A wine-intensive tour for wine enthusiasts, featuring marquee names in Barolo and Barbaresco. Learn about terroir, cru, traditionalist vs. modernist styles, and other hot topics in the Langhe wine world. Get to know Piedmont wine like a pro.

Highlights:
• Private tastings at Elio Altare, Aldo Contero, Renato Ratti, Marchesi di Gresy, Produttori del Barbaresco, Bruno Rocca, Giacomo Bologna & more
• Explore 5 of the 11 communes of Barolo, plus Barbaresco
• See the Wine Bank, a project of the EU and Slow Food, in Pollenza
• Lunch at a piemontese cheese farm
• Lunch at the Marchesi di Barolo winery

2010 dates: [6 days/5 nights] May 24-29

Cost: $2,995. Single supplement $350.
Limited time offer: 20% discount ($2,545) for members of the AWS, SWE, Tasters Guild & official wine clubs
Meet: Tortona train station (50 min. train ride from Milan)
Depart: Asti &/or Tortona train station

Day 1 - Barolo's birthplace
Barolo is dubbed "the king of wines and wine of kings," and today we see why. After a pick-up in Tortona (a short train ride from Milan), we visit the Castle of Barolo where Barolo wine was created in the mid-1800s by Marchesa Giulia Colbert, a widow at the center of a circle of nobles, politicians, and enologists. In the castle's enoteca we'll learn about Barolo's 11 communes, 3 mountain ridges, and historic cru. Then we lunch at the Marchesi di Barolo winery, and start exploring 'modernist' versus 'traditionalist' Barolo. These themes continue at Renato Ratti, a leader in the renaissance in Barolo wine in the 1970s. Ratti has a new state-of-the-art winery, as well as a vast collection of antique winemaking artifacts, bottles, and 10,000 labels. Our third visit is Elio Altare. Widely considered the most influential innovator in the Langhe during the 1970s, Altare was disowned by his father for his new ideas about green harvest and barrique. But his methods have since firmly taken hold, influencing the next generation. A welcome dinner in the medieval city of Alba introduces the elegant cuisine of Piedmont, such as risotto, plin (tiny ravioli), Barolo-braised beef, and hazelnut-and-chocolate desserts like bounet. L, D

Day 2 - Barolo Ground Zero
King Carlo Alberto and his son, Vittorio Emanuele, maintained a number of hunting lodges in Piedmont. One is now the Ceretto winery. Producing wine for 70 years, Ceretto has grown into a constellation of small-estate wineries. Still family-run, Ceretto is known both for its innovative architectural commissions (e.g., the colorful Brunate chapel) and its portfolio of Barolo wines and benchmark Arneis. Afterwards we head up the road to La Spinetta one of the most admired names in Piemontese wine. Located at the foot of Castiglione Falletto's medieval fortress, this estate's fame is based on Barolo and Barbera cru from prized sites. Our third tasting takes us to Pio Cesare, one of the oldest estates in Piedmont. Located in the city of Alba, the wine cellar contains visible remnants of the city's Roman foundations. Dinner in Alba at a Slow Food restaurant. B, D

Day 3 - Mountain Cheese
Founded in 1870, Aldo Conterno was the first to export Barolo to the U.S. Today son Giacomo will discuss their traditionalist approach. Afterwards we head to the cheese town of Murrazano where have a buffet lunch at an artisan cheese & salumi farm. Afterwards, we visit Pollenzo, a Roman town where King Carlo Alberto built a magnificent hunting lodge. Today this regal property houses a multimillion-dollar food & wine complex, opened in 2004, which includes a professional cooking school, a 4-star restaurant, and La Banca del Vino, or Wine Bank. We'll tour this archive-cum-laboratory affiliated with Slow Food. Then we go to the Brezza winery for a tour, tasting, and dinner at his restaurant. B, D

Day 4 - Barbaresco
Today we head to Barbaresco. We'll start with the benchmark wines of the Produttori del Barbaresco, one of Italy's most highly respected cooperatives. Then we visit Bruno Giacosa. Gambero Rosso called this winemaker "one of the last surviving wise old men of the Langhe." A staunch traditionalist, Giacosa is known for his intimate knowledge of terroir, having spent 50 years acquiring grapes from pedigree cru. Afterward, we visit a modernist producer Marchesi di Gresy. Then in Alba there's time on your own. Here you can search for older Barolo vintages in well-stocked wine shops, pick up precious white truffles and yummy chocolate-hazelnut candies in the gourmet shops, or visit the baroque and medieval churches. Dinner on your own in Alba. B

Day 5 - Barolo's innovators
Our final tasting in the Barolo zone is at Sandrone. A modernist with an eye on the past, he has vineyards in the best cru of Barolo: Cannubi Boschis. After our tasting and lunch, we move towards Asti and visit Braida, the estate of Giacomo Bologna. Now deceased, this man single-handedly revolutionized Barbera d'Asti, turning it from a rustic, farmhouse quaffer into a wine of great character and finesse. We'll hear this Cinderella story and taste through the estate's bottlings, which range from a dry frizzante Barbera to barrique-aged powerhouses. Our farewell dinner will be in Alba at the Restaurant Piola, owned by Ceretto winery. B, D

Day 6 - Arrivederci!
A shuttle to the Asti or Tortona train station and assistance with your travel plans. B

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