Monday 19 January 

We had an early start from Andover, catching the 07.35  to reach Stansted (via Waterloo and Bank to Liverpool St for the Stansted Express) arriving at 10.10 in plenty of time for the Ryanair 12.40 to Turin, which boarded promptly and left only15 minutes late. 

We arrived in daylight at 16.00 European time, keen to begin the drive to Gattinara before the traffic increased. Instead we spent a frustrating half an hour at passport check, having our finger prints taken (eventually – hot sweaty hands are best, apparently) and David having to account for our past travels, hotel arrangements and reason for travel. Oddly, I wasn’t interrogated. Another advantage older women have… 

Our next obstacle was a muddle of dates for the car booking. Our supplier had nothing spare, and it took four goes at different providers to find a spare vehicle – either an Audi 6, or a Fiat 500. We chose the latter, from SRC. 

Obstacles come in threes, like London buses… David’s new credit card failed. As if happens, SRC is the only car hire we have ever used that accepts a debit card, as the kind young man declared. 

With some relief, but without a screen that would connect with Google Maps on the iphone, we set off in the gathering gloom for the A4 motorway, and on through the Arborio rice fields to La Pitta in Gattinara. David found the motorway less demanding than he feared; I  briefly enjoyed the rice fields roads. Next time we take the Gattinara route signed at an early roundabout. The locals know better than Google! 

Simona of La Pitta greeted us from the restaurant room which was filled with polystyrene figures and a strong smell of paint and glue – preparing for Carnevale which begins on Sunday. Seems a little early for Lent! 

We ate at Contemporanea – a newish, ambitious restaurant where we had an uncomfortable time a year ago, having misunderstood the (complicated) menu. Tonight it was quite different. We ate the shorter degustazione menu – food they chose, with caveats over eel ( yes please)  and Finanziera (very mixed innards – no thank you). One other couple (celebrating her birthday at parents’ expense), kept us company. 

Tuesday 20 January 

A slow morning, fortunately, as David, despite being very tired after a long day, woke in the middle of the night, fully alert, and restless for an hour or two. Breakfast was once again the Nuovo Caffé Firenze which has nothing we’d like to eat. 

Walked to Chiosso where red-headed, extrovert Claudia greeted us warmly, showed us their efficient winery created inside the redundant former Lavazza factory, bought by Marco, and his engineer partner Carlo ten years ago. Marco’s family have Mirù in Ghemme, and land in Fara and Sizzano, and Carlo’s in Gattinara, and they now make a wide range of wines from both sides of the Sesia. We learned from Claudia that Vespolina is enjoying a renaissance – popular with young women apparently. Seems unlikely to me!  

We raced to the bar for a quick lunch (sausages, cheese and greens) before walking to the Cantina Sociale, the second oldest still functioning in Italy, to meet the shy and young Gabriele. It was founded in 1908 and has vast but now unused cementi and a dozen ancient huge botti under the much more stylish historic building which they own, but now rent to the Cavalleria hotel and its restaurant. There is a lot hidden in this little town! 

Back to La Pitta (having bought a cable for the camera battery en route) to prepare for, and then deliver the White Wines of Piemonte presentation by zoom to the Circle of Wine Writers, before another great degustazione supper at Villa Paolotti where we were greeted and treated like friends. We tried a traditional method sparkling wine made by Paolo Ferri – from Vespolina ! 

Wednesday 21 January 

Still in pursuit of a decent breakfast, we abandoned the bar and tried the newly configured Vigneto which has smartened up the other end of the hotel block with a cafe and restaurant occupying the old dining space. The bar will rival the Firenze at the other end, but we failed to find anything other than croissants, foglie or elaborate biscuits. Luckily we had bought two bananas as we passed the fruttivenderlo. It was a beautiful sunny and clear morning. 

David had finally pinned down Colombare e Garella by contacting Garella, the enologist who has moved on, and we drove in the sunshine from Gattinara in the direction of Lessona for a meeting at 11.00. We missed the final turning and lost ten minutes, but as Giocomo wasn’t there, it wasn’t a disaster – in fact it was reminiscent of our first visit many years ago when a neighbour had to phone for him to come from the vineyards – this time it may have been his mother who obliged. He and his brother Giuglielmo arrived quite quickly and Giocomo soon left us with his brother who felt to be the senior partner in this family business. They also have a bar in Biella and Giuglielmo is reconstructing a house right opposite the well-established Locanda Gallo Storte in medieval Masserano where we later quickly ate a civilised if old fashioned lunch (see final photo below of chestnuts and bresaeola)

Giuglielmo showed us around the winery which has grown slowly around the cypress tree that graces their labels for wines whose grapes are grown on their property. The house his parents bought in the 90s has also been slowly rebuilt as the father changed his occupation from ‘Tractorist’ to wine producer, learning his new business working for six years at Antoniolo. 

In the afternoon, we drove to the other side of the Bramaterra doc, to Psigula, named after the hill on which the vineyards sit, immediately above the house they have created around a medieval tower, and their newly built winery and tasting room. Claudia has a professional background in Chemistry, though now with three young daughters she works part time locally in a school. 

Giacomo, a trained Geometra, has built walls, chimneys, roofs – and elaborate fences around the vineyards to fend off the cinghiali (wild boar), and the caprioli (fallow deer) and dini (red deer) which particularly enjoy Erbaluce. We sat around their kitchen table next to the wood stufa (stove) belting out heat as the sun went down. The two older girls (9 and 10) played happily upstairs. 

We drove back to Gattinara, for a 18.30 appointment at La Stradina. We met two of the five long-standing friends who together created this micro-winery and who in childhood played together in the local street  – hence the name La Stradina. The family of the enologist in the group, who now lives in Turin,  owned very small parcels of Gattinara vineyards, including San Francesco, and the domestic cellar of this family is now the cantina of La Stradina, just a few houses along the via Vittorio Veneto from our kind Dottoressa Mia Pia Fila who had sorted out David’s shingles last year.

Roberto and Mauro were great company, produced some fabulous cheese, and greeted us on the street as we arrived. 

Soggiorno was closed for their winter holiday, so instead we ate in Vigneto. The ristorante is doing great trade, and although its makeover is not done to my taste, it is inclusive and friendly, offering all kinds of food from traditional dishes to burgers and pizzas. I ate a plate of grilled vegetables and a parmigiana, and we drank the opened bottle of La Stradina’s Bustrot with the blessing of the very lovely and slightly shy waitress whom we have met on previous stays. We learn that the hotel will receive a similar make over – in a year or two. We’ll see….

I was very tired and began to feel frustration and a degree of unhappiness at what felt like David’s total absorption in either all things vinous, or football alternating with current affairs podcasts. Its ferocity shocked both of us, and the next day we trod very carefully on each other’s feelings, as we tried to unpick just what had happened, and how we might mitigate the situation.

Thursday 22 January   

Fortunately we had a late start, and after packing up, greeting and paying Simona in her hair salon downstairs, we skipped breakfast and downed a quick cup of coffee at the Firenze before unwrapping the car (windscreen cover to prevent ice was proving useful again) and driving the 30 minutes to Suno, beyond Boca, to Francesco Brigatti whose winery we had visited in 2022. 

It was Francesco who coined the ‘ Bambi effect’ when talking about the embargo on culling deer. We have heard wine makers everywhere lamenting the damage and losses wild animals cause. 

The sunshine of yesterday was obscured by damp mist as the temperature remained little more than freezing, but we had a view of the immediate fields as we sat at his table to taste the current vintage. The snow covered mountains, so present yesterday, were invisible. His wife joined us briefly, and they spoke of moving to Arona so that their three teenage children could commute easily to their respective schools and ultimately to the University of Milan.  

We chased down the nearby ristorante where we had eaten so well last time, only to find it closed, so we drove on to Ghemme to eat once more in the highly efficient Guffo Nero ( no shocks from mistaken texts as last year’s from Kate!) before driving a kilometre to Mirú, where Claudia once again greeted us, and treated us to an informed tasting of Marco’s father’s traditional wines. 

Anzivino winery had resisted all David’s attempts to contact them to taste, but having spotted that they offered tastings for their Agriturismo guests, we had arranged to stay the night there, not least as Simona had no space. We parked as instructed on the road outside, and walked to the coded side gate off the road we had chanced in November’s San Martino parking challenge. So far so good. Emanuele greeted us, seemed less than confident of sleeping arrangements, but became clearer during the tour and tasting. He is very attached to two (very different) dogs! 

Our final supper in Gattinara was at Magnolia, where we shared the ‘Padaletto’ – a seafood stew covered by very finely rolled pizza dough. As we enjoyed a young Timorasso we were joined by Lorella of Antoniolo and Stefano of Delsinore who had eaten here earlier, along with Luca Caligaris, and one of David’s escapees, Paride Iaretti. It was very touching to be greeted so warmly! 

Friday 23 January

Our room was functional if a little cold at first. Breakfast was modest though the croissants were fresher than many, accompanied by kiwi fruit (grown themselves) and David managed to procure a pineapple yoghurt from the silent hostess.  Anzivino is his family’s name, and he had built the winery in the nineties in what previously had been a distillery. His son manages the business now.

We had time on our hands before our final tasting this afternoon, and we decided to spend the morning in Biella, a town with a long-standing textiles trade. Parking, of course, was a challenge, but we squeezed into a very small gap on the via Giovanni Boglietti and set off for the piazza Duomo, where we had a civilised cup of coffee in the Matteo Caffé alongside its posh Cucina. 

An Ice-skating rink occupied the young outside the ancient baptistery and the remaining medieval flank of the Duomo, while the rest of the square is dominated by a seventeenth century reconstruction, whose decorated loggia reinforces the interior, all of which is painted not sculpted, and dated from the same period.  Hideous! 

The most interesting item was an original foundation stone dated 1423 giving the name its architect builder, and we were fascinated later by the high quality sett-laying as the via Roma was being pedestrianised. The funicular to the commanding ridge overlooking the city was unfortunately out of action.

We found a delightful ristorante Il Salotto and ate a more sophisticated  pranzo al lavoro than usual, before setting off over the massive moraine for a 14.00 appointment with Camillo Favoro in Piverone, near the lago di Viverone, not far from Vittorio’s Cantina Sella. 

Camillo’s wines are delicious; though I preferred the two more simply made versions of first Erbaluce, and then Nebbiolo. The precision and care with which all four wines are made shine through. Camillo is not a member of the consorzio, and had not joined us in Caluso last November. He is content with his position in what is a difficult market at the moment; the USA is his main consumer. He seemed preoccupied and expansive in turns, and a little tense.  As David is keen to include his wines in the report, it was generous of him to spend time with us. 

We left at 15.40 to drive to Caselle and the airport, to return the car by 17.00. We mixed motorway and rice field roads, avoiding the traffic around Torino; we had a straightforward journey and left the car with the same young man at SRC, taking the train to Porta Susa. 

We walked to NH Centro, on Vittorio Emaneule II, right next door to the B and B we had used years ago (Il Gioiellino) when we first came to Torino. We had intended to stay at the NH next to Piazza Reale near the river, but ‘Centro’ fooled us. No matter; we had a comfortable room and excellent breakfasts, and they later looked after our luggage overnight. 

We spent a happy half hour trying to locate a local ristorante both on Google maps and in reality. We ended up in a very robust, busy and economical place just round the corner, 4 Soldi eating large plates of tempura carcioffi and drinking Monchiero’s 2023 Langhe Nebbiolo. As we were finishing a large party annexed the room; we were politely re-located for our coffee. All very Italian. 

Saturday 24 January

A lie-in and a late start, a good breakfast and a day without any commitments! We equipped ourselves with e-day tickets (via the GTT app) for the princely sum of €3.70 each, but in the end walked down the colonnades to the heart of Torino, enjoying late morning coffee in the Caffe Reggia, alongside the Teatro Reggia where Rossini’s Cerentola was playing in the afternoon. We eventually tracked down the box office but the performance was sold out, and there were no returns. A shame! We were trying to replicate our triumph in Venice in 2017 with Carmen…

Instead we bought tickets for the Palazzo Reale whose scale and opulence (think giant Victorian bling) was overwhelming. Staircases, throne-  ball- and dining- rooms all gilded and stuffed with tapestries, paintings and gilt furniture and mirrors. Napoleon, and later the House of Savoy were responsible for so much of Torino’s grand architecture, and the latter provided the first king of the Kingdom of Italy in 1860, Vittorio Emanuele I. We headed for the art of 1350 – 1500, and had a fine view of the Roman archeological site out of the washroom’s window

After a pleasant lunch in the ristorante del Duomo we walked up the transformed via Roma, soon to be totally pedestrianised, to see the Porta Nuova station, and from there, back to the hotel. We ate well that evening in La Costa, a fish ristorante on the corner of the main street.  

Sunday 25 January 

Rolleto, with whom we had stayed in May 2022, had invited us to stay again this evening, and join the special dinner to launch their two new metodo classico wines. From there we would be taken directly to Grandi Langhe tomorrow. Our plan to leave luggage at Dock Milano (tomorrow night’s hotel) was thwarted through their lack of space, so instead we prevailed on NH Centro. No one asked about our timings, and we didn’t volunteer that we would collect it in 36 hours! 

Having negotiated the GTT app to purchase day tickets, we set off for Lingotto from the Vinzaglio tube station, to revisit the Pinoteca Agnelli on top of the FIAT building. It overlooks the periphery of Torino and the snow clad Alps beyond, and the caffé is surrounded by fascinating photos of the factory at various stages of its history which record the engineering, the architectural and logistic achievements of the twentieth century. See photos in Piemonte 14, 21 and 27

The permanent art exhibition, comprised of works collected and donated by the Agnelli family has been supplemented by contemporary art work, re-working some of the perceived themes of previous artists, and La Pista itself (Fiat’s famous testing track on top of the building) provides exhibition spaces as well as ornamental grass beds and promenades. 

The temporary exhibition I AM THE CENTURY of the work of Alice Heel, 1900 – 1984 was very absorbing and moving. She painted aspects of life rarely represented in art but visible every day to her: domestic scenes, poverty, pregnancy, and vulnerability. Her own life was complicated and hard; only in her old age did she gain recognition.

We tried to find lunch in EatItaly, but it was very busy with Italian Sunday diners. In the end we returned to the food section of the Lingotto Mall to eat a poke bowl and a guacamole on toast, after which we took the underground back to Porto Susa, and walked for an hour or so while David listened to Chelsea’s game against Crystal Palace. After a cafe stop, we waited for Emmy from Roletto to arrive, to ferry us out of Torino. 

Emmy is in charge of exports, and shared her recent bereavement and recovery with us as she drove. With Hungarian parents, and having lived in both Canada and Australia, she holds three passports and speaks excellent English, Italian, German and Hungarian. She hopes to complete the WSET diploma before embarking on the MW. We said nothing! 

We were shown to our room in Roletto’s agriturismo, before assembling for aperitivi followed by a guided tour of the new winery, built since our last visit. Antonino’s daughter Barbara conducted a tour of the new winery before our rather strange group stumbled into the space arranged for dinner. A local chef prepared outstanding dishes, whose impact (and heat) was lost by an outbreak of long-winded explanations of the new Pinot Nero based wines. There is clearly no shortage of funds for this and Antonino’s other projects.

The next morning we ate breakfast at eight as the sun rose, before Giacomo drove us to Torino, for Grandi Langhe.