Piedmont Wine Tour
Explore Northern Italy’s Piedmont and learn about one of the best and most sought after wines in the world.
Tour Overview
Nestled in the picturesque foothills of the Italian Alps, Piedmont is a vinicultural jewel, revered globally for its premium wines and gastronomic delights. Our wine tour to this enchanting region promises a sensory journey through rolling vineyards, historic wine cellars and age-old estates.
The wines of Northern Italy’s Piedmont are among the best in the most sought after and celebrated in the world.
The noble Nebbiolo grape achieves a level of greatness in the hills of Barolo and Barbaresco that cannot be matched by another wine region.
The surrounding areas hide grape variety treasures such as Barbera, Dolcetto and Arneis. Traveling to these intimate, yet world-famous, vineyards afford the visitor a deep level of understanding that is unreachable from books or podcasts.
Join us to see and taste first-hand the difference between villages, grapes and vineyards.
What's Included
This Piedmont wine tour offers guidance from expert Kerin O'Keefe, exclusive vineyard visits, a 5-night stay at Hotel Calissano, curated wine-paired meals and travel in a deluxe air-conditioned motorcoach.
Instruction throughout by Kerin O'Keefe, author of the best-selling book Barolo and Barbaresco, The King and Queen of Italian Wine and founder of kerinokeefe.com
Professional-level tours and extensive tastings at renowned wine producers
Services of a tour manager, providing customer service and logistics support
5 nights at 4-star Hotel Calissano in Alba, double occupancy
5 buffet breakfasts
4 delicious lunches expertly matched with top-quality wines
2 gourmet dinners expertly matched with top-quality wines
Deluxe, air-conditioned motor coach with bottled water on-board
Price per-person, double occupancy. Download the brochure to get detailed pricing.
Itinerary & Pricing
Meet Your Expert Guides
Kerin O'Keefe
Your Wine Tour Instructor
- Award-winning journalist and author of three books including Barolo and Barbaresco, the King and Queen of Italian Wine
- Founder of kerinokeefe.com
Claudia Cesarino
Your Wine Tour Manager
Claudia Cesarino will assist the instructor as your tour manager. Claudia’s career started in the international hospitality industry and event organising at the St. Regis Grand Hotel in Rome and then at Vinopolis in London. She then worked in India for the famous Italian wine company Marchesi Antinori, training staff about wine at the most prestigious hotels. Claudia is also a member of the Italian Sommelier Association and an experience guide specializing in Italy.
We visit estates such as...
What Makes WSG Educational Tours Unique?
Top wine industry professionals and regional experts as instructors
Service of tour manager offering customer service and logistics support during the trip
Professional-level visits with educational objectives
Tastings of dozens of top-quality wines during estate visit and during included meals
Opportunity to meet the producers and local specialists
Access to wine estates often closed to the public
You join a community of fellow like-minded wine professionals and serious enthusiasts
Frequently Asked Questions
- You’ll learn so much more than you would on your own! Internationally renowned instructors are with you at all times throughout the trip, giving fascinating information, making sure you understand the nuances and subtleties of the region and its wines, and responding to all of your questions.
- You will have amazing tastings and get access to estates you would not be able to visit on your own. We have the highest-level contacts in each region. You’ll get to taste fascinating wines at each estate, and you’ll be welcomed as an honored guest.
- Your instructor has lived or worked in France, Italy, Spain, or other countries we run tours in, for many years. This has allowed them to cultivate extensive experience and contacts within the region. You’ll get expert information about the wine business there, and an insider’s take on local culture.
- You will not have to take chances on hotels or restaurants you don’t know. With more than a decade of experience in these wine regions, we use our first-hand knowledge to choose the best hotels and restaurants.
- Your itinerary makes the most of the limited time you have in the wine region, minimizes driving time, and ensures that you get a thorough overview of the region and its wines.
- You don’t have to worry about getting lost (which is easy to do on the backroads of France or Italy!), or about drinking wine at meals. You can just relax, enjoy and learn.
- You get the camaraderie and pleasure of exploring the wine region with other like-minded people who are as passionate about wine as you are.
- Your instructor and tour manager will translate for the group at all times, so you will have no communication issues, as many winemakers in France, Italy and Spain have limited English.
Preparing for the trip
Please ask the instructor if there is enough time at the end of the visit for you to make your purchase without impeding the progress and timing of the trip. Not all estates sell onsite in Bordeaux, for example, very few of the Classified Growth châteaux sell wine at the château (they sell exclusively through wine merchants). It is rare that estates offer international shipping.
If you would like to purchase wine, we recommend that you ask your government’s customs office for their rules and regulations if you intend to bring wine back into your country, or have wine shipped to you.
You always have the option of bringing wine home with you in your checked luggage. A specialized wine suitcase is perfect for this. Depending on your home country, this amount will vary. You may have to pay some amount of duty on your wine when you go through customs. Therefore, it's best to check with your local authorities for further information.
TRANSPORTATION, FOOD & LODGING
We choose 4-star hotels to ensure a high level of comfort, including en-suite bathrooms, WiFi and air conditioning. It’s very important for the hotels to be well situated in the region, to keep driving time and distance to a minimum. We want to make sure you are as close as possible to the vineyards and other local sites of interest. The hotels we choose also must be large enough to accommodate groups.
We thoroughly check out each hotel before including it in a trip. In wine regions that are large and spread out, you will only change hotels once or twice during a week-long trip (to keep driving times to a minimum each day), and in other regions, there is only one centrally located hotel.
Organizers & Instructors
Our trip instructors are among the most renowned and respected wine professionals in the wine business. They are also professional wine educators who are absolutely passionate about the region and its wines.
You can see a full biography of the instructor for each trip on the corresponding page, so you can know exactly with whom you'll be touring and learning. Most are native English speakers (American or British), and all other instructors speak English fluently. Our instructors have that special combination of high-level wine expertise, personal warmth, friendliness, and excellent leadership skills. They'll accompany you every day, throughout the trip, and will be able to answer all of your questions about the wines of the region you’ll be visiting (and about wine in general).
Booking a trip
Yes, we strongly encourage you to purchase a very comprehensive travel insurance package once you have paid your deposit for a Study Trip. Note that many plans require you to purchase the insurance very soon after your deposit payment (some require it within 14 days).
There are any number of things that can happen that can cause cancellation or interruption of package travel, and travel insurance can help cover the costs you incur as a result. You can find travel insurers easily and there are sites where you can compare policies (for example, Insure My Trip).
Be sure to read policies very carefully before you purchase. Include your airfare, train fare, and any other expenses you will have in addition to the price of the study trip itself. We highly recommend getting a “cancel for any reason” policy, which offers the best coverage. Travel experts say “if you can’t afford travel insurance, you can’t afford to travel,” so don’t skimp on this important coverage!
Have a different question? Feel free to contact us.
See Our Other Destinations
Our industry-recognized educational wine tours offer intensive, professional-level education within wine regions of France, Italy, Spain and beyond. Led by prominent wine professionals and journalists, our itineraries and curricula provide a backstage pass to the most celebrated wine regions.