In Dogliani, Piemonte we explored some of those local products . After finding our unusual vegetable puntarella, we moved over to the Sicilian blood oranges and an array of radicchio. In this video, Chef Denise talks about their flavor profiles and how best to combine them. Of course, a beautiful salad recipe came to Chef Denise's mind and she is so generous to share it here with us!

On a beautiful sunny morning in March, Denise let me tag along with her to the Dogliani town farmers market in the beautiful wine country. She introduced me to an incredibly fascinating vegetable called puntarella, which is a Catalonian type of chicory, and also talked to me about mint and radicchio. 

Born in the era of the French Revolution, her family lived in exile in Germany and the Netherlands until Napoleon granted most of the aristocrats amnesty. Looking to unite ties between Piemonte and France, Giulia Colbert married a fellow courtier and soon-to-be Count of the Empire, Carlo Tancredi Falletti, who had strong ties to the Barolo area. She became known as the Marchesa of Barolo.

Anna Savino, tour guide for Italianna Food & Wine Tours and American ex-pat living in Cuneo, Italy, takes us on a visit to Vernante, as small village in the Piemonte region, and shares the secrets behind why this charming place has become “The Town of Pinocchio.”

Anna Savino of Italianna Food & Wine Tours and Lisa Anderson of Lisa's Dolce Italia introduce us to Ryta Barbero (known as "PurpleRyta"), an artist in Barolo who paints with wine.

Learn how you discover the culture and spirit of wine and how you can make your own wine art with some leftover bottle of wine!

Two of our Guide Collective guides (wine aficionado Anna Savino of Italianna Food & Wine Tours and winemaker Roberto Bechi of Tours by Roberto) sit down for an insightful conversation about the wines of Italy, as well as wine history and culture.