Piedmont could be all about wine and Langhe hills with scattered vineyards laid on gentle slopes. Between Barolo, Castiglione, Serralunga, La Morra, Monforte, Novello, Verduno, Grinzane, Diano, Roddi and Cherasco there are 800 growers with an average of 1,5 ha of land producing 10M bottles of Barolo every year. Possibly the best region for a wine and food tour in Italy. It could be all about wine – like in Burgundy – but in fact it is not! In this very region the Slow Food movement was started by Petrini in 1986 and counts today 150 associated countries and food projects across all continents. The one and only University of Gastronomic Sciences was inaugurated in 2004 in the premises of a former Savoy wine estate. Some of the most famous Italian Cafés can be found in Bra and Cherasco, likewise chocolate and hazelnut by-products made their fortune in the region. And then raw meat, egg-pasta tajarin, snails, porcini mushrooms, raw-milk cheeses like Castelmagno, not to mention the white truffle – Tuber Magnatum Pico – that found in Alba the perfect stage to became the greatest food icon of all-times. See our wine and food tours that travel through Piedmont and Emilia Romagna.

Piedmont is the second largest of the Italian regions after Sicily . It has an area of 25,399 square klm and a population of about 4.3 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin (Torino). It is surrounded on three sides by the alps, and shares borders with France and Switzerland as well as the Italian regions of Lombardy, Liguria, Aosta Valley and Emilia-Romagna. Provinces of Piedmont are Alessandria, Asti, Biella, Cuneo, Novara, Torino,Verbano-Cusio-Ossola and Vercelli.

Piedmont is the historical home of the Savoy family, previous rulers of Italy, who have left behind a fabulous legacy of opulent, baroque palaces. Visitors searching for history and culture can also enjoy many other medieval fortresses and castles as well as more than 40 museums. However, Piedmont’s magical, flowing landscapes remain one of the region’s greatest attractions. Piedmont is also famous for its cuisine. Highlights include their sought-after white truffles, great wines such as Barolo and Barbaresco, and various sweets and deserts, Vermouth and the hazelnut-chocolate confection we know as Nutella.

We run Food and Wine tours into this region so  check our itineraries out.