Barolo Wine Tours, but don’t forget Barbaresco and Langhe
Barolo wine tours are a thing of beauty and should be near the top of bucket lists for wine lovers. To be honest, we don’t sell them as often as many other regions where we operate as lots of people choose to self-guide, and we understand that. Italy is easier to navigate than Georgia, Azerbaijan or Peru for example. But having an expert local guide and a private vehicle offers massive benefits, the obvious one being that everyone can enjoy the wine, but VIP access to owners and winemakers that our strong local connections offer is a major bonus we feel. This investigation trip was to strengthen these connections even more.
Even if you don’t drink wine the region around Alba is a stunning place to spend some time kicking back. Feast your eyes on a landscape of gently rolling hills, covered in grapevines and scattered with quaint villages and impressive castles, little shops selling charcuterie and cheese, and old people sitting on benches chatting – it is the stuff of dreams for many of us. Eating at some of the local restaurants and cafes is a real treat and if you are a wine lover then you will be in heaven.
Visiting any wine region around harvest time is extra special, as we did this time in Piemonte, as you will see lots of activity in the vineyards and the winery. Barolo is, without doubt, one of the world’s great wines. Italians refer to it as the King of wines, with Barbaresco being the Queen. Both of these important wine names are derived from their respective villages in Piemonte.
Barolo
This is the Piemonte wine region that gets the most attention from wine enthusiasts, and it is a really beautiful part of Italy. We suggest you stay in one of the lovely villages such as Serralunga d’Alba or Monforte d’Alba, or maybe the small town of Barolo itself. From this base, you can take day trips out to the numerous wineries in the area. You will be driving down winding country lanes, dodging farm animals and tractors, and enjoying some great views.
We generally take clients to three wineries each day, the middle one of which will also be a lunch stop, the first one a more in-depth visit and the last one usually just a tasting to round the day off nicely. Our investigation trip this time was to add some new options to the portfolio, and we discovered that Salvano Vini would be an ideal lunch stop. Their Bistrot is the ideal place to refuel after touring the winery and enjoying a tasting. Usually, we can arrange that Massimo (pictured above) or Alessio be on hand to show you around and lead your tasting, ensuring you get the very best experience from the owners themselves.
Fratelli Seghesio is another great option we found on this trip. You can see Malka with Michela and Sandro below, and a very warm reception and some delicious wines were enjoyed with them. The views from their winery are stunning and you will be taken through an extensive selection of wines from many of the different sub-zones of Piemonte.
Make sure you visit the best winery sites on one of our Barolo wine tours. These vineyards are known as “crus” and many of the very best are located close to the town of Barolo. Cannubi is probably the most famous and bottles from these vineyards always fetch high prices at auction. We can wander the vines on the cru slopes around Barolo to your heart’s content, whether you can afford to buy the bottles is another matter!
Barbaresco
Each of the wineries we visited this time has a family-type feel because, as with most wineries in Piemonte, they are still run by families and not multi-national corporations. The De Forville winery in Barbaresco is a great example of a family-run enterprise. You have probably never heard of this winery but it sits just across the street from a very famous producer you probably have, Gaja.
While the winery itself is not as eye-catching as many in Rioja or Mendoza, the wine is superb and the tour and tasting experience is really nice. Spending time with members of the owner-family, hearing their stories while being guided through a tasting of their extensive range of wines is a real treat. there are a number of other Barbaresco wineries nearby and we can set up a comprehensive schedule in the region.
Langhe
The region of Langhe is a larger appellation which encompasses both Barolo and Barbaresco and allows a little more freedom in grape varieties. There are a large number of wineries classified as Langhe and, although Nebbiolo forms a large part of their portfolios, other varieties such as Barbera, Dolcetto, Chardonnay and Arneis can be found.
We were lucky to catch Massimo (yes, it must be a common name!) in the middle of de-stemming Barbera when we visited Agriturismo Adriano. We showed up unannounced and when we saw he was working alone, driving the tractor from his vineyard harvest (admittedly only 500 yards away), offloading and de-stemming, we thought he would motion for us to remove ourselves. Not a bit of it! He shouted that he would be with us in a short while.
He cleaned himself up a bit and changed his T-shirt. Judging by the logo you see above on his shirt he is obviously a pragmatic winemaker and not worried about the opinions of exponents of “natural” winemaking. That discussion is best left for another blog.
Massimo then showed us around a little, rustled up a cheese and salami board and started pouring wines for us to try. Outside of harvest times, the winery has a restaurant open to the public and the view from the terrace is lovely, with vineyards everywhere. An extra bonus to this visit is that our Airbnb was literally next door, so no driving was required. We had a very pleasant time sipping while Massimo was attending to his grapes and the prices of Langhe wines are quite a bit cheaper than Barolo and Barbaresco as you might imagine, so really good value for money.
We spent a few days in the area before we drove back to Milan and we feel that you should plan on spending at least 3 full days enjoying Barbaresco, Langhe and Barolo wine tours. If you could find 2 or 3 days more, even better. You could easily be content exploring here for a week, throw in some truffle hunting, and lots of eating for a truly top time. Buon Appetito.
