Alba | Ape wine bar: enjoying Langhe wines

After having collected a good dose of happiness and chocolate gratification in Turin, it’s finally time to hit the road to Alba!

The village is not too far away and reachable after a very pleasant drive of a bit more than one hour.

Alba is located in the world famous hilly area of Piedmont known as Langhe, epicenter of exceptional wines - Barolo, Barbaresco, Roero, … -, cheeses and truffle.

The area between Alba and Asti is, in particular, the fertile ground of a variety of white truffle called Tuber magnatum pico, the best that our beloved planet can offer.

Its intense and sharp aroma makes it a unique ingredient that every year attracts thousands of people to the International Fair that is hosted in the center of the village in the months of October and November.

This year the fair celebrates its 87th anniversary and, unfortunately for the passionate buyers, a record year for the price/gram of the white diamond: 6 euros per gram that becomes 8 when gracefully shaved in front of the guests in a restaurant.

Lucky enough, in this weekend of end of October, we were welcomed by a beautiful weather and decided to enjoy the sunny hours before our first truffle dinner in Ape wine bar, located in the square of the Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to Saint Lawrence.

Deciding to leave the Barolo for the evening, we opened the dances with a Nebbiolo La Spinetta and follow with a Barbera d’Alba Cigliuti, both from 2014.

Barbera, with its perfumes and body, better than Nebbiolo in this case, that was lacking a bit of a punch - probably due to the short decantation time.

Both the two – and despite the Barbera from Cigliuti is slightly more expensive than the average of the Barbera wines – were a good value for money, especially when comparing prices with restaurants and wine shops outside Italy.

Kudos to the staff: kind, generous and attentive without being overwhelming (and great choice of music).

Cheers!