TorreBarolo Blog

One of my favourite places to go in the Langhe to enjoy a dramatic setting among the rolling hills is the Grinzane Castle in Grinzane Cavour, less than a 10minute drive from TorreBarolo.

The castle is an imposing building erected around a central tower that dates back to the 1^st half of the 11^th century and post a restoration in 1960 it can be admired in all of its original beauty. Moreover, by being set off from the town and surrounded by vineyards on three sides, it has one of the most spectacular settings in the Langhe.

The castle currently is homes to numerous facilities. On the ground floor is the Piedmontese Regional Enoteca, which was the first to be set up in Piedmont back in 1971. This enoteca showcases the very best regional wines and grappas and each wine goes through a strict selection process before being displayed and placed on sale. The enoteca provides tastings as well.

When my wine fanatic friends are visiting me at TorreBarolo, I always bring them here as from my experience it does have the best selection of the regional offerings and offering good one stop shopping. Here you can find a list of all the wineries represented in the Enoteca Regionale. On the 1^st floor is the Hall of the Masks as well as a restaurant and bar. The Hall of the Masks is where the Order of the Knights of the Truffle and Wines of Alba as well as the National Association of Cheese tasters celebrates its Chapters. The Restaurant Al Castello offers a unique setting; however, it is the bar that I think is worth making a special stop for as it has a huge window that frames the surrounding vineyards that makes for a breath-taking venue to have a café or aperitif.

Several of the castle’s rooms are dedicated to ethnography and the castle houses a permanent museum which includes truffles, rare articles relating to local food and wine traditions as well as kitchen setting from the 17^th century.

Every November the castle is home to the world famous White Truffle Auction where celebrated chefs from throughout Italy and the world attend to participate in the live worldwide auction for the finest Albese white truffles. It is not unusual for the most select truffles to go for over €100,000.

Opening hours are 09.30 – 19.00 (April to October) and 09.30 – 18.00 in the winter months. The castle is closed on Tuesdays.

If you aren’t familiar with the events surrounding the annual International White Truffle fair in Alba, this is a great video that captures the mood and spirit of it. The images in the video are mainly from the opening weekend celebration when the city hosts various events with participants in medieval dress. One particularly entertaining event in the opening weekend is Alba’s Donkey Palio.

This is Alba making fun of its rival city Asti and its Palio (on bare horse back). Other events that weekend involve numerous wine and food tastings. If you want to make plans for a visit, this is a great time to experience the Langhe.  Although the truffle fair goes on for a whole month, many of the events highlighted in this video take place the first weekend of October.