A colleague is on his way there and I can’t seem to find a few of the good threads I know I’ve read on where to eat and what wineries to visit in Piedmont.
Recommendations gratefully received.
Thanks,
Nick
Where in Piedmont are they staying?
We were at Piedmont in late December last year and were very impressed with our dining experiences at:
Il Centro in Priocca – with a very robust Piedmont wine list (old/mature/recent) at absurdly low prices (by North American standards) from their large cellar under the restaurant; the very regional-based dishes were terrific.
Enoteca La Vite Turchesse – in the town of Barolo itself and was a welcome lunch that provides for both full meal and light ones. Very good local foods. Plenty of available wines, as the enoteca is also a large merchant for local wines.
As for winery visits, my wife had booked the trip just a couple of weeks before our vacation and so I relied on our hotel to help book us on a couple of visits, in spite of un-availabilities by most wineries due to closures for the holidays. In any case, we very much enjoyed our visits with very welcoming and engaged tours and tastings at:
Moccagatta, a modern winery with wines that impressed me, located in the pretty town of Barbaresco ( http://www.moccagatta.eu/ )
and
Azienda Barale with their mostly traditional winemaking facility located smack in the town of Barolo (http://www.baralefratelli.it/?page_id=7&lang=en )
Great wines at Brezza and in the heart of Barolo - http://www.brezza.it/welcome_eng.lasso
There is also a Cafe at Azienda Agricola Gagliasso ( http://www.gagliassovini.it/ ) - They make an egg yolk pasta called tajarin that is incredible
Nick,
For restaurants, there are some great threads on Chowhound for the food side of things
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/768883
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/1008443
Using the first thread, my wife and I ate at a a large number of places back in Fall 2013. The real standouts for us were:
Ristorante Belbo Da Bardon - definitely out of the way but worth it (we went twice). This is perfect country food - fresh ingredients, done simply. I still dream about some of the dishes we had there. I would put my meals there up in the top food experiences I have every had. They also have a excellent and fairly priced wine list.
https://plus.google.com/111948754547869355194/about?gl=us&hl=en
Osteria Veglio - just outside La Morra. Very fresh food with an emphasis on vegetables (my wife is a vegetarian).
Restaurants
http://www.boccondivinoslow.it/osteria/ita/osteria.asp
http://www.ristorantebovio.it/ita/
http://www.osteriadeicatari.com/
http://www.lalibera.com/it/
wineries
http://www.brovia.net/
http://www.fratellialessandria.it/web/
Here are a couple of prior threads:
Nick
Yes, locations would help narrow down the suggestions, as Piemonte/Piedmont is a big region.
regards
Ian
I’ve only been there twice. I strongly second Bovio and Boccon Divino, and I would add Antica Torre. I really disliked La Libera - you can find a thread on here about it, and it seems half love it and have dislike it from my recollection.
The best visit we had, all things considered, was Elio Grasso. Great wines, gorgeous estate, kind people, they spent a lot of time with us. Vajra and Brovia were nice visits as well. Giuseppe Mascarello, which remains one of my favorite wines in the world, was not a visit I’d recommend.
My comments come from the perspective of someone who didn’t have connections and special ins, but just emailed and made appointments like a regular Joe. I know the experience can be different when you’re the right person and get the red carpet treatment, so I can’t speak to that.
Cavallotto was a fantastic visit. Great wines, and they were overly generous with both time and wines. Beautiful views as well. Second Elio Grasso which has some of the best views of any winery, and has a very impressive horseshoe shaped cave going straight back into the mountain…large enough to drive forklifts etc down.
Thanks very much all. I don’t have details of where he’s staying but this will be very well received. I will demand feedback and post it on his return.