Eat, Play, Love: Almost Famous

In the heart of Piedmont, just one hour on the autostrada from Turin, lies the hilltop villages and vines of the picturesque Langhe region. The area has become synonymous with two things: red wine and Slow Food, with Alba and Bra acting as the respective hubs.

Riding in Mercedes-Benz Smart Car style

Piedmont, in a nutshell (which would be a hazelnut shell, in case you were wondering, for this is the land of Ferrero Rocher, Kinder and Nutella!)

Mara and I spent our first afternoon soaking up the sun and the Langhe landscape at Castello di Verduno, an 18th-century castle that once belonged to the House of Savoy. For dinner, we headed to nearby Neviglie for an Asso di Quadri pizza, reputed to have won many "World's Best Pizza" awards. We weren't blown away by the decor, but the Neapolitan-style pizza didn't disappoint.

Room with a view, Castello di Verduno

View of our room, Castello di Verduno

We kick-started Day Two with a visit to La Spinetta, a family-owned winery in Castagnole Lanze, which included a tour of the cellar and a guided tasting. Here, I started to make sense of the three big Bs that dominate the region: Barbera, Barolo and Barbaresco. The latter two come from the nebbiolo grape variety; in Italy, Barolo is known as the king of wines, Barbaresco the queen. From La Spinetta, we quickly got lost—nothing to do with vino consumption, everything to do with Italian signage, or lack thereof—and spent most of the afternoon on windy detours that, for whatever reason, always led us back to the bingo hall in Alba. Once we figured out how to use the Italian Nav, we headed straight to Castello di Sinio, one of the oldest and best preserved castles in the area, and where we'd be spending the night. That evening, we visited and dined at the distinguished Marchesi di Barolo, a fifth-generation family-owned producer in the town of Barolo, who, we were delighted to discover, bottles their very own Barolo Chinato. Seba had introduced me to Chinotto, of course, but I had no idea that wine infused with quinine bark was a thing, let alone a popular, and yummy, digestivo.

Chilling pool-/castle-/clock tower-side, Castello di Sinio

Barolo

Cellar, Marchesi di Barolo

The following day, Mara and I didn't make a move until noon. (Do you need to see more pictures of the castello?) At Bra's Osteria del Boccondivino—the restaurant where the ego-gastronomic Slow Food movement was born—we had a leisurely lunch (go figure), and then meandered around the area in the afternoon. We forewent dinner in favour of aperitivo, and then headed to Monforte d'Alba to catch Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club in action at the MonfortinJazz festival. We got to the outdoor auditorium (a converted Medieval town square, natch) less than an hour before the show was due to start, but that was enough of a window for us to score front row seats. This was, without a doubt, one of the best concerts I have ever had the pleasure of attending. And, for whatever reason, Mara and I were a big hit with the band, who invited us to party with them backstage after the show. While I would love to share with you all what went down, I think it would be wiser to invoke the age-old adage: What happens in Monforte d'Alba, stays in Monforte d'Alba.