This is a sample of what you will see, once a booking is confirmed we provide you with complete Itinerary.
DAY 1 BOLOGNA City Stroll or Passegiata/Aperitivo in historical bar
Welcome Dinner – a gourmet tasting menu with the famous “tortellini”.
DAY 2 – BOLOGNA Region
Icecream & Gelato experience, from production to tasting, from making to museum.
Cooking class experience at an Agriturismo preparing local dishes and then dinner at the property.
DAY 3 –
Transfer to Modena
Morning MODENA city stroll
Visit of the famous Mercato Albinelli historical food market in the very town center –boucheria style, with street food, local slow food excellences of pasta, salumi and artigianal bakery food.
Afternoon
ACETO BALSAMICO EXPERIENCE
Guided tour of the vinegar factory and of the different stages of processing of the famous balsamic vinegar of Modena, from harvest to cooking of the must to maturation in oak barrels and distillation and tasting.
Transfer to Parma:
Gourmet Dinner at the hotel restaurant. Tasting menu
DAY 4 – TUESDAY
PARMA and the Valley of Food
Early morning start.Visit a famous organic cheese factory of Parmigiano Reggiano in Noceto to discover the production of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese .
Guided Visit through the city of Parma and its beautiful old town, with some secret gems included that I found on my last visit.
Dinner at a Michelin star restaurant – Tasting menu.
DAY 5 – THE Culatello & Asti
Tasting of culatelli in a farm close by with tour of the production of this famous product.
Visit the Alma school, a cooking school founded by Gualtiero Marchesi. Guided tour of the Palace and lunch with the chefs
DAY 6 – Thursday ASTI AND ALTA LANGA
Transfer to a small village located in the Langhe of Asti region, Roccaverano, famous as the municipality of highest altitude in the Asti region and the exclusive area for the production of the DOP cheese Robiola di Roccaverano.
Lunch in Roccaverano, Piedmontese tasting menu based on Slow Food products.
Transfer to Loazzolo, visiting a farm nominated an oasis of protection by the WWF . founders of the farm are historical and iconic winemakers of the Moscato Passito Loazzolo, the smallest area awarded as DOC wine production
Visit the historical city of Canelli, Italian capital of sparkling wine. Dinner in Canelli at local enoteca restaurant noted by Slow Food,
DAY 7 –
NOVARA AND THE RICE REGION
Guided tour of the historical city center, climb the cupola di San Gaudenzio,
Visit of the ancient medioeval complex of Broletto.
Visit of the oldest biscotti factory in Italy
Explore the rice history of this region.
Transfer to the village of Casalbeltrame, reported by slow food as the city capital of the black rice variety ARTEMIDE, a unique black indica variety cultivated only in this region, well known worldwide and awarded with the chiocciola SF.
Guided visit of a local farm producing the black rice Venere ed Artemide
Visit of the interactive Rice Museum.
Lunch Tasting menu at the Bistrot of the farm, including risotto al gorgonzola made with the black rice and the delicious gorgonzola cheese
GORGONZOLA cheese and BOCA WINE
Tour of a winery producing the legendary BOCA wine with own grapes;
Dinner at local agriturismo
Transfer to Torino, check in at the hotel, in the heart of the historic center of the capital of Piedmont and the first capital of Italy.
DAY 8 – TORINO
Guided tour of the city and its historical and baroque center.
Farmers Markets, the biggest in Europe with vegetables and a thousand colors and the cheerful and authentic confusion of the farmers who come every day from the countryside with their local products.
A Chocolate tasting at the famous Gobino chocolate shop
Coffee at the historic Bicerin café
Climb the Mole Antonelliana symbol of Turin
A wonderful local Vermouth experience:
Dinner at a renowned historical restaurant, one of the best slow food restaurant in Turin
DAY 9 – LE LANGHE and ALBA
Guided tour of the city of Alba – Visit the International White Truffle Fair.
Lunch at a trattoria owned by Slow Food
Visit the Wine Bank and Pollenzo Università del Gusto for a wine and chocolate pairing workshop.
Visit a beautiful castle and promotor of the Enoteca regionale.
DAY 10 – IL ROERO – truffle hunting and the harvest
TRUFFLE EXPERIENCE
Transfer to truffle hunting area for the search for the black truffle and (perhaps) white of dawn, accompanied by the two trifolai and their beautiful dogs.
Lunch at the trifolaio ciabot in a simple and familiar environment, in the middle of the woods .
HARVEST EXPERIENCE
Afternoon transfer to the Roero, and the vineyards of a small local producer of high quality wine, producing Nebbiolo, Roero, Arneis, Barbera.
In the evening Aperitif in the middle of the vineyards
Final gala dinner at a Michelin-starred restaurant with a wonderful view of the Barbaresco hills.
DAY 11 – DEPARTURE. or stay on for an optional tour, so you can really get to know the region. What would you like to see, just ask and we will plan it for you. If you want to see Salone Del Gusto this year, you will have to come into Turin before this tour starts, as we cannot fit everything in.!!
Breakfast at the Relais then – Transfer .
This tour will commence with arrival into Bologna by last week of September. We are waiting on dates for the Sagra’s , festival/celebrations, before advising exact dates.
The price, based on a total of 6 people travelling , is €4430 per person twin share or double.
2021. Dates to be confirmed by November 2020.
Bed & Breakfast in boutique hotels, Agriturismo, Messaria and selected Relais.
All meals as we travel, and if we have a typical Italian feast for lunch we make sure we just have a tasting menu at night time. You will be involved in preparing some of the meals, or at least observing, .
On this tour we havent included wines with all meals, as in most cases there will be a wine tasting happening as part of the tasting menu.. However on 4 nights wines are included, and rest assured, there are surprises happening when you least expect them. You will not go thirsty on my tours!!
All experiences listed in the itinerary.
All entry fees,
All transportation and transfers during the tour.
English speaking guide
Transfers back to Malpensa airport on the final morning.
What’s not Included;
- Airfares to the starting point of the tour
- Travel Insurance
- Purchase of personal items/gifts etc.
- taxi’s if you decide to go off on your own
- Beverage unless specified.
- City taxes ( usually €3 per room per nt, must be paid directly to the hotel)
This slow food and wine tour explores 2 of the most significant wine and food regions in Italy & includes the home of Slow Food.
Piedmont,The most typical specialties of the regional cuisine are fondue and bagna cauda: two warm and out-of-this-world dips that celebrate the Alba white truffle and raw vegetables. Some of the many excellent dishes include the great mixed fry, braised beef in Barolo wine, civet of hare and a wide array of cheeses: toma, robiola, bruss from the Langhe, gorgonzola from Novara, and sernium from Biella.
The typical desserts of the region can be found everywhere: the chocolates of Turin (unforgettable are the exquisite gianduiotti chocolates made with hazelnuts from Langhe and Monferrato), Novara biscuits, the bicciolani of Vercelli, the crumiri of Casale, the Cuneo chocolate sweets with rum and candied chestnuts, nougat from Alba, the baci di dama cookies of Alessandria and Asti, and the amaretti almond cookies from Novi.
Finally, some internationally-renowned products like breadsticks and vermouth are from Turin.
And Piedmont produces some of the finest red wines in Italy: Barolo, Barbaresco, Gattinara, Ghemme, Nebbiolo, Freisa, Grignolino, Barbera, and Dolcetto.
Emilia Romagna; A journey in discovery of the roots of this region leads in many directions – one of these paths is the art of taste. The region is known for its bold and refined cuisine, from those of the countryside of Emilia to those of the Romagna coast, via the lagoon of the Comacchio Valleys, with its famous eels.
Discovering a region means tasting the results of its traditions, from the typical Erbazzone, a quiche with spinach, or the pisarei e faso, small dumplings with beans made in the area of Piacenza, to the tortelloni, agnolotti and all types of homemade pasta enhanced by their delicious fillings, herbs and flavors.
We can stop in Bologna to try its mortadella, perhaps inside rolled or folded piadina bread. The unquestioned king of Parma, yet well-known and enjoyed all over the world, is of course Parma Ham (Prosciutto di Parma) that, together with the wonderful Grana and legendary Parmigiano cheeses, are the pride of this land’s gourmet traditions.
As in all Italian regions, good wine in Emilia Romagna is a given: Gutturnio, produced in the hills of Piacenza,Trebbiano, Lambrusco, Barbera, Sauvignon and Sangiovese.
Simplicity and taste is the winning combination that makes the cuisine of this region so special.
visit the regions here for some background Emilia Romagna and Piedmont
This is a wine and food tour to remember.
10 days is just enough time to whet your appetite on the diversity of locavore being produced between Turin and Bologna.
The dates have been chosen to coincide with a range of “festivals” that happen in the Autumn months, from Cheese in Bra, Harvest celebrations throughout both regions, Sagra delle Castagne or the celebration of the chestnut in selected hilltop towns. And the Alba Tartufo Bianco festival plus the Fungi Festival. These are reason enough to stay on in the region either before or after the tour. Having had the opportunity to attend most of these festivals I can highly recommend these ones as a reason to get to know the Italian Lifestyle.