Hello. Traveling to Piemonte in Nov.and staying at Cascina Barac. THis is our first trip, and we need advice on winery visits and restaurants. I already have appts. booked at Gaja, La Spinetta, Braida, Elio Altare and Elio Grasso, we will have time for a few more but can't decide between: Domenico Clerico, Scavino, Pio Cesare, Marchesi di Barolo, Fontanafredda, Manzoni, Sandrone, Damilano, Prunotto and Parusso- (just narrowing down to this list was tough!) Has anyone been to any of these wineries for a tour/tasting? Gee, there are so many great wineries- and so little time!
I am also interested in Giacomo and Aldo Conterno, but have been unable to find any contact/email for either, if anyone can help.
Any restaurant suggestions would be great as well.
Thank you in advance.

I'm afraid I don't remember any specific restaurant names form our visit last year. All I can say though, is be sure you have some fresh white Alba truffles! The most incredible food ever. And you're going to be in the heart of the region for them. I hear it's a good season for them this year.

Hi Lee Ann,

I'm reading your thread with interest as my husband and I will also be in Piedmonte (first time) the end of October for an extended weekend. How did you decide which wineries to visit? Did you need appts ahead of time as you seem to suggest? We're staying at La Villa Hotel in Mombaruzzo.

I would suggest not booking in so many winery tours. Choose a few carefully chosen, off the beaten path wineries and have memoriable experiences. I suggest to our guests that they might want to visit two to three (max) a week. This way, they spend time, are not rushed, they get to know the wonderful people making the wines and will remember their kindess forever. Don't expect very individual treatment at the larger producers.

We brought guests to a winery where the nonna happened to be making homemade ravioli. DUring our wine tasting in their beautiful garden, we were treated to a feast of the ravioli, made minutes before. Our guests will remember this forever.

La Villa is a very nice property, Marie. It is in Casalotto, a very small frazione of Mombaruzzo. Make sure to enjoy the Amaretti Morbidi, which is the specialty of Mombaruzzo. YOu have to go into the town, and there are several stores which still make them by hand.

Marie, you are going to the Monferrato, which is a different region than the Langhe. The Langhe includes the area surrounding Alba, including Barolo and Barbaresco, which are towns holding the names of the famous Piemontese Nebbiolo wines. The wineries in the Langhe are well toured. Your hosts will be able to make appointment times for you at Gaja or Pio Cesare, the bigger players.

In the Monferrato, the area surrounding Asti and Acqui, less known and less touristed than the Langhe region and wineries, there are a myraid of wineries which are not known to the general public.

Your hosts will tell you about mutual friends, Graham and Margaret Kresfelder, who have a winery here in Monferrato called Noceto Michelotti. Graham has been at it for about four years now and produces 2 outstanding Chardonnays and 2 outstanding Barbera's, a low tannin, very soft red wine which is mainly produced it the Monferrato / Asti region.

In addition, in this area (I live in Acqui, about 10 km from Mombaruzzo), some of the other names you can ask about are: La Guardia (the produce wonderful hybrid wines and also a wonderful Dolcetto Superiore, plus it is a fantastic family and vineyard), La Barbatella in Nizza Monferrato, Araldica ( a larger producer in the Monferrato), Viotti.

One more thing: In Casolotto, don't pass up the chance to visit the Berta Grappa distillery. It is one of the best in Piemonte.

Diana

quote:

Gee, there are so many great wineries- and so little time!

Okay, my curiosity has gotten the better of me....

I have to confess that I just don't get the fascination with touring the production line of wineries.....Tasting wine I can understand (although I must say too many wines in too short a time dulls my critical faculties) and, if I were more expert, discussing techniques and philosophy with the winemaker would be rewarding. Some wineries of course are located in beautiful settings and some offer good food to go with the wine tasting.

But to me, touring the production facilities of a winery is like touring a paint factory.....you see the crusher, you see the vats, you see the piping, you see the bottling facilities. But once you have seen one winery, you have basically seen them all.

I guess I just don't get it.

Jim. Yes, a dear friend in the restaurant business and I just had this dicussion about five minutes ago after I read this thread.

Give me a vinter who makes 10,000 bottles a year that can tell you about how is grandfather started with these particular grapes, and I am a content person. I can understand his passion, his integrity, his love of the process and the product he makes.

THe rest is personally meaningless to me.

I try to steer my guests toward a more meaningful experience while visitíng. But some really want to tour producer after producer, and I must respect that as well, and help them as best I can.

Diana

Jim, in most of the wineries we visited in Piedmont and Tuscany, you don't actually tour the production facilities (I suppose that you could if you wanted to, but I agree with you--seen them one, essentially seen them all.) But we did spend wonderful time with the winemakers and got to taste some of their less distributed bottlings--that was what we were there for!

In Piedmont, we visited Einaudi in Dogliani--and had a most wonderful conversation with Mr. Luigi Einaudi himself. Also the ride to his property and the road around Dogliani is spectacular. We also visited Paolo Monti outside of Monteforte D'Alba (got lost several times finding the place, but that was part of the fun!) We love Monti's wines, and had met someone from the winery here at a local tasting, so we had an invitation; but (summer 2004) they were in the process of building a public tasting room. Finally, we did Ca'Rome in Barbaresco--here we also met with the winemaker and family and their vineyard setting is beautiful. I agree that you are trying to visit too many, unless you are in the wine business! I would concentrate on just a few whose wines you particularly like. Certainly no more than two a day (preferably one.)

As for restaurants...our most memorable and amazing meal was at Antine in Barbaresco. Probably one of the best meals we had in Italy, period. Make a reservation as its quite small.

We are dying to go back during a fall truffle season!

LeAnn:

For contacts to those other wineries I would contact Italian Wine Merchants in NYC. I would bet they could help.

http://www.italianwinemerchant.com

quote:

For contacts to those other wineries I would contact Italian Wine Merchants in NYC. I would bet they could help.

With all due respect to Joe Bastianich and company, I don't think they will give away those contacts to anyone off the street.

The hotels and bed&breakfasts in this area provide their guests with alot of information regarding wineries. Many of the local vinters are personal friends of ours.

Diana

Thank you Diana for the detailed information on wineries and amaretti nearby where we will be staying. I would agree with everyone's comments that in visiting wineries it's not so much viewing the vats and the production as much as understanding their passion and pride in what the wines that make that region unique.

Diana,

Just a note to complement you on your website! Your B&B looks fabulous amd I've bookmarked it for the future. I've read so many good things about Piemonte--the food, wine, truffles, and we look forward to a visit.

Thank you for all of your comments. We are trying to limit to one winery a day, (maybe 2 on one of the days) and yes, I do work part time at a small wine shop in NJ- so seeing these wineries is a both a hobby and a great interest. In case we don't get back to Piedomonte,I want to pick the best wineries to visit. But food is also our passion- thus our choice of Piedmonte, we will be there for the last 2 days of the Truffle festival, Nov. 5/6. My next step of research is restaurants for lunch/dinner once our winery vists are set.
As for wineries, I searched quite a bit online on many travel/Piedmonte web sites to find email addresses to most of the wineries- and have been emailing them directly for possible visits- most of them are quite busy early Nov, as it is the end of Harvest, so I am glad I started a couple of weeks ago to set appts. for visits. I did also use the Italian Wine Merchants web site as a resource, as they have great Piedmonte producer profiles.

Lee Ann –

Great list of wineries that you intend to visit! In addition we like:

• - Vietti – great wines, interesting cellar built IN the castle walls with an unearthed section from Napoleonic times. Luca Currado couldn’t be more welcoming
  
  
• - Pecchenino – world class Dolcetto, treated the way most other producers treat Nebbiolo
  
  
• - Sottimano – wonderful, small-family run, and the quality gets better and better
  

I agree with Diana about the Monferrato. It’s my impression that the producers are enjoying the freedom to experiment, and quite often, the results are excellent! Cascina La Barbatella (Sonvico and Vigna dell’Angelo bottlings) and Coppo (Pomorosso) come to mind as standouts. Even if you don’t have time to go, make sure to try the wines at restaurants – they tend to be hard to find in the US.

We’ll be in Piemonte the last week of October and, already, we’ve made reservations at Osteria Veglio, La Salita, Antine,and La Ciau del Tornavento. La Salita is a great, informal, wine-maker hangout recommended to us by Massimo Conterno (Clerico’s right-hand man) – it’s a lot of fun.

To Jim – I appreciate all the fine information you’ve provided on this site, but I’d have to respectfully disagree about the value of touring wine cellars. Case in point…

When we visited Vietti, Luca Currado told the story of how his hands are stained purple during the first months of fermentation. He explained that he needed to “feel” the grape cap to better gauge where the jucie was at on it’s way to wine and that gloves got in the way. It really put it in perspective to us - the idea of him “sculpting” the wine.

I agree that the tanks, hoses, and barrels are pretty much the same, but you’re a wine/food nut the experience can’t be beat.

Enjoy (to each his own),

Scott

Scott,

If you like the Monferrato, you might want to add Da Fausto in Cavatore and La Curia in Acqui to your restaurant list.

Both Coppo and La Barbatella are extraordinary. I can add to the list, if you are into quality dolcetto : make it over to Dogliani and try Chionetti (San Luigi). I would like to say that the Dolcetto in the Monferrato is as good as in the Alba area, but I would be hard pressed to do that. Dolcetto d'Ovada is much better than the rest of Monferrato, and La Guardia's Superiore is a fine wine. But Dogliani has a similar mineral construction in the earth as Alba and the Dolcetto there benefits from it.

But we have the better Barbera!!


And one more, if you are interested in moscato passito, please try Marenco in Strevi.
Diana

I really liked Trattoria nelle Vigne south of Alba among the vines outside Diano d'Alba. For a fixed price of around 20 euros, you get 4 or 5 antipasti, two tastes of pasta, a second, contorno and dolce. Great location and view. I liked the anchovies with hazelnuts, the fried bread with lardo (good for you!), and the pepperoni agrodolce con tonno for antipasti.

For a dinner with real attachment to ancient traditions, with a chef--Marina Ramasso--who owns an impressive collection of cookbooks from the 1800s, I'd check out Osteria del Paluch outside Turin on the road to the Superga in Baldissero Torinese. You'll need reservations, but it's worth it.

And if you've got the bucks and want to stray a bit from tradition, combal.zero is a great way to spend six or so hours on 16 courses.

james

I have reviewed all my piedmont favorites and they are listed on the restaurant review section.I love Macarini borolo it is always consistant.I would tour there,Ca Rome Barbaresco is also a favorite.Rr

One of the best restaurants in Piemonte is Il Bardon between San Stefano Belbo and Calamandrana.