Planning a Trip to Italy’s Barolo Wine Country
Piedmont is a region in northwestern Italy chalk full of amazing wine regions, the most famous being Barolo and Barbaresco. Both regions focus on red wines made from the Nebbiolo grape, though Dolcetto and Barbera are also common to the region. In addition to world famous Barolo wine, the region is also known for white truffles and Nutella. Is there even a better combo?!
When I got to planning the trip, I wanted to be sure I experienced Piedmont like a local, so I reached out to a friend of a friend Valerie Quintanilla, an American woman living in Piedmont that’s really well connected to the Italian wine industry, to help me plan my trip! Val knows everyone who’s everyone in the towns of Barolo and Barbaresco, and got me set up on two full days of wine tours plus a four-course winemaker dinner. To say I lived out all of my Italian wine dreams is an understatement! Here’s a recap of my trip and all of my tips to help you have a perfect trip to Piedmont!
How to get to Barolo wine country
For those flying in, the airport closest to Barolo wine country is Turin, followed by Milan. From there, you’ll either rent a car and drive into town, or you can take a train from either city directly into Alba.
The Piedmont wine region has several cute small towns all full of great restaurants and amazing wine bars that would all be fantastic to stay in. If you’re renting a car, Piedmont is your oyster, and I’d recommend staying in the quaint small town of La Morra, but if you opt to take the train in like we did, I’d recommend staying in Alba – it’s a slightly bigger small town, and our hotel was less than a 10 minute walk from the train station!
Where to stay in Barolo wine country
We stayed at Rivetto Suites in the town of Alba. Our room was by far the most spacious we stayed in while traveling through Italy, and it’s centrally located to all of the restaurants and activities – having it as our home base made getting around seamless!
And another fun thing about Rivetto Suites is that it’s owned by Enrico and Kasia Rivetto, who are also the owners of Rivetto Winery! Their wines are available for guests in each room, it was tough to not try them all!
What to do in Alba
Though Alba is small, there are some really cute stops to make! The main street of town is lined with shops, and the main square has lots of great restaurants (two of which have Michelin stars!) and was always full of people walking around town or stopping for a glass of wine. You can also walk through the Alba Cathedral in the main square!
Some our favorite meals in Italy came from our stop in Alba! We especially loved Osteria dell’Arco and Caffe Umberto didn’t go a day without picking up a Nutella-stuffed croissant from Il Forno do Bosio.
Alba’s wine bars
Within Alba, you’ll find a number of cute wine bars with fantastic wine selections. Most have outdoor seating giving a really nice vibe! Voglia di Vino, the host of our winemaker dinner, is fantastic, Ape is right next door to the Alba Cathedral, and Petricore was also great!
I so highly recommend connecting with Valerie for help planning your next trip to Barolo wine country! Our trip could not have been more perfect, and I’m just so lucky I found her!
Feel free to leave a comment or reach out to me with any questions about the lovely land of Barolo!
Salute!