Alba, Italy : Part One

Our weekend trip to Alba, Italy was not my first time to Italy but it was certainly one of the most delicious.  We wanted to go to Alba for the white truffle festival but also planned on wine tasting since the area (Piedmont) had many wonderful wineries.  Since Alba is in the north western part of Italy it was only a 4 hour drive from Geneva.  And because we made the trip by car, we were able to bring back a few cases of wine to Geneva. 

After leaving Friday afternoon and hauling it to Alba, we met our friends Dorothy, Bob, Aneta, Richard and their baby Oliver at the first winery.   Sadly, I left the camera in the car for the first stop. 

Dorothy and Oliver

Next we headed to the winery Elio Grasso. Jim had requested this stop because we had bought the wine in the US a few times and loved it.  Despite shipping internationally the winery is still family operated and has a vineyard holding of 14 hectares.  The family was so welcoming to our group and gave us a tour of the wine making facilities and a wonderful tasting at the end.

After the tasting we left Elio Grasso to check into our hotel.  And of course I forgot to take the obligatory room photo.  It wasn't anything special, but we were staying on a farm.  Like a lot of hotels in Italy we stayed at an Agriturismo, this means a working farm or winery (or some business) that also has rooms for rent (like a bed & breakfast).

After checking in we barely had time to rest before leaving for dinner.  I have to admit we were not prepared for what was in store.  Dinner was a set menu with 4 courses.  Antipasti, Pasta, Meat and Dessert.  The food was served family style and it just kept coming.  For the Antipasti there were 6 dishes!  When the pasta came we knew we were in trouble.  Finally we decided to skip the meat course so we could have dessert.  The amazing thing was for all that food it was 20 Euros per person!  We also tried the illusive white truffle for the pasta course.  Pretty much one of the most delicious things I've ever had.
 

white truffle

Jim and Bob