I am of Italian descent, live in Argentina and I like to connect with the Italian culture.   This time I travelled to Italy to visit relatives in Asti and I had four free-days during which I wanted to combine some outdoor activity with a cultural tour.

I was referred to Experience It Cycling by the Ente Turismo Alba Bra Langhe e Roero (a Governmental Agency that promotes tourism in that area of Northern Italy).  Their recommendation couldn’t be better for my needs because by only contacting Experience It Cycling everything was solved:  lodging, bike, activities, etc.  My stay at the house at Monforte d’Alba was very pleasant.  It is very comfortable and well-equipped and maintains its local flavor (cellar with collection of wines included).  I imagined myself a Piedmontese countryman living in the house.

The cycle tours were superb.  I am 45 years old and 20 years without even touching a bike.  Kerrie was smart in training me and in organizing the tours.  As soon as the second day, I was ready for tours of some 20 kilometers in the middle of hills, castles, vineyards, ancient towns (Grinzane Cavour, Barolo, Dogliani, Novello, Castiglione Falletto, etc) and making the stops to visit the several attractions in each of these places.  She provides the bike (has several models for all type of cyclers), the clothes, helmet, etc.   The bike tours took all morning and she was able to plan them perfectly so I could arrive home at the due time for preparing myself for having lunch with a friend.  I think Kerrie was also able to calculate the right level of “fatigue”.  I thought I was exhausted but after a shower I was as fresh as a daisy to continue my activities.  After lunch and some rest, in the afternoon, Kerrie came back with her car to pick me up for a tour to more distant places like Racconigi, Cherasco, Pollenzo, all full of art and history.  She hires local guides for these places, focusing on history, art or other aspects as per your interests.

The key of everything is Kerrie’s flexibility.  If you want an agonistic tour, all day on the bike, Kerrie will certainly organize it if you want a more “quiet one” she will do it with pleasure too.  In large groups, in small groups, alone, etc.  And you can freely talk price, dates, etc and she will surely come back with a good proposal. Kerrie is also a good companion for lunch, for talking, etc. and never invades your privacy.

The area offers a lot of things:  a beautiful landscape, history, art, good food and wine, things to do at night, etc.  I had a wonderful time in these four days at Barolo.

I was lucky enough to spend two days with these inspirational ladies in their kitchen, the hazelnut groves and woods surrounding the village, and at a Slow Food market in Alba where they were selling their produce. I gained an insight into the techniques involved and tried my hand at some, including the traditional Piedmontese pasta Plin, a ravioli filled with rabbit, veal and pork, accompanied by a hazelnut sauce and shaved truffle. The feeling of rolling out fresh pasta dough on the table and preparing the filling – was I doing it right?  The angst as my work was assessed to determine if it was up to scratch. Despite the feeling of disappointment if my plin wasn’t quite pinched closed enough, it was so special being taught by people with such high standards – Italians just have to have their food made a particular way!

Bidding La Ciuenda farewell, Kerrie Abba – my infectious ExperienceIT personal guide – and I drove through the Roero region to Matteo Corregio, all the while Kerrie informing me of the history of the region and pointing out the special landmarks. These ad hoc discussions were so fantastic and so valuable to learn about the towns and the people. Matteo Corregio produces several white and red varieties on site. Laboratory tests to determine the perfect pH or sugar level do not reign supreme here, Lucca is adamant that what happens out in the vineyard is of paramount importance for what happens in the production process.

We had just finished our tour of the winery; the old barrels, the cellar door and the cool, clay walled tunnels stocked to the roof with old bottles, when Lucca offered to take us up to the vineyard. “It’s no limosine” he warned us as we jumped into his old ute. Just as well it wasn’t, because no limo I know of would be able to navigate the steep, undulating tracks to the vineyard rows which are pruned into perfect and very narrow lines. This chance offer to see the winery in its most natural state was the highlight of the day.

The next day held in store a drive out to Saluzzo, a small historic town at the foot of the Alps. Arriving at the cheese shop to show up all cheese shops, I was overwhelmed with the variety and choice! These cheeses were unlike any I had tasted in Australia, namely due to the milk used in small production houses in Italy is unpasteurised- a huge ‘no no’ in Australia!

Cheesemakers everywhere here were telling me that the reason why the Italian cheeses were so flavourful, was because of the fact that they use ‘latte cruda’ (raw milk). The cows, sheep and goats are left to graze on wild greens, violets and herbs, giving the cheese a robust and grassy complexity of flavour– a party on the palate!

The next day saw us bid farewell to Barolo and say hello to Finale Liguria, the journey there was as spectacular as the end result! The mountainous countryside had valleys so low I couldn’t see the bottom and mountains so high, the clouds precluded the view to the top.

Seeing this, I can completely understand why different villages had regional food only made in their area. Each area has a different micro climate depending on its altitude and incline, and certain plants thrive in areas where others fail.

The town of Finale Borgo brought an exciting array of winding tunnels and cobbled footpaths. We dined alfresco (much to the shock of the restaurant owners as it was ‘cold’ outside)! Traditional pesto pasta and calamari was the regional delicacy- it was the best I’ve ever had! After lunch we took a stroll into the main square; a visit to any Italian town is incomplete without a gelato! I sampled a rich, creamy and smooth duo of hazelnut and chocolate- absolutely heaven (and I even have the photo as evidence that nutritionists do eat ice cream!)

Onward to a small cheese producer resulted in an experience like no other –

a tour of the farm, a visit to the sheep in the barn and a private degustation in a cottage on a mountaintop overlooking the Langhe.

The whole experience was ‘organic’, from seeing the cheeses drying on their wooden shelves, to seeing the sheep let out for their afternoon graze in the paddock, to Silvio opening a fantastic bottle of red, serving a plate of hand made quality cheeses, bread made with a 40 year old yeast, and lighting the candles for us.

This was easily the highlight of the week in the valley. This was an experience which could never be replaced by anyone- the generosity of our host, the taste of the freshest cheese on earth- the smell and flavour of ‘farm’ was so evident.

The Pecorino was outstanding on its own, but when Silvio suggested we pair it with Cugna, a rich fruity preserve- utterly mindblowing!! This whole experience was like being invited into a family home,  with such pride and respect for the product they made being evident in the tasting we were given.

My last day with Kerrie was spent at the Grinzane Cavour, a medieval castle transformed into a museum and wine museum perched on top of a mountain. The morning visit to another family run winery was also a unique experience. The care taken to ensure the solids are not dispersed through the wine, then the solids being used as fertiliser in the garden. The tasting was also very special, with such love and respect for the end product.

The stand out feature to me of this week in the Piedmont region, meeting producers, seeing and sampling their products has demonstrated to me just how much respect these people show their food and wine they are making.

Nothing is mass produced, the most important thing is to care for the grapes while in the vineyard, to keep the sheep warm at night so they are happy and healthy, and to pair the most complimentary foods together to ensure the greatest flavours are showcased. Here, the people value this care and respect for food demonstrated by the producers. They are happy to pay a little extra if it means their products are shown the respect and care they deserve, and to bring out the best in each ingredient.

We headed to Broglia as I had heard that the Gavi from this producer was very good and it had recently been featured high in the Wine Spectator. Greeted in the “drawing room” of this stately manor we observed photographs of the owners hunting collection as we waited to be met by the current owner Dr Gian Piero Broglia. Dressed in his hunting cloths of tweeds and corduroy he seemed more english than Italian…until he spoke of course. yes hunting was a passion up there with his wine he told us. He went on to give us a detailed and incredibly interesting history of the area and explaining the close association to the Genvoese and thus the development of a wine that suited the Mediterranean diet of seafood instead of the hearty meat dishes of Piemonte. We went on to taste the range of wines from the the sparkling spumante to the Gavi Bruno Broglia made from vines planted in 1953. We were incredibly impressed by the freshness and palate of these wines and happily discussed heading back to the winery again on our tours as well as collaborating by importing some of the wines into Oz with Experienceit wines. As we made our way to lunch in our rear vision micro we saw Dr Gian Piero driving off to his lunch appointment..in what car??…A range rover of course!

Following a visit to Apicoltura Daniele Devalle I was completely amazed and awestruck by how interesting and amazing bees really are! Here’s just 10 of the many things that I learnt about them:

1. pollen is a fantastic source of protein and makes a great protein supplement for vegetarians

2. bees cannot survive if they get wet. They can sense 1 hour before a storm arrives and one will go back to the hive, lift his bottom into the air, flap his little wings and send out pheromones to message to all the other bees to get back to the hive asap

3. bees die when they sting as the sting is actually a large muscle which becomes detached when they sting, it is the equivalent of us chopping off an arm and thus they cannot survive

4. all worker bees are female

5. the boys role is only to inseminate the queen bee and they are unable to feed themselves, the women worker bees must feed the boys

6. only some bees leave the hive to search for lovely pollen and nectar, once they find a great patch they head back to the hive and signal to the others with a dance the distance, quality, type and location of the great nectar they found

7. bees can fly up to 3-4 km

8.the worker bee lives for only 40 days whilst the queen bee lives for up to 5 years

9. bees collect pollen on their bodies and collect it all by licking their fur and creating one big pollen ball which they carry on their legs

10. creamed honey is made of 80% glucose and therefore has the tendency to crystallise whereas runny honey such as acacia honey is 80% fructose and therefore does not tend to crystallise

Oh and the list could go on and on!!!! These really are the most amazing little creatures that are so important not only to us but to our environment.

Well we’ve had the opportunity to try a few and spoken to others that have done most and after last weekend we can safely say that La Fausto Coppi GF is one of the BEST on the annual Italian cycling circuit. Well organised, amazing scenery, challenging but spectacular climbs, scary but exhilarating descents and a  huge “italian” participant rate giving it a much more “real Italian” feel! For me it was my first GF and many had warned me that I had started with one of the toughest. But as I started the famous 25km, 2000m climb through the Colle dei Morti ( pass of the dead!) passing through the gorges and mountain roads I could only think of how spectacular the scenery was. As the climb continued often at 13-15% gradients whilst the legs were suffering I continued to be gobsmacked by the beauty of the road as it led us through famous cheese producing villages where the cows lined the road with their bells ringing out like the fans of Le Tour! Up, up, up to the summit and then on to one of the fastest, most exhilarating and scary ( but safe) descents I have ever done. 30km of smooth road, tight hairpin turns but lovely mountain army men on the most dangerous of all to tell us to slow down…at least a little. Even I managed to register 67km/hr on that descent and there were many wizzing past me!

The only problem with the descent that there was another colle after this which really challenged everyone. Again a quick descent onto the flat and time to join up in the super fast trains and hurtle along the last 20km to Cuneo. Cuneo’s old historic square was closed to traffic so we rode in through the majestic covered walkways to the finish. After more than 5 hours in the saddle the free beer and pasta was much appreciated! Congratulations to the ExperienceIT team who all rode well and most of all enjoyed the day immensely. But most of all congratulations to Davide and Emma and all of the organisers of this great event. This is and will be the flagship event for the ExperienceIT cycling calendar and we hope to introduce even more people next year to this spectacular event!

Well it was a week in which we thought our catch phrase for ExperienceIt should be changed from “serious cycling for serious foodies” to “come cycle with us to gain the kilos!!”. Whilst every day we were out tackling some great rides ranging from the local 80km champions climb to the amazing Colle dell’Agnello we certainly worked hard in the eating and drinking stakes as well this year. Best lunch for the week has to go to our lunch on the terrace of a Pecchenino winery, after a relatively gentle 70km local circuit we finished up with a table full of great wine and local food including carne cruda, hand made tagliatelle, cheese galore and gelato to finish.Luckily that Orlando had put on only a light lunch!!!! After a great couple of hours eating and drinking it was time for the ceremonial exchange of jerseys ( Orlando is a mad keen cyclist and they have their own “kit’) and then it was off for the thankfully short ride back to Barolo.