Tasting Tours of Asti will help you discover close up the wine and truffles of Asti and Monferrato in Piemonte where the hills produce the third great jewel of the local wine-making scenario, Barbera d'Asti, and the unique black and white truffles (black truffles from February to September, white truffles from mid September to early January).

The guided visit also includes white and black truffle hunting with dogs and a visit to a Barbera.

Meet your tour guide and reach the truffle hunter’s house near Asti, completely surrounded by vineyards and woods. You will enjoy a unique experience that is worth to remember and get to know everything about truffles: local traditions, growth environment, overview of truffle varieties and characteristics.

A guided tour with the “trifulao” (truffle hunter) and his dog will follow in the natural truffle grounds, so that you may experience a real “truffle picking” along a scenic trail.

This day long guided wine tour of Barolo and Barbaresco is being proposed by Tasting Tours of Asti. Meet your English-speaking guide in your hotel and depart for the Langhe area in the southern part of Piedmont, famous for white truffles and some of the most sought-after red wines in Italy, i.e. Barolo and Barbaresco.

First stop is the 13th century Grinzane Cavour castle which also hosts the Cavour Regional Enoteca and an ethnographic museum.

Next stop will be Barolo, the town where the “king of wines” was first produced in the XIX century. Visit of the historic cellars of a renowned Barolo producer, and learn the techniques employed in the production of this refined garnet red-coloured wine. Wine-tasting will follow the visit.

Short walk up to the Falletti di Barolo castle erected in the X century as a bastion against invasions, and later home the French Marquise Juliette Colbert, the lady who created Barolo wine. Possibility of visiting the brand-new Wi.Mu. (wine museum) inside the Falletti castle which also hosts the Regional Enoteca of Barolo.

This tour of the surroundings or territory of Portofino is aimed at discovering the three “pearls of the Tigullio". What are they? Read on and get in  touch with Tasting Tours to book your place.

The tour starts in Rapallo, the oldest town in the area and located in the most sheltered part of the Gulf. Evidence of its history can be seen in its castle, a seafront fortress built in the 16th century against Saracen invasions, the Medieval bridge which, according to legend, Hannibal crossed during the 2nd Punic War, and the several Baroque steeples reaching up to the sky.

After a walking tour of the historic centre and visit of a popular deli shop on the main street, we’ll move to Zoagli (hamlet of Rapallo) and visit the Cordani silk factory (closed on Tuesdays and Sundays) whose handcrafted products include Jacquard velvet woven on Jacquard looms built back in 1801, as well as the fabulous plain silk velvet that was already being worn in the 1500s by Genoese aristocrats.

This food or gastronomic tour of the centuries old historic port of Genoa is clearly focused on finding local snacks and classic Genovese dishes.

Created by Tasting Tours it is a fascinating journey which you may not have thought of doing on your own.

Start the tour from the old port and walk up to Sottoripa, market-street dating back to the XII century which stretches under the old arcades.

Here, you’ll still find the old “friggitorie” serving fritters such as "friscieu” (fried croquettes), "panissa" and “farinata” (made with chick pea flour); "tripperie", offering tripe cooked in huge open copper pots; bakeries displaying "focaccia" and the Genoese "pandolce", a typical cake with raisins, candied fruits and pine seeds.

An opportunity to discover the three essential and most genuine gourmet products of Piemonte; cheese, wine and chocolate.

The tour starts with a sightseeing tour of the Barolo production area with a stop at Grinzane Cavour to admire the imposing XIII century castle, La Morra with the scenic “belvedere” or Barolo with the Falletti castle and the Regional Enoteca of Barolo.

Next is a visit to the town of Cherasco, known as the “city of the seven peace treaties”, snail farming and fine chocolate production. Visit local chocolate producer where you could try and buy different kinds of chocolates, included the renowned baci di Cherasco (Cherasco’s kisses).

Bra is the town where the Slow Food Movement was born in 1989. Here you will visit a cheese refiner who has energetically dedicated himself to locating, aging and commercializing the finest cheese produced in the area for generations. Cheese tasting will follow the visit.

Before going back, a visit to a Barolo producer in one of the 11 Barolo villages, e.g. Barolo, La Morra, Castiglione Falletto, Serralunga d’Alba, Monforte d’Alba, etc. Wine-tasting will follow the visit.

Return to hotel or different departure point.

This special wine tour in Piemonte by Tasting Tours takes the visitor to some of the best barolo producing wineries in the region. Piedmont is a wine region rich in history yet there are viticulture and enology methods have only taken root over the past two decades.

Nebbiolo is the great grape of the Piedmont region where it makes a wine of prodigious quality that is worshipped by wine lovers around the globe – Barolo. It is stubbornly insistent on the right place and most would agree that despite efforts to cultivate it elsewhere, Piedmont is the only place where it feels truly at home.

Despite its relative comfort among the beautiful hills and villages of the region, it is a demanding grape that requires extremely refined viticulture and enology to extract its best features and mould it into a great wine.

Tasting Tours based in Asti propose this Grand Barbaresco wine tour to discover three producers located in the 3 villages of the Barbaresco region where only 1,200 acres are planted (the area is much smaller than the Barolo district).

Made from the same nebbiolo grape which gives Barolo, Barbaresco is in a way the younger brother of Barolo. More elegant and aromatic, it is though very powerful and great over ageing.

While Barolo has been around for centuries, Barbaresco is only a few hundred years old and started to be popular in the world of wine thanks to Angelo Gaja who was able to start a revolution in the way wine was made in the Barbaresco zone.

The tour  focuses on the different techniques used by the several wine-makers of the region: small and medium-big producers, modernists and traditionalists. Each one leads to a different wine and taste.

Local incoming travel planner, Tasting Tours, will help you discover the best corners of the famous truffle zone of Alba and equally famous wine capital of Asti.

In between you will discover the culinary secrets of the gastronomic heart of Piemonte from Barolo to Barbaresco and further afield.

View the full day tour list offered by Tasting Tours in the right column on this page. On this page the full range of half day trips is highlighted.

Download Tasting Tours 2013 tour itinerary brochure below

Piedmont doesn’t mean only red wines: maybe one of the most popular Italian white wines is produced here, too – Gavi.

Cortese is the grape behind the wines of Gavi, and it has produced wines here since the 17th century.

It only covers 1500 hectares of the whole region and is mostly found around the city of Alessandria. Gavi wine can be distinguished by its crisp, floral, peachy, aromatic qualities.

This Tasting Tour tour also ends with a visit to the Serravalle fashion outlet for some shopping.

Meet your tour guide and reach the village of Gavi to visit a local producer of this fresh and clean-tasting white made primarily with the Cortese grapes.

Tasting Tour proposes a day trip with local tour guide to discover the beautiful shores of Lake Maggiore in Piemonte.

First stop is Stresa, a charming village caught between the mountains and the lake with its beautiful XIX century mansions and gardens.

Meet your tour guide in Stresa and depart with ferry boat for the Borromee Islands, famous round the world for their ancient charm, history, and enchanting views.

Next is Isola Bella with visit of the sumptuous residence of the Borromeo Princess since 1632 with its beautiful garden.

Then, stop on the Isola dei Pescatori, a small picturesque village with narrow streets and small houses formerly inhabited by fishermen.

Lunch at leisure on the Isola dei Pescatori and return to Stresa.