Our Gourmet Tours’ spring 2024 ramble through Italy’s glorious Piemonte — bookended by two-night layovers in Turin and Milan with a mid-week chow-down at the three-Michelin-starred Piazza Duomo restaurant in Alba — is shaping up nicely, and we still have four spots available.
I spent three days in the Langhe and environs recently catching up with old friends, all of whom will be hosting our stops, and meeting a few new ones, who will also be in the mix over our nine days in my favorite corner of Italy.
As previously noted in this space, our home base for four glorious nights in the Langhe will be the elegant Relais Luigi Einaudi, which sits on a panoramic hilltop above the town of Dogliani, one of the region’s hidden gems. (Better still, the Einaudi winery sits right next door.) From there, we’ll visit two Ceretto venues, the well-situated headquarters in San Cassiano just west of Alba and the flagship Bricco Roche estate, with its landmark glass Cube that was designed and constructed by the same firm responsible for the Pyramid at the Louvre in Paris.
Note that the Cerettos are partners with chef Enrico Crippa at Piazza Duomo, one of the world’s great restaurants where we’ll lunch after a morning visit to the historic Pio Cesare cellars nearby. They older section dates to the late 19th century and the space is split by a 2,000-year-old Roman wall. Pio Cesare is uniquely situated, being the only winery in Alba proper.
The sumptuous lunch at Piazza Duomo will be one of at least four that will be prepared by Michelin-starred chefs. Another, Guido, located at the Fontanafredda winery, has a storied history and personal memories that I’ll be excited to share with you. We’ll also have a lunch catered by a Michelin-starred chef at the magnificent Airbnb owned by the Amistà Winery in Nizza, the happening new DOCG carved out of the Barbera d’Asti DOC in 2014. This is new turf for me and it blew me away.
My partner, Pablo Valqui, will soon begin working on finding the perfect hotels, restaurants and tasting venues in Turin and Milan. We’ll convene in the former, which I got to know well during my nearly three weeks spent there covering the 2006 Winter Olympics, on Thursday, May 23, and wrap up our grand adventure in the latter on Saturday, June 1. There will be a quick day trip out to Franciacorta’s bubbles country, too, in order to visit the spectacular Ca del Bosco property.
And, before we hit the wine trail, we’ll detour up and over the Alps into my neighborhood, the Ubaye Valley (http://ubaye.com) for a special late-afternoon dinner with my great friend, chef Hubert Longeron, at his gîte in one of France’s most remote and breathtakingly beautiful corners.
For more information about our destinations, click on the following links. For pricing and bookings, go to http://gourmettours.biz.
WINERIES
Amistà: http://amistapiedmontwine.com
Bruno Rocca: http://www.brunorocca.it
Ca del Bosco: http://cadelbosco.com
Ceretto: http://www.ceretto.com
Domenico Clerico: www.domenicoclerico.com
Oddero: http://www.oddero.it
Pio Cesare: http://piocesare.it
Poderi Luigi Eiunadi: http://www.poderieinaudi.com
HOTELS
Relais Luigi Einaudi (Dogliani): http://www.relaiseinaudi.com
Villa Morelia (Jausiers, France): http://villa-morelia.com
RESTAURANTS
***Piazza Duomo: http://piazzaduomoalba.com
*Massimo Camia (La Morra) : http://massimocamia.it
*Guido (Serralunga): http://guidoristorante.it
Le Quattro Stazione (Saluzzo): http://le-sanssouci.com
Sans Souci (Jausiers): le-sans-souci.com
Ristorante Moda (Monforte d’Alba): http://modavenue.eu
La Locanda del Sorriso (Dogliani): http://lalocandasorriso.com
Tratorria Il Risorgimento (Treiso): http://risorgimento.yolasite.com
La Piola: http://lapiola-alba.it
OTHER
Wine Museum (Barolo): http://wimu.barolo.it: We’ll visit on Monday morning, May 27, for big-picture purposes and to give everyone a chance to take a stroll through the town of Barolo.
The Sports Page
Raising a glass to . . . C.J. Stroud
The Texans’ prized rookie quarterback out-did himself Sunday, beating Tampa Bay 39-37 with his fifth touchdown pass of the afternoon six seconds before the final gun. Stroud threw for an NFL rookie record 470 yards and once again didn’t suffer an interception. His TD-pick ratio is 14-1 through eight games and the Texans are a playoff-contending 4-4 after going 3-14 last season. By his lonesome, Stroud has turned rookie head coach Demeco Ryans into an early coach-of-the-year favorite while all but locking up offensive rookie-of-the-year honors for himself.
H-Town happenings
Tastings Every Saturday at French Country Wines: Noon-5 p.m. Free. http://frenchcountrywines.com
Tastings Every Wednesday at Montrose Cheese & Wine: 5-7 p.m. Free. http://montrosecheeseandwine.com
Tastings Every Thursday at Cueva in the Marriott Marquis Houston: 6:30-7:30 p.m. $40 http://eventbrite.com
Symposium Saturdays: 4-5 p.m. at Stella’s Wine Bar in the Post Oak Hotel. $75. http://eventbrite.com
Balboa Wine Dinner: 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 9, at The Grotto Downtown. $120. http://eventbrite.com
Wine & Real Estate Tasting: 4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 9, at the Texas Real Estate Investment Center. Free http://eventbrite.com
Texas wines made from Italian varietals: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 14. Free. 713 664-7581
Napa Valley Vintners Wine Tasting: 6:30-8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 15, at Station 3. $95. http://eventbrite.com
Bowling & Beaujolais In Celebration of Beaujolais Day: 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 16, at Bowl & Barrel. $35. http://eventbrite.com
The French Food & Wine Festival: 6:30-9:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 17, at the Post Oak Hotel. $2169 early bird, $229 regular. French Festival 2023 | FACC Texas
Catena’s Wine Garden: 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 17, at Brenner’s Steakhouse. $95. http://eventbrite.com
Vino Vinyasa: 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 19, at the C. Baldwin Hotel. $30. http://eventbrite.com
Wine Dinner Celebrating the Season and Cabernet Franc: 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 7, at the Atkins House. $85. http://eventbrite.com
The Rado Wine Club Tasting Experience: 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 16, at the Rado MKT. $50. http://eventbrite.com
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Instagram: http://@sportywineguy
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