December 1, 2025
We drink wine. That’s probably obvious — our website is everydaychampagne.com, not champagneisforspecialoccasions.net.
But let’s be clear: we’re not wine snobs.
And since I’ve completely made up my own scale of wine drinkers, here’s how I see it:
- “I’ll have a glass of wine” drinkers: The occasional white sipper. It takes them 90 minutes to finish a glass of Sauvignon Blanc, mostly because they forgot it was there.
- “I like wine” drinkers: The people who actually do drink the 3-4 glasses a week doctors recommend. We applaud their restraint.
- “I am a wine drinker” drinkers: That’s us. We say we drink 3-4 glasses a week, but we mean per night. We know what we like, we’re discerning, and we’re still (mostly) functioning adults.
- Wine snobs: The collectors. The people with humidity-controlled cellars and wine openers worth more than your car. They bring their own bottles to dinner, even at restaurants.
Now, wine snobs are great to know. They’ll always pour you something special, but they’ll also trap you in a 30-minute TED Talk if you casually mention you like Nebbiolo.
Anyway, Piemonte. (See, we got there eventually.)
Bicycling through hilltop towns
Piemonte — or Piedmont, if you’re stateside — is the northwest corner of Italy where Nebbiolo reigns supreme. It’s one of Italy’s top three wine regions and home to three of the four legendary Bs: Barolo, Barbaresco, and Barbera d’Alba. (The fourth, Brunello, lives down in Tuscany with the fancy leather goods and great pottery.)
The region sits between Turin and Milan, stretching from the Alps to the Mediterranean, and it’s covered in vines growing Nebbiolo, Barbera, and Dolcetto.
Did we need to bike through Piemonte for a week to learn that?
No. That’s basic wine drinker 101.
But what we did learn is that our favorite wines are also, of course, the most expensive. Turns out the humble Langhe Nebbiolos couldn’t hang with the Barolos and Barbarescos. Amazing for the taste buds, terrible for the wallet.
Wine-talk aside, Piemonte is breathtaking. Picture rolling hills blanketed with vineyards and hazelnut trees, dotted with hilltop villages straight out of a fairy tale. It’s the Italy that ruins all other Italys for you.
The heart of Piemonte centers around Asti and Alba. We flew into Turin, drove about 90 minutes to Canelli (east of Alba), then spent the week exploring east and south from there. We eventually flew out of Milan — about two hours from wine country — and left a little piece of our liver behind.
Highlights
Bicycling & Boozy Lunches
Our days went something like this: hop on the bike around 9:30, roll through postcard-perfect villages like Verduno, La Morra, Barolo, Dogliani, Monforte d’Alba, Neive, Barbaresco, Treiso, Serralunga d’Alba, Sinio, and Santo Stefano Belbo. Then earn our late (read: boozy) lunch.
Yes, there were hills. Yes, we complained. But when lunch starts at 2:00 and involves wine that costs more than your bike helmet, you find motivation.
The best stops? Barbaresco, Serralunga, and Verduno — all a little quieter, with killer views and no bus tours unloading next to your table. Barolo, Monforte, Neive, and La Morra are beautiful and very popular, but you’ll be sharing them with everyone else on the planet.
Barbaresco
Hotels
We split our time between two spectacular hotels about 45 kilometers apart — Casa di Langa and Relais San Maurizio — each with “is this even real?” views of the countryside.
Both spots were the perfect home base for exploring, drinking, and photographing the surrounding montage of Nebbiolo grapes.
The Wine
We didn’t hit a bunch of vineyards (too much biking, not enough liver capacity). Instead, we let the sommeliers at lunch and dinner guide us through local bottles, a far better strategy for variety and hydration.
That said, we did two proper tastings: one at Coppo in Canelli (open to the public) and one at Gaja in Barbaresco (decidedly not open to the public). Both were incredible — and very different. Think “down-to-earth Italian charm” vs. “legendary wine royalty.”
Relais San Maurizio
Coppo Winery
Gaja Winery
Final Piemonte Thoughts
The hills of Piemonte are more dramatic than Tuscany’s — your quads will notice — but the villages feel more authentic (and far less selfie-stick central). You don’t have to be a wine nerd to fall in love with the place.
Bonus: Piemonte pairs well with many other northern-ish Italian destinations. Combine your trip with a quick stop in Milan (two days, max), or tack on Venice, Genoa, Cinque Terre, or Lake Como, all within a three-hour drive.
Relaxation on Lake Como
Lake Como
After 250 kilometers of biking through Piemonte’s hills (and pretending we liked the climbs), we decided we’d earned some downtime. So, we traded our morning bikes for bellinis and drove less than three hours to Lake Como, Italy’s crown jewel of chill.
Como is massive — two long, winding arms that meet in a deep-blue “Y,” flanked by the Alps just casually hanging out in the background. Picture a smaller, sunnier Norway with better wine and better shoes.
Lake Como Tips (from tourists who dislike tourists):
Skip the tourist trio — Bellagio, Varenna, and Menaggio are lovely… if you enjoy souvenir shops and ferry-ship crowds. If you must pick one, go for Varenna — charming, colorful, and slightly less chaos.
Stay small and serene — Find a hotel near a chill village like Torno, Nesso, or Moltrasio. Our top pick: Il Sereno, a sleek, understated dream hotel perched right over the water. (If your wallet needs a break, Filario up the lake is another solid option. Our friends raved about it.) The other big dogs that are quite impressive (budget aside) are Villa D’Este, Passalacqua Hotel and Grand Hotel Tremezzo.
Il Sereno
Flying out of Milan? Stay closer to Como. There’s basically one road, and when it jams, you’re not going anywhere fast.
Get on the water. Private boat tour. Worth every euro. You’ll feel like George Clooney, minus the paparazzi.
Visit Como city (briefly).
Wander the cathedral, grab a Neapolitan pizza, stroll the waterfront. Then go right back to your hotel terrace and do absolutely nothing.
Seriously. Relax.
Como isn’t about checking boxes. It’s about sitting still long enough to realize you don’t need to check any.
City of Como
After nearly 30 trips to Italy, people always ask our favorite spot. Impossible question. But if you want a wine region without the Tuscany crowds, Piemonte is magical, especially when paired with a water escape like Lake Como, Venice, or Cinque Terre.
Northern Italy feels like a different country altogether — cooler air, quieter charm, fewer crowds.
Best Italy advice? Don’t try to “do” it all in one two-week trip. The joy of Italy is in the details: the espresso breaks, the side streets, the lazy afternoons.
Second-best advice? Make friends with the Nebbiolo grape. You’ll thank us later. 🍷
