’ variety, like Pinot Noir. This region proudly carries its reputation as the most premium of all Italian wine regions.

This walk takes us through beautiful vineyards, with stunning views over the hills at the “foot of the mountains”, to the stunning bowl of the Alps which hug the region on three sides. On a clear day you can see Mont Blanc and even the Matterhorn, seemingly so close that you can reach out and touch them. We’ll stroll through hazlenut groves and cherry orchards and into some of the delightful hilltop towns that give their names to many of the most famous wines of Italy. The walk is totally pioneering and though on some days we may come across other walkers, for much of the way we will be alone – since the paths we have designed for you deviate from the maps (which are largely speaking totally wrong!). This tour is based in the Langhe, with the backdrop of the Alps. When we walked this out – our superb guide who we were training to take this wonderful tour for us, was amazed at how inaccurate the official maps were and how little they related to the terrain. The result is that Arblaster & Clarke offer you a UNIQUE vineyard walk in Piemonte – and one that really takes in the most stunning vistas and the greatest vineyards – and mostly you will be totally alone on your walks. This is simply not repeatable on your own (as the walking maps are,as we have pointed out, incorrect!) or with other companies (for the same reason!). When you walk these paths you will be amongst a handful of A&C wine touring pioneers!

For the first part of our walk we stay in a family run 3* hotel in the heart of the Barolo vineyards. For the second part of the walk we are based in a private wine estate in the hills outside Alba with welcoming owners. We take over the whole property for our exclusive use. The ten rooms have been decorated to a very comfortable 3* standard. There are excellent restaurants and wine-bars in Alba including the Slow Food restaurant.

On our first day we enjoy a guided visit of the medieval castle of Castello Grinzane Cavour, which was home to one of Italy’s most influential statesmen, Cavour. The regional Enoteca is within the castle and sells a wide range of wines from throughout the area. We then continue to the Fontanafredda estate, former hunting lodge of King Victor Emmanuel II where we have lunch with a range of their wines. We finish the first day in style with a tasting in the vineyards owned by the dynamic Ascheri family of their superb wines.

We continue by exploring the Barolo countryside and villages such as on to Serralunga, Castiglione-Monfalleto and La Morra and walk past many of the famed ‘cru’ vineyards, including a visit to the Riondo-Massolino Vineyards. We then have a free lunchtime in the beautiful village of Serralunga, before visiting the Aldo Conterno estate. Aldo Conterno is one of the most influential people in the region and their cellars are based in the small village of Monforte. The sub region of Bussia is famed for producing some of the most outstanding of the Barolo Crus and Aldo produces them in a wonderfully traditional style.

On our third day we walk from Monforte to Barolo, arriving just in time for a well-deserved lunch at the Cordero Montezemolo wine estate. The historical estate of Monfaletto – Cordero di Montezemolo has some outstanding vineyard sites resulting in their wines such as the impressive Enrico VI. The estate has been in the hands of the Falletti family since mediaeval times and passed to another branch of their family, the Cordero’s who are the current owners, in 1920. The vineyards are over seen by a gloriously old Lebanon cedar. In the afternoon we go to the G.D, Vajra estate, owned by the inspiring Aldo Vajra and his charming wife Milena. His Barbera and Nebbiolo wines are outstanding as is his excellent Freisa made in the traditional style of a complex red wine (rather than the light inoffensive quaffing wine produced by lesser estates). Aldo personifies the attitude of many of the wine makers in the region – a healthy respect for tradition, but continually searching for ways to improve upon tradition!

The next day we walk straight from our hotel through the Mango and Nieve Vineyards to the Moscato Enoteca, arriving for lunch at a wine bar in Nieve. Our afternoon is spent at La Spinetta Vineyards and owners, the Rivetti family who have vineyards to the east of Piemonte towards Asti. They originally achieved fame with their outstanding Moscato, but today are more famous for their powerful and complex barrique-aged Barbera that we will taste at their original cellars near Castagnole delle Lanze. They also own vineyards in Barbaresco and Barolo, making superb wines from these too.

The following day we visit the Produttori del Barbaresco Vineyards in the morning. Produttori del Barbaresco produce intense excellent wines which regularly astound devotees of Barbaresco, due perhaps to the long-standing perception that co-operatives are not capable of producing such quality. Their sixty plus members have over 100 hectares on some of the most impressive vineyard sites in the region. We visit their cellars before tasting a selection of their wines that have earned them the reputation of one of the best co- operative in Italy. After a delectable lunch at the Marchesi di Gresy, we enjoy a free afternoon to explore Alba. Our last dinner is at the Slow Food restaurant in Alba.

On the last day, we will take you to the centre of Turin (arrival time approx 11:00) where we will drop off at both the two main train stations of Turin Porta Nuova & Porta Susa from where you can take a taxi to your hotel or other onwards travel.

British Airways currently do not fly to London on this date (Ie Saturdays in May) but they do have a return flight to London on the following day, Sunday 13 May, and we strongly recommend that you extend staying in this delightful and historical city, with its fascinating architecture, history, museums as well as cafe society and wonderful restaurants for at least one or more nights. Do call us for our recommendations of hotels in Turin. The low cost carrier that flys to Stansted does have a flight on Saturday.

Piemonte

The great wine region of Piemonte to the south of Turin is divided by the Tanaro river. North of this is the Roero, where both the soils and the wines, largely from Barbera, Nebbiolo and Dolcetto varieties, tend to be lighter. Though good, they tend to lack the ‘impact’ of the wines further south in the Langhe, which we explore. The Langhe hills, so called because they resemble tongues rising above the mists, are situated at about 300 to 600 metres above sea level. They date from the late Tertiary era (Miocene period) and the soils are marl on limestone with some sandy patches and compact clay. The famous wines from the Langhe are Barolo and Barbaresco, but as we will see there are other good wines to enjoy too. The slightly lighter Nebbiolos, delightful Barberas with crunchy fruit and a mineral tang, easy drinking Dolcettos, the white Arneis, which can be very special and Moscatos in many guises.

The countryside is beautiful, dotted with hilltop villages and castles with vineyards planted precariously on the slopes, (the names of many of these villages and hamlets will be recognisable as communes within the Barolo and Barbaresco classifications).

The team at A&C have long counted as passionate admirers of this great Italian region and its wines and cuisine. We genuinely cannot think of a better way to get to love the area than walking through the vineyards, dining well and enoying fabulous wine tastings at the top domaines!

Please see an article on this tour in Australian Gourmet Traveller Wine magazine, “Grand Tours”.