I’m going to be going over to Italy in late September next year. I am hoping to find a small place that’s going to be close enough to go visit 1-2 wineries in a day or two. Anyone that has any recommendations I’m open to hearing…as I’m still a few months away from the trip. I’d also like some recommendations about how to set up a visit to some wineries. Producers I’d love to go visit include:
Giacomo Conterno
Bruno Giacosa
Giuseppe E Figlio Mascarello
Aldo Conterno
Vietti
I stayed in Barbaresco at the Giuseppe Cortese B&B and had no trouble visiting 3 to 4 wineries per day in Barolo and Barbaresco. The hardest part for most was getting a response from the wineries to the required email or fax.
The Art Suites at Rocche Costamagna in La Morra have some of the best views in Barolo, and Alessandro is a great host. La Villa Meridiana Cascina Reine outside of Alba is very nice as well, though removed from Barolo proper. If you want to go more “luxury” the Palas Cerequio in La Morra is quite nice, but spendy.
You can waste a lot of time driving from Barbaresco to Barolo or vice versa. Alba is in between and there can be a fair deal of traffic around it. Since Barolo is a much bigger appellation and all but one of the places you named is there, I’d recommend staying there for efficiency’s sake.
Oliver McCrum has highly recommended the agriturismo rooms at his producer, Ettore Germano, in Serralunga. But that may be “smaller” than you want. And Serralunga is a less convenient base since it’s off at the southeastern edge of the appellation.
I’ve stayed several times at Le Torri Hotel in Castiglione. The cousins who run it are lovely, and it’s very convenient to the entire Barolo zone. It’s next door to Vietti and there’s a good restaurant. It’s not fancy, but it’s very pleasant.
The larger Hotel Brezza in Barolo is simple, but it’s at the crossroads between La Morra, Monforte and a quick hop to Castiglione, so it’s very convenient. (By simple, I mean somewhat spartan – no cushy mattresses or chocolates on the pillow.) The family’s Brezza Barolos are also very good, though not widely available in the U.S.
There are advantages to staying in Alba itself if you want some downtime between visits to stroll and shop.
John,
I am afraid that Sergio has put his agriturismo on hold for the moment, he’s completely renovating the winery. Le Torri has a good reputation, in Castiglione Falletto.
Kirk,
I agree completely with your plan to stay south of the Tanaro. Much more convenient. For places to eat, I recommend you go to Chowhound and search for the user “Allende.” The places he has recommended and that we have enjoyed the last 2 years are:
Il Centro (Priocca), La Coccinella (Serravalle Langhe), La Torre (Cherasco), Da Bardon (San Marzano Oliveto), Osteria Veglio (Annunziata). For simpler fare, Centro Storico (Serralunga) and Barolo Friends (Barolo).
Only a slight hijack of this thread, I’d appreciate any advice on how best to secure winery visits.
I’m not ITB. I’ve procured email addresses for each of the wineries I wish to visit and plan to email them (in English) about a month prior, giving them a list of dates and building my trip schedule around their availability. Any better ideas or tips?
My interest is in the smaller, classical producers — Conterno, Giacosa, Rinaldi, etc.
Having visited numerous times I always stay Corte Gondina in La Morra. Very convenient and Bruno can arrange winery visits as well as make dining reservations.
I don’t think you need to plan that far ahead. I’ve just called a day or two ahead, or even the morning of if it’s not a busy time of year. A week ahead would certainly be courteous, though. But you need some rudimentary Italian to do that. If that’s daunting, hotels will usually make those calls for you.
Many people in the Langhe who don’t speak much English do speak French if you that’s helpful.
If you’re going soon, be aware that it’s harvest time and the winemakers are very busy. Plus, it’s truffle season for the next couple of months, so hotels will be heavily booked. Also, be prepared for loooong visits.
We always stay at Castello di Sinio.It is a charming restored castello handy to the wineries in Barolo region run by an American,Denise.She is wonderful,knowledgable and helpful in booking restaurants and winery visits,a great cook as well.You’ll love it as we do.
I’m going to be in Langhe the end of November, so hopefully far enough from harvest. Luckily Barolo has long fermentations! It is also after the Alba truffle fair so, while still truffle season, toward the end of the tourist rush.
We already have hotel and dining arranged. Thank you for your suggestion to contact the wineries closer to our visit.
We were very happy with http://www.gioco-delloca.it/en-agriturismo.html
It is owned be a former Tour Guide named Raefella and she not only set up personal wine visits for us but also booked all our dinners. It’s a nice walk into the town of Barolo where she booked La Cantinetta for us the first night, for example. It’s a restaurant in the back of a wine shop. Pick some Einaudi off the shelf, drink it with dinner. Not a bad way to live.
She also has a kitchen so you can make some risotto for those truffles you get at the market.
Here’s a link that may help in your planning: Piemonte (Piedmont) | Wine Travel Around The World
Marilyn
+1
We stayed there last year and it was lovely…would definitely go back.
+2. As a place to stay, it’s fantastic. The only thing I’d say is that I suspect that a hotel owned by a local would have more success arranging tastings for you. When we stayed at di Sinio, she was unable to arrange a tasting at either G. Conterno or G. Rinaldi. Maybe just unavailability (we went in March), but I got the sense that the Piemontese, while very courteous, are somewhat insular.
For eating, our favorite place was La Coccinella. We went to a few fancier places and didn’t like them as much.
I fully agree with John, that with just a day or two, it really would be very sensible to focus on one village, or at least a pair of nearby villages.
I’d also suggest going ‘off-piste’ as well (i.e. not just the greatest names), as sometimes the experience at a smaller ‘under the radar’ producer can be truly special, more so than at the established elite. From a Spartan tasting room at Accomasso (but with the most rewarding insight, with my Italian struggling to cope), to feeling like a family friend at Mirù, there are some memorable experiences to be had.
I like that you’re talking about 1-2 wineries in day, as whilst it’s feasible to squeeze up to 5 in, that really is making it a route march.
The question is what to do with the remaining time. The castles are interesting enough and a good long and slow lunch is very rewarding in the region. However I’ll put in a strong recommendation for walking. The vineyards are almost all open to walk freely through (hurrah for fragmented ownership), and it makes the wine taste all the sweeter when you’ve stood on (or climbed up) its slopes. Just walking past signs saying Cerequio, Moccagata, Brunate, etc. etc. raises a smile. There are some decent slopes, but it’s never that far to the top, and you can always take a break by going around the hill for a bit before heading back up. There is an excellent walking map for about €8 in the tourist info shops, and it’s worth it, but not essential if you keep landmarks such as La Morra, Castiglione Falletto etc. in mind/sight.
The excellent tourist office www.langheroero.it now have a booking service for wineries (no charge, except if you don’t show up). Some of the prestige places aren’t listed, but their list is pretty huge. The also have extensive listing details including saying which have an English speaker at the winery. I tend to email direct (in Italian) but many will be fine with English.
Driving? Will you have a car/designated driver. Assuming yes, it may still be sensible to stay within walking distance of the wineries and a restaurant. In that way you can all taste freely and have something nice to drink at lunch and in the evening. I use google maps a lot these days to ensure the logistics are as easy as possible, and always try to plan wineries where you can walk from one to the next. The fresh air alone is a good reason, but it takes so much pressure off the designated driver.
I hope you enjoy the region, it really does have a lot of charm and although Barolo itself (and to a lesser extent Barbaresco and La Morra) is starting to get quite touristy, it’s still got plenty of its soul left.
regards
Ian
Thank you all for the great insight and recommendations. I really like all the feedback and there’s a few things I should mention.
Jay T. I completely forgot that you & your wife just went there. I would really love to email off-line with you a bit once we get some things ironed out on our end. Jay, please see my question below to John Morris. If you have any thoughts I’m open to those as well.
John Morris - Thank you for your time and write-up. I think we will definitely stay at Le Torri Hotel in Castiglione for one of the nights…because I completely forgot Vietti…but that is one place I would really love to go visit. If we were to choose another place in walking distance (We’re both avid hikers…so anything within 3 miles is easy and makes sense to both of us) what else would you recommend?
Ian Sutton - Thank you, I will spend the next few weeks trying to look over your recommendations. As neither of us speak ANY Italian it will be nice to know what places have English speaking people. I also like the idea of going places where there is a language barrier to find alternative ways to express my love of wine.
A special thank you to Bill Klapp for the PM’s and lots of great advice.
Another winery?
Cavallotto is the obvious choice right in Castiglione. It’s a 10-minute walk from Vietti and the hotel. Very good, traditional wines.
If you want a bit more of a hike, and a very different, more modern style, you can walk down the hill to Paulo Scavino, which is in the valley below the village to the north. That’s maybe a mile. The small road (dirt? I can’t recall, though I drove it once or twice) directly down the hill to Scavino from the village to the main Alba-Barolo will take you by some great vineyards, including Cavallotto’s Bricco Boschis, G. Mascarello’s Monprivato and Bric del Fiasc (aka Bricco Fiasco, aka Garble Sue when Brovia bottles it).
In the other direction, to the south, Aldo Conterno looks to be maybe 1.5 miles along the SP9 road to Monforte. That would be a flatter walk, but I think you’d have to walk along the road, which might be less pleasant.
Be sure to get some good vineyard maps if you’re going to be walking. It’s fun to see where these plots actually lie.
Kirk, I’d be happy to email with you privately. Regarding lodging locations and the hiking idea, the distances involved are actually not that great. it’s the winding roads and hills. Castiglione Falletto is within about 4 miles of the other 4 major Barolo communes. If you want to be in the heart of things and don’t want to move lodging in the Barolo zone day-to-day, it’s probably the ideal location, although I’ve never tried to eat there. The other two communes I’d check out for sleeping are Monforte and La Morra. They are both beautiful, and they are big enough to have a few lodging and eating options (keeping in mind that the best eating is outside the 5 main communes). People tend to look down on La Morra wines around here, but for tasting purposes their relative delicacy might be a nice change of pace. And if you stay in Monforte and are able to score a tasting at G. Conterno, you can just walk. Plus it looks you like you could take a nice hike from Monforte to Elio Grasso, which I’d recommend highly (I think I remember that you also like Elio Grasso).
Barbaresco is on the other side of Alba, so in that sense, Alba is central. But I wouldn’t stay in Alba unless I was in Piemonte for awhile and treated it as an interesting tertiary attraction. It’s an actual city. It feels (and might be) bigger than Bangor. There’s some interesting history (including Roman), and there are some pretty parts and some good restaurants and markets, but I think the charm of the Langhe is elsewhere. Neive would be another interesting option if you are interested in exploring Barbaresco (which is also beautiful), although I can’t speak to your options specifically (obviously if you’re in touch with Bill K. you should listen to him).
+1. Excellent place.