in Piedmont
Exceptional culture of Wine, Food & Beauty
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Tariff: NZ $3,580.00 / person for 7 nights
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Tariff includes:
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Alba market
For an itinerary
and more information
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Additional Tours with the Gables |
2012 Tuscan Tours
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Poppies
 Royal Palace |
Piedmont Tours 2012
The country house we call home for our tours is in the rolling hillsides covered in vineyards, hazel nut groves, palaces, castles and ancient villages where the Langhe and Monferrato regions of Piedmont meet. Overlooking the charming hilltown of Castiglione Tinella we will enjoy many delicious meals on our terrace by the pool.
Piedmont produces some of the worlds most celebrated wines, cheeses and gourmet delicacies such as the famous white truffle of Alba. The Roman town of Alba became powerful in the Middle Ages but today is a quiet but very elegant country town with wonderful architecture and food shops.
Nearby the equally beautiful town of Bra is the birth-place of the Slow Food Movement started by Carlo Petrini in 1986 in opposition to the opening of McDonalds near the Spanish Steps in Rome. Their motto is for food to be 'good, clean and fair' and it's goal of sustainable foods and promotion of small, local businesses preserving traditional and regional cuisine.
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 Turin |
In between Alba and Bra is the tiny village of Pollenzo where a restored royal estate is now the University of Gastronomic Sciences, the first to treat food and drink as an academic discipline with 3 year degrees in educating the palate followed by 2 year specialization courses. The Italian Wine Bank is also in this palace.
Turin was Italy's first capital and is certainly a city fit for a king with statues, squares, baroque palaces and castles. With the glorious backdrop of the Alps Turin is more than just the home of Fiat. It is the birth place of Italian cinema and is considered to be the capital of Italian contemporary art and design.
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 Cessole |
With a Cultural Pass it is possible to enter any number of sumptuous Royal Palaces, outstanding museums such as the cinema, the Egyptian (best outside of Cairo) and the automobile museums, wonderful galleries or visit the Shroud of Turin. Stroll the arcaded avenues with stops at the exceptionally elegant cafes for coffee or the famous chocolate and torrone (nougat).
Driving the small roads around the Langhe hills we enjoy the geometry of the vineyards and hazel nut groves draping the hills with panoramic views in every direction. We stop to stroll through many medieval villages dominated by magnificent churches and ancient look-out towers erected to forewarn of saracen invasions. The castles dotted on so many hilltops tell the story of noble families and violent conflict of the past.
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 Canelli Wine Cathedral |
Both the beautiful medieval castle of Grinzane Cavour and Barolo are now museums and wine enotecas. With it's raspberry and violet scents the famous Barolo wine is made from the prized Nebbiolo grape. The Barbaresco wine is dry, harmonious and velvety. After an enjoyable wander around the town of Barbaresco we will visit a small cantina to taste the wines with the winemaker.
Another surprise is a visit to the historical underground cellars (or Cathedrals) of the Contratto Winery in Canelli where their exceptional Methode Champenoise is aged.
Join us for a week of much beauty for all of the senses.
Lyn Baynes & Chris Broome
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 View from the pool |
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