5 things to do in Turin in November

Turin and Piedmont offer many things to do all year long but in November right when you would think nothing exciting is going on it is actually a great time to come over and enjoy this beautiful side of Italy.

4 special events are concentrated in the last 10 days of November making of Turin the ideal destination for those who feel like to spend the Thanksgiving week abroad.

Roero DOCG an evocative wine

Roero Docg

As a wine, Roero is fragrant, perfumed and elegant.

It is of an appealing deep ruby red and its flavors are rather evocative!

Its dry and warm bouquet almost becomes velvety making it an ideal wine for many dishes.

Its noninvasive structure and limited tannins allow us to pair it also with flavorful dishes.

In order to produce the DOCG variant, Roero must age 1 year in good quality wood barriques.

Roero variants

By law, Roero wine must be made with at least 95% of Nebbiolo wine and 5% of other indigenous grapes.

Regular Roero wine must be aged for 20 months, starting on November 1 of the harvest year. For 6 month it should be aged in woods.

In order to gain the RISERVA status, it must be aged for 12 additional months.

Both variants have a 12.5% of alcohol content.

1670 cellar with wine tasting :P

1670 brick cellar where the barriques rest at 16C/60F

Yes, we did it again: we went to the Roero wine district to visit our friend Giovanni Negro and his family at their wine estate.

Initially, we had meant to take pictures of the vineyard covered hills because in the Fall the vines show all sorts of bright yellows, oranges, copper reds to auburns, depending if they are Arneis, Nebbiolo or Dolcetto vines.

However, we have been having an exceptionally rainy November and the leaves fell so we took advantage and visited the winery cantina - cellar and the animals we hadn't already met: horses, goats and geese.

Nowadays the Negro wine estate covers 27 properties and anytime we go, the landscape is simply breathtaking as no matter where you look at, all the hills belong to the Negro family! What we particularly like though, is the connection to their land this wine making family feels, in fact, they also have a vegetable garden, farm animals and most importantly, they use their own humus instead of chemical fertilizer!

As we entered the winery, Giovanni, the owner invited us to go on a tour of the newly restored cellar, he was so proud, he told us right away that the stones and all the bricks we saw where original pieces from the very first building!!

We totally shared his enthusiasm since this winery dates back to 1670 and it's located on a sandy hill so, giving it its current shape was quite a task!

Alberto Lusona's refined elegance

Alberto Lusona is one of the Turin fashion designers who's taking part to Sar.To (in Italian sarto means tailor and To is short for Torino, Turin's Italian name), an exhibit where art and fashion meet in one of the most theatrical places downtown.

This exhibit consists of 9 perspex bubbles containing one dress or fashion piece by each of the participating local designers and Alberto Lusona's stunning white dress is the first and also the most striking one of the series.

It couldn't be otherwise since his style fully reflects his highly creative personality and very skilled hands. After the Sar.To inauration, we had a chat with him to get to know him better and to find how how he works.

Alberto Lusona was born in Turin to an "explosive couple": a Neapolitan mother and a Piedmontese father. To native Italians this detail is already a big indicator of the atmosphere where Alberto grew up in, as Neapolitans are nationally renowned for being spontaneous, creative, sometimes messy, but always with a strong sense of art, while Piedmontese are stereotypically known for their hardworking ethic, professionalism and rigor. In this environment Alberto started his fashion career at age 9 when Santa finally answered his prayers and brought him a Ricky doll. He had longed for it for over 6 months and finally on Christmas Eve, after unwrapping the box, he started making Ricky a jacket!

Bramaterra DOC

Bramaterra DOC label

Bramaterra can easily be considered the intro to the Nebbiolo variety. It is produced on the western hills where by Ghemme, Gattinara and Boca are made, in the Novara area, in N. Piedmont.

On this side of the region the Nebbiolo based reds are lighter and fresher than their S. Piedmont counterparts.

Because of the pre-alpine climate, the Nebbiolo distinctive tannins can't fully ripen and the over-all taste isn't always pleasant; therefore, the government regulations of DOC wines allow a blend of up to 30% of Croatina and up to 20% of Uva Rara or Vespolina (genetically related to Nebbiolo).

Venaria aka Turin's Versailles

Piedmont equals wines, castles and chocolate, we'll never get tired to repeat it, and wherever you are in our beautiful region, you'll always enjoy our rich and velvety chocolate and our wines will get an extra flavor when sipped in one of our castles.

What about Turin, then? Do we have castles and vineyards here too?? Actually yes, we do!

In fact, Turin's vineyard at Villa della Regina - the Queen's Villa is the largest European urban vineyard, and we also have a teeny tiny one, right in the historical city center, in Piazza Emanuele Filiberto, as part of a local green project of urban farming.

As for castles, we have quite a number, both in Turin and in the suburb; simply put, since the 16th century, our kings enjoyed their lives and the area so much, they had different palaces for different occasions, and definitely, one of the most spectacular is the Royal Palace of Venaria.

Lingotto: the Italian Motown symbol

Many things make Turin famous and many are the areas around town that deserve a visit. The elegant city center, Porta Palazzo market, the Roman ruins, any one of the royal palaces, not to mention the many amazing museums. However, in Turin there's an area that symbolizes the industrial past of the city: the Lingotto.

Boca DOC and its scent of violets, spices and pomegranates

This week we are talking about Boca a DOC red wine from the Novara area, in High Piedmont just a little bit north of the Ghemme and Gattinara zones. This is the first area of Piedmont you visit when coming from Milan and it's now the main production area of Gorgonzola cheese and of the Italian rice paddies.  

Boca DOC production area

Turin's Oriental Art Museum

Besides being the very first Italian capital, Turin has always been a leading and trendy city in Italy.

Many national symbols like sport, fashion, automobile industry, cinema and Eataly were born right in this city, where you can also find a number of unique museums, collections, regular exhibits and big events.

Manuela Gomez eternal accessories

Accessories are one of those details that can really define our personality and at the same time dress us up or down according to the occasion. We first met Manuela Gomez, THE Turin shoe designer and photographer, a couple of years ago at the Turin fashion week where she presented her boot collection and artisanal pumps.
Amazed by her unique style, we started to ask her about her life and very personal style and today, after recently meeting with Manuela again, we're presenting her as one of the designers of the very creative Turin fashion scene!

Pelaverga: tiny precious wine

This week we're presenting a wine from an extremely small production: Pelaverga.

It is produced in incredible small amounts in the Verduno and Saluzzo areas. Verduno is near Barolo and Saluzzo is located a bit farther, on the Alps foothills. 

Verduno production area in Piedmont (n.12)

The Ceretto sense of terroir

As real Italian wine country, picking up a winery in Piedmont is definitely a piece of cake: just drive about 45 minutes out of Turin and follow your heart!

When we went truffle hunting near Alba and then to the Truffle Fair, we just couldn't resist and went to the renowned Ceretto Winery.

Truffles and dogs

Every season of the year there are many interesting things to do and see in Piedmont, Fall for example means: harvest, palio and truffles and Alba, in the Langhe wine district, is the official white truffle hub thanks to its international fair.