La Dolce Vita Wine Tours

Slow Food Festa

A food & wine tour in Parma, Barolo & Turin

Slide Show:

Don’t laugh! Fruity, Lambrusco is a perfect match for the comfort food of Parma and Modena
SLOW FOOD FESTA starts in Emilia Romagna, birthplace of Verdi…
…and of FERRARI. We visit the fabulous Ferrari Museum.
Another icon of Modena is ACETO BALSAMICO TRADIZIONALE, the real deal in balsamic.
We see how traditional balsamic vinegar ages in tiny barrels (“cradles”) for up to 25 years
Our group inspects the balsamic bottling line.
Like chocolate, balsamic vinegar is best tasted at body temperature.
Next, it’s on to LAMBRUSCO. Prepare to be surprised! It ranges from off-sweet to bone dry.
Daughter Sandra of MEDICI ERMETE, an award-winner Lambrusco producer, is our host.
There’s time with Papa as well — still the lead winemaker at MEDICI ERMETE
Say cheese! A boutique PARMIGIANO REGGIANO producer in the salting room.
Heating the cow’s milk to make parmesan
Father and son-in-law fish out the nascent cheese ball from the whey.
Hundreds of parmigiano rounds age for a minimum of three years on these shelves
Next, we head to TORRECHIARA CASTLE, built by a Renaissance knight for his beloved.
Some guests get ready to storm the castle gate
Inside, every room is painted with splendid pastoral scenes
Hamming it up: A PROSCIUTTO DI PARMA maker tests for doneness with a horse bone.
Lunch at a prosciutto maker features...you guessed it!
Art-goers will love PARMA, a city rich with art, like the frescoed Baptistry.
Part 2 of SLOW FOOD FESTA moves to Piedmont’s Langhe hills, in view of the Alps
Fall means truffles on the menus and in the markets
The CASTLE OF GRINZANE CAVOUR, now a museum, offers a history of Barolo wine
We have dinner at the MARCHESI DI BAROLO winery, the birthplace of Barolo.
Some old barrels in the MARCHESI DI BAROLO's ancient cellars
The village of Barolo, with the castle in the background
Fall colors touch the vineyards of the CERETTO winery
Welcome to the SALONE DEL GUSTO, Slow Food’s biannual bash in Torino
Here you can sample artisan food from all over the world
And you can meet the makers, like these amphora winemakers from the Republic of Georgia
Celebrity sighting: Slow Food founder CARLO PETRINI pressing the flesh
TASTE WORKSHOPS offer in-depth tastings of rare foods and wines...
...like this seminar on Great Barolo Reserves. Mmm, Barolo.
Not enough wine? There’s hundreds more to sample at the Salone del Gusto’s Enoteca.