Seven days
in the Langhe
Join us in the foothills of the Alps for seven days of Nebbiolo, hazelnuts, and white truffles as the harvest draws to a close. After a night in Turin, we’ll spend our first morning together exploring the city’s food and aperitivo culture before heading south to discover the Langhe, based in Alba.
Joined for the week by a licensed local tour leader, we’ll taste the famous crus of Barolo and Barbaresco within sight of the rows they came from, poured by the people who farm them, while making time to eat our body weight in pasta and truffles.
This time of year in the Langhe is magical. In the evenings, fog rises from the Tanaro River and settles into the valleys, so that at first light the vineyards appear as islands and the villages float above them.
The cellars will still be working during our trip. Nebbiolo is among Piedmont’s latest-ripening grapes, and fermentations will be bubbling. The young wine in those tanks won’t reach a bottle for years. You’d never see this from a bus in July.
We’ve been diehard fans of Piedmont’s wines for years, and it’s one of the best-selling regions in the shop. Some of the families we’ll visit have poured for you from behind the Barrel Thief counter. This is a chance to spend a week with them on their own turf, while the vineyards and cellars are still alive with harvest.
The week
Turin is a city of arcades and marble-floored cafés, but the first evening is about landing softly. Make your own way to the hotel during the day. We’d strongly suggest flying in on Saturday and taking an extra night, so you arrive rested and a delayed connection doesn’t cost you a day. We’ll gather in the evening to eat together.
We’ll spend the morning exploring the city that invented aperitivo, then head south to visit Cocchi, where they’ve been making vermouth, Barolo Chinato, and aperitifs since 1891. The tradition is every bit as Piemontese as Barolo. From there, we’ll drive on to Alba, our home base for the week.
Vajra is a large, serious producer, and the perfect place to begin. We’ll get an overview of the region, its history, and how Barolo is made, then taste on the terrace before a walk through their vineyards. Lunch afterwards will be traditional Piemontese near the village, and then the afternoon is yours.
We’ll visit the cool slopes of Treiso in the morning for perfumed elegance at Ca’ del Baio, then head to the village after lunch to see our friends and the famous pine tree at Cantina del Pino. Two family estates, both run by women, making wine from some of the finest crus, or single vineyards, in Barbaresco.
A morning with one Barolo estate, in a village chosen for what it says about the zone. Then the other thing these hills are famous for: a hazelnut farm, and the chocolate made from the crop. Lunch in between will be a picnic, if the weather cooperates.
We’ll join a truffle hunter and his dog in the woods above the vineyards, then sit down to lunch together with whatever the morning turned up. Back in Alba by mid-afternoon. Before dinner, we’ll gather for aperitivo at the hotel to open the bottles we’ve collected over the week. After that, Alba is yours for the night.
The white truffle fair fills the middle of Alba and the whole town is there. Nothing is scheduled for our group to let you explore. We’ll find each other again in the evening for our final group dinner.
We’ll leave Alba together for the Turin airport mid-morning. Book your flight for the afternoon and you’ll have a civilized last breakfast before flying.
Where we’re staying
Across from Porta Nuova and the airport train. One of the best-rated hotels in the city.
Just off Piazza Michele Ferrero and five minutes’ walk from the middle of Alba. Named for the Calissano winery that stood on this spot, founded in 1872 by the first great wine merchant of Alba.
How It’s Built
We’ll visit some of the great names of the region, but also small family estates where there is nowhere to sit.
For six nights, we’ll stay in one hotel in the middle of Alba. Unpack once, walk into town, and let someone else do the driving all week.
We’ve also learned not to schedule every minute. Four evenings are left open, and you’ll get a list of recommended places to eat and drink in Alba. Go somewhere with new friends, or disappear on your own. Sometimes, the best moments are unplanned.
Once we come down from Turin, everything we do is within fifteen miles of Alba.
Who’s leading this
I’m Booth Hardy. I own Barrel Thief, I’m a Certified Sommelier, and I judge the Virginia Governor’s Cup and other regional wine competitions. My partner Alyssa comes along, helps host, and keeps the whole thing upright.
I’ve been buying wine from some of these families for more than a decade, and several of them have stood behind our counter in Richmond pouring for our customers. That’s the reason a group of sixteen can get into cellars this small.
We’ve done this before, in the Loire and in northern Spain. The main thing we’ve learned is that the moments people remember are almost never the ones on the schedule, so we leave room for them.
On the ground, we work with a licensed local tour leader who is with us all week: someone who knows which road to take, which door to knock on, and who to ask for.
On the crus
Barolo is eleven communes across a few miles of hills, and inside them more than 180 crus, or named vineyards. Barbaresco is smaller, just three villages, Barbaresco, Neive and Treiso, with around sixty-five crus of its own. It reads as boring data on a wine list but makes complete sense when you’re standing there.
We’ll spend the week tasting crus against each other, in many cases within sight of the rows they came from.
You won’t remember all the names when all is said and done, but I guarantee you’ll remember which ones you liked best and why.
The producers
These are the families who have said yes so far. There are more to come, and we will tell you as each one confirms.
Our first morning in Barolo. The Vaira family have spent forty years in the thick of the argument over how this wine should be made, and half an hour with them beats any book on the subject.
Three sisters run this estate, and one of them stood in our shop last year pouring their beautiful wines for me. They farm Asili, one of the great vineyards of Barbaresco, as well as vineyards around their home in Treiso. Treiso sits higher and cooler than much of the appellation, and the wines can have a perfume and delicacy all their own.
Franca makes the wine here now. There’s no tasting room to speak of, so we’ll do this on our feet, either among the barrels or outside under the pine the estate is named for, looking across the famous Ovello vineyard.
Making vermouth since 1891, and still doing it properly. Most of us know vermouth as something that goes into a cocktail, but in Piedmont it has a life of its own. There’s no better way to open a week of Nebbiolo than with the wine the Piedmontese invented to open a meal.
The practical part
Fly into Turin (TRN), or into Milan Malpensa if the fares or the connections are better, and take the train across: about an hour from Milano Centrale to Turin. Book your own flights and make your own way to the hotel on the first day, a short taxi ride from the Turin airport. On the last morning we run a coach to Turin airport, so if you fly home from Milan, allow extra time or an extra night.
We require it. The simplest way is to add it when you book your flight, which most airlines offer at checkout for very little. Whatever you use, make sure it covers trip cancellation and medical care abroad.
Late October in the Langhe is proper fall weather: cool mornings, afternoons often in the fifties and sixties, and plenty of beautiful days. Fog settles into the valleys overnight and usually burns off by midmorning. Bring layers and a pair of shoes you don’t mind getting muddy in the vineyards.
Some. Vineyards are on hills and cellars have stairs, and we’d rather be in the rows than in a tasting room. Nothing is strenuous, but if stairs and uneven ground are a problem, talk to me first and we’ll work out what’s realistic.
Plenty of people do. You won’t be the only one, you’ll be well looked after, and by Tuesday you’ll know everybody.
We’ll sort out shipping while we’re there, and I’ll tell you what’s worth sending. Many of these wines are available back home through the shop, but many are made in small enough quantities that we’ll never see them in the States.
Where we’ve been
Our last two groups went to the Loire Valley, and to Rioja and the Basque coast in May 2026. A few pictures from both.
What it costs
Plenty of people travel on their own, and we would rather they came.
Holding a place
One thousand dollars holds your seat. We’ve split the rest so nothing big falls due over Christmas.
| When | What |
|---|---|
| On booking | $1,000 deposit |
| February 1, 2027 | Half the balance |
| July 1, 2027 | The remainder |
Everything you’ve paid is refundable, less card fees, until June 15, 2027. That is the day we decide the trip is going, and the day we give our word to the hotels, the growers and the drivers on your behalf. After that your place is committed and the money is spent.
The trip needs twelve travelers to run. If we don’t get there, you’ll hear from us on or before that same date, well ahead of the final payment, and every dollar comes back, card fees included. Balances can be paid by check or bank transfer if you’d rather avoid card fees altogether.
Come with us
Seats are limited, and past travelers are offered places first. The early rate holds until November 30.
Click the link below to write me to tell me you are in. I will confirm your place, answer anything you want to ask, and send an invoice for the deposit.
Reserve a placeBarrel Thief, Richmond, Virginia
Questions about the trip should be directed to booth@barrelthiefwine.com.