Piedmont Itinerary
AUTUMN...WHEN PIEDMONT BLOSSOMS
Day 1 - Sunday
"Benvenuti a Piemonte"

Welcome to Italy!
Late morning pick up at the Milan Malpensa airport (MXP) and private transfer to Northwest Italy Hotel Villa San Carlo in the village of Cortemilia, near Alba in the Province of Cuneo.
Evening:
Group gathering in the restaurant of Hotel Villa San Carlo to meet Chef Carlo Zarri, his wife Paola and the Zarri family for our five course welcome dinner, with four wine parings conducted by Chef Carlo. Overnight at the hotel.
Day 2 - Monday
Alba - Medieval City - Capital of the Langhe Hills
Barolo and Barbaresco
Tartufo Fair
Morning:
Enjoy a wonderful breakfast buffet at the hotel; we begin our day with the first full-participation cooking class, focused on authentic regional Piedmont seasonal specialties. The hands-on cooking classes are held in the restaurant kitchen of the hotel where Chef Carlo will demonstrate and guide you through a 4-course menu, with recipes of course.
Lunch:
Enjoy lunch dining on the luscious dishes you prepared in the class with wine pairing.
Afternoon departure:
Half-day tour to visit Barbaresco D.O.C. cantina degustazione (tasting) wines served with samplings of savory cured salami, sausages, and cheeses of the area. Then on to the center of Alba, and to the Tartufo Fair, where tartufo hunters and merchants come and sell their products at Alba's Tartufo Market. The Tartufo Bianco di Alba (Tuber Magnatum Pico) is regarded as the finest in Italy. Meeting with the "tartufaio" (truffle hunter) and his dog.
Dinner:
4-course dinner with two wine pairings and overnight at the hotel.
Day 3 - Tuesday
Alta Langa - Asti - Piemontese Cheese
Morning:
After breakfast, the day begins with the second cooking class, preparing a 4-course menu focusing on seasonal Piemontese dishes, and with great anticipation using truffles from the hunt the day before. The menu will focus on seasonal Piemontese dishes.
Lunch:
Enjoy lunch dining on the dishes you prepared in the class with wine pairing.
Afternoon excursion:
Short trip to the village of Bergolo - a tiny stone-built hamlet, in the Alta Langa area. It is the smallest village in the province of Cuneo and one of the smallest in Italy.
Visit famous cheese production in the town of Bubbio, in the province of Asti. The network of suppliers consists of small farmers-dairymen, who take care and passion in their production of Robiole, Toma Bianca, and Roccaverano DOP cheeses. Degustazione tasting with appropriate wines.
A visit to Acqui Terme, located on the wine trails of southern Piedmont. It dates back to the time of ancient Romans, and thermal baths, regarded as its waters among the best in the whole Empire. Afternoon free for shopping.
Dinner:
Enjoy a six-course menu with two wine pairings at an agriturismo country house, near the river. The agriturismo is a place, which produces the products used on the farm, including vegetables and meat, and homemade pasta.
Overnight at hotel.
Day 4 - Wednesday
"A Place to Taste"
Turin - EATALY
Morning:
After breakfast - a full day food and wine excursion to Turin (Torino), city of the 2006 Winter Olympic Games. This is an opportunity and free time to visit La Mole Antonelliana Cinema Museum, Piazza Castello, Piazza San Carlo, and Egyptian Museum. Be sure to save a little time for a coffee at Turin's famous Al Bicerin (the "snifter" coffee) - historic Caffè, and order the al bicerin - a mixture of espresso, hot chocolate and fresh cream.

Depart for Lingotto - Fiat Lingotto in Turin was one of the main manufacturing plants of Fiat and is today one of the largest multifunctional d'Europe.

Mr. Augusto Lana - Slow Food Leader - Monferrato Casalese – Piedmont.

Visit - Pinacoteca Giovanni Agnelli at Lingotto atop the ex-Lingotto factory and housed within a glass annex is the Agnelli Art Gallery. A small but world-renowned gallery founded by the late Gianni Agnelli and containing works by Canaletto, Picasso, Dali and Matisse.

EATALY
A super-duper indoor market - is the site of the 2 year old EATALY, from the renovation of an old Carpano vermouth factory, houses EATALY. With the approval of Slow Food, you will find high quality foods featuring small-scale locally produced artisanal foods and beverages. It is a salami shop, fish market, bakery, vegetable and fruit market, and fresh pasta shop. It houses a wine bar, wine store, indoor beergarten, food-related bookstore, cooking school, kitchenware store, sit-down more formal restaurant, and casual restaurants. There is a prosciutto curing room, cheese cave, museum for local food and wine, and a display of what is in season during each month of the year.

EATALY has ten restaurants whose cooks use only the selected products that are sold in the marketplace area. Have you guessed by now this is an incredible site?

For Lunch:
Free time to eat and visit EATALY
Dinner:
4-course dinner with two wine pairings at the hotel, overnight at hotel.
Day 5 - Thursday
Nocciola di Piemonte - Tonda Gentile delle Langhe
Procini Mushrooms
Torronificio
Morning:
After breakfast, the day begins with the third cooking class - four-course menu using seasonal porcini mushrooms, and Piemontese risotto prepared with Barbaresco wine, just for starters.
Lunch: Enjoy lunch dining on the heavenly dishes prepared in the class with wine pairing.
Afternoon departure:
Half-day tour along the tree lined hazelnut route to the Barolo wine area. Cortemilia is the undisputed capital of one of the world's best varieties of hazelnut, which has been awarded I.G.P. (Protected Geographical Indication) status.
A visit and degustazione tasting at one of Piedmonts finest Barolo cantinas' Fontanafredda D.O.C. The Fontanafredda estate is a major leader in Piedmont, producing the massive quantities of Barolo d'Alba, Dolcetto d'Alba and other Piedmontese DOCs.
The firm also produces Asti and other sparkling wines, as well as Grappa di Moscato, Grappa di Nebbiolo.
In the heart of the Barolo wine district, we visit a Torronificio candy factory surrounded by vineyards and hills to discover the Piemontese nougat. In the laboratory we will taste, learn all about the typical nougat and torrone production.
Another stop to visit the Castello di Grinzane and their enoteca and caffè. Grinzane is a tiny town, southeast of Alba. Count Camillo Benson di Cavour, the architect of Italian unity, gained his first political experience in the town as mayor, when he was in his 20s. Grinzane has a wine shop with most of the local wines.
Dinner:
A four-course farewell menu with two paired wines will conclude our enchanting few days together in Piedmont at the hotel and overnight.
Day 6 - Friday
After breakfast, check out of the hotel and departure by private transfer to the Milan Malpensa airport (MXP).


FEE FOR THE PACKAGE INCLUDES:
  • 6 DAYS
  • Five nights – at Hotel Villa San Carlo in the village of Cortemilia
  • Five Buffet Breakfasts
  • Three Hands-on Four Course Cooking Classes
  • Three Lunches with wine pairing
  • Five dinners with wine
  • Agriturismo six-course dinner with two wine pairings
Gastronomic:
  • Barolo and Barbaresco D.O.C. Cantina
  • Tartufo Fair – Market - Alba
  • Cheese Production – Province of Asti
  • EATALY – Gigantic indoor market
  • Borolo wine area visit and degustazione Fontanafredda D.O.C.
  • Torronificio candy factory
Tours:
  • Visit village of Bergolo – Alta Langa area
  • Asti
  • Acqui Terme
  • Turin
  • Lingotto – Pinacoteca Agnelli – Art Gallery
  • Grinzane - Castello di Grinzane – Enoteca and caffè

Call 312-671-3341 to reserve your place.

FULL PACKAGE (6 DAYS / 5 NIGHTS)
Price: $3,600.00/person

Single Room Supplement: $200