Day one in Piedmont Italy - Monday 20th January

We arrived at our destination just as the sun was setting behind the stunning Alpine background, surrounded by vineyards as far as the eye could see at the Il Cascinone estate which was where we would be staying for next couple of days. The journey was a bit of an adventure in itself - for those of you who have driven in Italy, I'm sure you can empathise with us when we say that the road signs are some of the most subtle and discreet we have had to follow! But we made it, just in time before darkness descended, ready to embrace on our Italian adventure.

The group of 12 was made up of guests from as far north as Orkney to down south in Oxford, and hearing all the different accents talk about our same passion 'Wine!' was a bit tricky for our host for the evening to understand at first.

We met up with Claudio (head of the table) from Araldica Vini who took us out for our first 6 course dinner of the week. Claudio Manera is the Managing Director and Oeneologist for Araldica Vini. He had arranged this superb feast at a local restaurant for us, and what a feast it was....... Courses included veal tartare and wild boar pasta, and little did we realise that this was going to be norm for the duration of the stay.

Along with the incredible food, we were also served some fine wines from the area including Alexander Wines favourite Gavi 'La Battistina'. We sipped the winerys latest vintage, 2013, and its zesty and mouth watering flavours were perfect for refreshing the palate after all the rich food.

£9.45

After tasting some of the local Grappa (whooft), we headed back to Il Cascinone for a well needed sleep as the next day was going to be full on. As we headed back, the stars sparkled bright in the sky and the mists started to roll in through the hills which are really important for the grapes in this area.