Wine tasting at the most exclusive wineries everywhere has long been on the basis of “By Appointment Only”. This applies to areas as widely spread as Napa Valley, Bordeaux and Tuscany. In the Piemonte, specifically relating to the wineries in Barolo and Barbaresco, they have never been open for casual passers-by to stop in for a taste of their wines. At one point, there were no organized tastings at all in the Piemonte; you got to try a few wines if you were in the trade or were a friend of the owner.
By the 1990’s wine tasting tourism had taken off around the world and Piemonte had become a destination region based on the quality of their wines. But the wineries themselves were – and for the most part, still are – small, family owned businesses that are in the wine business, not tourism. Serving visitors has become a profitable sideline, but no more than that. To control the distraction from their main business of winemaking and to contain labor costs, almost all wine tasting in the Piemonte is strictly by appointment. And the tastings can be quite costly.
Here are some tips to get the most out of a Piemonte visit, while working through the appointments.
- Do some homework. This has long been advice given by Power Tasting, for wine tasting anywhere. But many Americans, even knowledgeable wine tasters, are not that familiar with specific Barolo and Barbaresco wineries, so some prior research is called for. Find out which wineries make quality wines and offer tastings that fit your budget. Then get on their web sites and make your appointments.
- Don’t over-plan. Realistically, you can only visit one winery per day. That’s because almost every tasting includes a tour as well. These visits take at least an hour and half. But there are only a limited number of tours in English. So unless you’re fluent in Italian, there’s only one or two times you can visit.
- Use the rest of your time wisely. Have lunch in the village. Visit a castle. Sit in a wine bar and sample the wines of whatever village you’re in. Enjoy the incredible views. Who knows when you’ll ever be in the Piemonte again; enjoy it while you’re there.
- Take advantage of the exceptions. There are a few opportunities for wine tasting without an appointment. In the village of Barolo, there’s a tasting room of the Borgogno winery where you can just come in and order their wines by the glass. (Borgogno also offers tasting tours.) In the little village of La Morra, which also offers spectacular panoramic vistas of the Barolo vineyards, there’s the cooperative, called the Cantina Communale de La Morra. There’s a huge selection of lesser-known Barolos and other wines to try.
- Try your luck. You can knock on the door of a winery, look very apologetic and say that you don’t have an appointment but you’d like to try their wine. You never know, they might pour you a little. It worked for us, at least once.