In 2023 I ran four tours to Piemonte, in the north of Italy. All enjoyed beautiful weather, fabulous views, and in the autumn we were able to experience the excitement of harvest.
We were based in Alba, a lovely city of narrow streets and pretty squares, with occasional aromas of chocolate – Ferrero Rocher have a factory on the outskirts of town. We stayed at the very comfortable I Castelli hotel a short walk from the town centre. On each tour the first night dinner was at the Cortiletto d’Alba restaurant, introducing us to the region’s cuisine and wines. For those with appetites there was no shortage of places to eat on our free evenings, though an evening stroll with perhaps a snack and a glass or two of wine was enough for many of us after a full day of tastings and lunch.
Barolo
In this most famous of Denominaziones we visited two top class producers.
Domenico Clerico’s first vintage was in 1976. According to Robert Parker, Domenico became “one of the most gifted” of the “Barolo Boys”, pioneering new vineyard and winery practices that put Barolo among the top wines of the world.
At the beautiful winery with its curved sedum roof and views across the southern areas of Barolo we met a member of the newest generation, Cecilia, who explained the story of her family as we walked through the winery. Domenico’s relentless experimentation with vine growing and winemaking has been continued by his wife Giuliana, who has run the winery since his death in 2017. We saw concrete eggs and amphorae as well as the French oak barriques and Slavonian botti. They have bought more vineyards and make a variety of Barolos under the newly designated MeGAs around Monforte d’Alba, including Ginestra, Barolo and Bricca.
We tasted a lovely range of wines starting with a Dolcetto and a Barbera (the ‘lesser’ black grapes of the region, though both make great wines), and then moved on to Nebbiolo. We compared Barolos from the Monforte d’Alba commune with a Ginestra MeGA (grapes coming just from that commune), and also different vintages, and any of us who were not already in love with Nebbiolo at the start certainly were by the end of the tasting.
Further north in La Morra we visited Corino, another innovative family run winery. Stefania, who with husband Giuliano and children Veronica and Andrea run the business, was our host. In the autumn we watched Giuliano tipping newly harvested grapes into the destemmer/crusher from which they were pumped into a vat to commence fermentation.
In the tasting room we had a wonderful tasting of nine wines, including a barrel aged Barbera, three MeGA Barolos and finishing with a Reserve Barolo.
On each of our Barolo days we took lunch at the Tota Virginia restaurant in Baudana, enjoying perfectly cooked local food with local wines, and basking in the fabulous views.
Barbaresco
Prior to the 1950s Barbaresco had hardly been known other than as a supplier of grapes to Barolo, its southerly neighbour.
Montaribaldi is named after Roman road that links the vineyards of Pino and Carla Taliano who started winemaking in 1968. Their sons Luciano and Roberto now run the business which has a focus on single vineyard wines, and in the winery we saw the tanks in which they vinify all their plots separately, the concrete tanks in which they stabilise the wines, and in the ageing room the traditional big barrels and barriques. They age in oak for up to 30 months depending on the nature of the grapes they have harvested.
In the spectacular glass walled tasting room we refreshed our palates with a sparkling Chardonnay/Pinot Noir blend made by the charmat (tank) method, and then set to a comparison of four Barbarescos, which culiminated in a comparison of the 2018 and 2011 Palazzina vineyard – a wonderful opportunity to experience mature Barbaresco with its smooth tannins, evolved flavours and great power.
The Miralanghe restaurant in Guarene delivered not only what it said on the tin – amazing views south across the Langhe, but a traditional lunch of vitello tonnato, mushroom risotto, beef cheeks and hazelnut cake with pear, accompanied by Roero d’Arneis and Barbera d’Alba by top local producer Marco Porello.
Roero
The beautiful Roero hills circle Alba to the north west, a patchwork landscape of vineyards and forests. Their soils are particularly suited to the white grape of this part of Piemonte: Arneis.
At Giovanni Almondo in Monta we met Stefano, the son of Giovanni, who with his brother Frederico now manages the estate, with dad still taking a very active interest. They own vineyards around Monta which have clay and limestone soil, whereas their other vineyards further south are more classically sandy.
We visited their vineyards and cellars, and learnt that the barriques we saw were used for transferring wine or small quantities of Barbera or Fresia wines, the family did not want to impart overt oak character on their wines, rather the grape character, and the contrasts between different areas.
Stefano led our tasting of whites made from Arneis and reds made from Nebbiolo and Barbera, describing the effects of each wine’s terroir. The quality of the wines was so high, we were glad to discover Almondo wines are available in the UK.
Monferrato (Spring tour only)
The family estate of Forteto della Luja was our destination, sited in a wonderfully idyllic spot overlooking a glorious vista of the Monferrato vineyards and hills, a Unesco World Heritage site. Dating back to the 17th century, the Scaglione family tend 10ha of Moscato, Barbera, Pinot Noir and Brachetto. The wines we tasted were amazing. Both dry and sweet Passito Moscato, a Barbera/Pinot Nero blend, a Monferrato Barbera and a sweet Brachetto. Fabulous wines and a truly beautiful place.
Gavi
In the DOCG of Gavi, an hour or so’s drive east of Alba, white wines are made from the Cortese grape. La Giustiniana is one of the oldest estates, it is in the Gavi del Commune di Gavi DOCG, the ‘original’ area where Gavi was made. Benedictines planted vines on the site in the 10th Century, and the Giustiniana family bought the old convent in 1625, building the villa and chapel and continuing to grow grapes. Subsequent generations of noble Liguruian families lived in the villa, until it was confiscated by Napoleon in the 19thCentury. A period of decline followed, ending only in 2016 when local vignerons Magda Pedrini and Stefano Massone bought the property, renovating the villa for hospitality and investing in improving the vineyards.
We walked up to a vineyard we saw the stalks from which the berries had been shaken by a mechanical harvester still attached to the vines. This was a first for a lot of us!
Back at the villa we enjoyed a glass of Method Traditional Gavi di Gavi. Nine years on the lees had added wonderful creamy hints of brioche to the fresh white flowers and apple flavours typical of the Cortese grape.
Each visit culminated in a delicious lunch, with contrasting Gavis from different sites. The difference was very clear, the Lugarara (grown on blue grey marl) was lighter and more floral, while the Montessora (iron rich clay) was more minerally, while the 2018 Montessora that we also drank was far more evolved and complex – proof that top Gavi is really worth laying down for a few years.
Asti The Asti DOC is large and permits many styles of wines, but the most famous are the sparkling wines Asti (previously known as Asti Spumante) and Moscato d’Asti. Our final visit on each tour was to the Contero estate, ensuring groups met Tim’s favourite wine family, who he has been visiting since 2006. The Marenco sisters have probably the biggest family owned estate making Moscato d’Asti and a number of other wines under the local DOC/DOCGs.
At the winery in Strevi we met Gian, husband of Michaela the oldest of the sisters, who joined us at lunch, along with their son Andrea. During the autumn tours Gian showed us the racks of Brachetto grapes drying in the sun, which would be pressed very gently to make Brachetto d’Acqui sweet wine.
Gian described the process of making Moscato d’Asti, and how their conversion to organic production has made this even more complex, as the pressed grape must is clarified entirely by chilling and settling and filtration. This unfermented must is kept at -1° C until a batch of Moscato d’Asti is made, in order to ensure maximum freshness and fruit character. Once fermentation has reached the correct point, the wine is chilled again, and a very fine filter removes all yeast before bottling, so that the residual sugar that gives Moscato its gentle sweetness cannot referment in the bottle.
At the old farmhouse in the hills above Strevi, Doretta, the second of the sisters took over and walked us to the beautiful view point, talking about the 30 people who work on the estate, including Patrizia, the youngest of the sisters who was one of the first woman to study oenology in Piemonte, and now leads winemaking. Across their 80ha they grow seven varieties of grapes, and we tasted a number of their wines with our delicious lunch under the walnut trees.
Moscato d’Asti of course to start, with homemade focaccia straight out of the oven, then a white made from the Caricalasino grape variety with lovely herbaceous mineral flavours and a hint of oak. A Barbera d’Asti was followed by an Albarossa, a cross between Barbera and Nebbiolo that is only grown by about 50 producers. Deep in colour with hints of earth and spice it was a great contrast to what we had previously tried of either variety. And to finish a Brachetto d’Acqui – strawberry jam and Turkish Delight with foamy bubbles in a glass.
Time always passes too quickly with the Marencos, and no-one ever wants to leave, but flights home (or further travels) loomed and we were back at Milan Malpensa airport in a couple of hours, knowing that Piemonte will lure us back before too long.