Trip to Italy (October 2014 - Piemonte)...Visit to Antoniolo

Antoniolo's winemaker, Alberto, in front of their vineyard

Later last night, we arrived in Sillavengo, about 1 hour drive to northeast from Torino.

　　　　　　
Until Saturday, we stay at this historic villa, which was originally built in 16th century. We had a late night meal at a restaurant inside of the villa, then went to bed. This morning, it was another gorgeous sunny day. I took a walk around the villa.


Today's highlight was visiting Antoniolo, a leading producer of Gattinara DOCG in Piemonte. We met Antoniolo's 3rd generation owner, Rosanna, and their winemaker, Alberto. They drove us to their vineyard on and surrounding a hill. They grow Nebbiolo there to make very elegant Gattinara.


After coming back to the winery, we had a tour of the inside. Then, we had a tasting of their lineup. As I've been a fan of Antoniolo's wines, it was such a great experience to taste their wines side-by-side after visiting the vineyards. So beautiful.

Trip to Italy (October 2014 - Piemonte)...I went crazy at Salone del Gusto

Piles of Scamorza Appassiato at Salone del Gusto

In the late afternoon, we came back to Torino.


We went to Salone del Gusto, which is the world's largest food & wine fair, held every two years in Torino. There are hundred of wine and gourmet producers from all over Italy and from different countries.


The venue is so huge that it's impossible to walk around in just one day. So, I decided to focus on Piemonte and also checked out a few other regions of Italy.


I kept walking and visiting different producers. I tasted so many different things, too. I met the winemaker from Carema, too! In just a couple of hours, I bought so many things that my arms felt like almost breaking. Cheeses, chocolate, rice, ancient beans, olive oil, and even a bottle of Bicerine, a historic chocolate & coffee liqueur from Torino!

Trip to Italy (October 2014 - Valle d'Aosta)...Most serious apple cider maker of Italy

One of the apple growing sites, overlooking Matterhorn

Good morning Aosta.


It was another gorgeous day in Aosta. We visited Maley, an apple cider ("cidre") maker in town. The winemaker-turned-cidre-maker, Gianluca, welcomed us at a shared distillery Maley uses. In this distillery, besides his cider, different producers makes spirits made from different ingredients. One of the famous drinks made there is called, Genepi, which is a liqueur made from local mountain herbs. They also make Chocopy, a chocolate liqueur with fragrance of Genepi. It was so good!


Gianluca used to be a winemaker, and when he found abandoned apple trees, he decided to make apple cider. Now he grows apples inside of the monastery in Aosta. These ancient varieties of apples are looked after by nuns there. The monastery is within the ruins of Roman amphitheater, and the apple trees are planted inside of what used to be the stage!


He took us for lunch at a local restaurant. It was very nice to pair local dishes with a lineup of his artisan cidre. Very serious taste! One of his cidres is made in metodo classico and very dry.


After lunch, we drove up about 30 minutes to his another apple growing site. The old trees are planted in the high altitude, overlooking Matterhorn! It was so beautiful.