Category: Food and wine tips Piedmont-Italy

The Monferrato must be discovered, because it is a hidden pearl! Did I mention I was in love with the Monferrato before? Yes, of course! This doesn't change my love for the Langhe and my affection for the Roero, but Monferrato is always a surprise for me! Maybe because I don't live there and so I go there a little less frequently or maybe because of that passion for less touristy places, but really every time it's a discovery! The Monferrato is actually a very vast and varied territory divided into 3 large areas: the Lower Monferrato Casalese (towards the province of Alessandria), the Lower Monferrato Asti (province of Asti) and the Upper Monferrato that borders the High Langa. Now I could talk about the many fascinating villages that you meet or the landscapes characterized by rolling hills covered with vineyards that in every season offer wonderful views, or the fact that often the vineyards leave room for orchards, hazelnut groves and especially forests, ensuring a unique biodiversity. Will the  Langhe Truffles be better than those of Monferrato? Or maybe I can talk about the fact that in Monferrato there are, says some people, the best white truffles in the area ... I do not know if it is so, today we "scratched" a lot 'and I must say that they were a pleasure for taste and smell! I could talk about history, geology and also wine and food of course, but I would like to talk about people this time... One of SlowDays' "slogans" is "Know places through people". This is not just a way of saying, but something we strongly believe in! Some time ago, on another trip to Monferrato, I had already been able to appreciate the great sense of hospitality that is in these parts combined

Trick or treat? (in Italy you say Dolcetto o scherzetto!) For the Piedmontese, and especially for the province of Cuneo, this phrase could be understood in a very different way. And it would certainly not be combined with a masked children's party! DOLCETTO D’ALBA DOCG. If Barbera is the traditional wine for meals, Dolcetto is the wine for workers in the countryside and friendship between farmers! In Piedmont, there are now thirteen denominations Dolcetto, but that of Alba remains the best known and most famous! The consumption of this wine remains local, more than 80%, in fact, is drunk in north-western Italy. The name can be misleading, it is not a sweet wine ... its flavor is definitely clean and dry. Its name perhaps comes from the sweetness of ripe grapes, or according to some historians the term Piedmont "dosset". That is, it wants to remember the hills not particularly high where it was originally grown. Historically this wine has been very important in trade with Liguria, from which in addition to oil and salt, they imported anchovies, the main ingredient of one of the most famous typical dishes of Piedmont, the bagna caoda. News about Dolcetto dates back to the 18th century. Dolcetto d'Alba wine obtained the DOC in 1974. In the province of Cuneo, there are more than 1600 hectares of vineyards cultivated with Dolcetto, so it is a very popular and loved wine. How Dolcetto can be combine?   Excellent with salami and fresh pasta dishes, with risottos and soups but also with omelets, mixed boiled meats, cheeses, and chicken. Its alcohol content is not excessive and the pleasant bitter aftertaste make it an excellent wine to be combined with the whole meal. Incidentally, it is not a wine that likes to be aged. So we from

What kind of autumn is it without the chestnuts?!? Are the woods yellow and brown, the vineyards orange and bronze and the hills? They absorb all the nuances that emerge from these warm colours and give life to an exciting spectacle for the heart and relaxing for the mind. In addition to the leaves that change color, the protagonists of this season, autumn, are the chestnuts, which thanks to their brownish color help to give life to this charge of energy that spreads throughout the countryside of Langhe! How many types of chestnuts do you know? Today I will explain you some characteristics and some places where to find them, but I will also give you some advice on how to use them in the kitchen 😉 First, there is a substantial difference to know: the chestnut is the wild fruit of the chestnut, while the brown comes from cultivated trees. Chestnuts are not large in size, they are squashed on one side, with strong skin and tasty flesh, while the brown is larger, has a striped skin and sweet flesh. Chestnuts in PIEMONTE and its TYPICAL PLACES "MARRONE" (Brown) OF THE VAL SUSA IGP. These types of chestnuts belong to five different ecotypes: the Marrone di San Giorio di Susa, the Marrone di Meana di Susa, the Marrone di Sant'Antonino di Susa, the Marrone di Bruzolo and finally the Marrone di Villar Focchiardo. The main characteristic is given by the taste, very sweet, in fact they are mostly used for the preparation of marrons glacés. CHESTNUT OF WEDGE IGP. It is cultivated in the mountain and valley areas of the province of Cuneo, its cultivation dates back to the twelfth century. A long time ago, in short! The chestnut of Cuneo PGI is medium in size and has a

Alba and Langhe hills are ready to live grape harvest! How?  Ma per le vie del borgo                                     E’ una luna da vigna. dal ribollir de’ tini                                             Da bambino credevo che i grappoli d’uva va l’aspro odor dei vini                                    li faccia e li maturi la luna. l’anime e rallegrar                                           [Cesare Pavese] [Giosuè Carducci] Autumn is here and with its colors and its scents remind us that the grape harvest is coming.  Must’s aroma in the air and industrious grape pickers among the vineyards and the impassioned colors of our charming Langhe. The grape harvest has a symbolic meaning for the farmers, the grape, cultivated with passion and care for all the year, is picked and take to the wine cellar to be transformed in wine. The grape harvest has an important cultural and anthropological meaning especially in the past times where the families and the different generations got together to face this hard work and celebrate together with a luxurious and special feast prepared for the occasion. Maybe nowadays the grape harvest is not that familiar celebration anymore but without any doubts, it remains the nucleus of the wine production. The moment in which from the grape we finally obtain, without hurry, the wine. Grape harvest takes place between September and the first days of November, it can be affected by different causes, for example, the different types of grapes or climate conditions. The weather has