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Any Alba / Piemonte experiences?

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Ian Sutton

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Any Alba / Piemonte experiences?

by Ian Sutton » Mon Sep 18, 2006 2:43 pm

We're planning a quick trip to Piemonte.
For me this will be my 3rd trip to Torino, so I'm pretty comfortable with where to go, what to do (generally grazing over apertivo hour 8) ).

However apart from that I've only done one day trip to Asti before and yet to go to Alba or the wine region.

We're planning to spend a couple of nights in or near Alba (walking distance). From there we plan to see just a few places by public transport, foot and at a stretch taxi. Is there anyone that's been there who could say whether this is feasible (it's not a wine tour we're planning on, but calling in at say a couple of wineries each day would be ideal). We noticed a walk from Alba to Barbaresco (about 2.5 hours walk) and wondered what the easiest way to find wineries en-route (and book tastings) would be. Particularly interested in where the co-operative Produttori are in relation to this walk, or Barbaresco itself.

Any suggestions, experience etc. welcomed. I did a search and found one thread, but suspect the old forum might have covered this as well.

regards

Ian
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John S

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Re: Any Alba / Piemonte experiences?

by John S » Wed Sep 27, 2006 1:52 am

Definitely agree with the grazing during aperitivo time! There are a couple great wine bars in Alba for that.

I'd suggest it's best (by far) to have a vehicle to visit the wineries, as the distances may not seem all that great on a map, but the hills can be killer! While the Alba area was nice, it couldn't hold a candle to the La Morra area, in my view. Driving there isn't really too bad at all.

But if you don't want to rent a vehicle, renting bicyles in Alba is possible. The roads are narrow and sometimes rather 'trafficy', but there are some reasonable bike trails too, although they don't always link with wineries. The tourist office in Alba centre will be able to help you plan an itinerary. I think you could bike to the Barbaresco area (where the co-operative is), though it would be a fair distance. Definitely easier than walking!

Hope this sketchy info helps...
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Re: Any Alba / Piemonte experiences?

by Ian Sutton » Wed Sep 27, 2006 1:04 pm

John
Thanks for your comments
Bad timing on our part, means we're out in the sticks (in a village North-West of Alba). It's on an hourly bus route into Alba, but we may end up hiring a car for a day - see how we go. One day is hopefully at the Barbaresco Wine Festival, so no point having a car for then, but might hire one for the preceding day. Would allow us to see Barolo properly.

regards

Ian
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Re: Any Alba / Piemonte experiences?

by Ian Sutton » Sat Sep 15, 2007 2:39 pm

John
We're heading back over that way in October and this time we'll have a few days in La Morra (Frazione Annunziata to be precise). Keen to take any recommendations for Fraz. Annunziate, La Morra or any of the other Barolo villages. From a browse of Gambero Rosso, it seems we'll be based very much at the epicentre of 'new-wave' Barolo, so I may have to challenge some of my preconceptions :oops:
regards
Ian

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