24 Hours at Reva Vino & Resort, Monforte d'Alba
It’s the time of the year again where it is getting especially quiet in our office. I honestly admit I hate autumns; it is by far the most useless season of the year. There is no snow to go skiing, no more heat to go swimming or sit outside and it’s not like spring where you get in mood for summer and see everything blooming. Nothing really goes ahead and the team is not really in the mood for making new huge travel plans, considering we just came back from a two-months trip through Central America. However, now comes the big BUT. Once I booked a trip to the Piedmont in the end of October, I am always excited and even the worst season of the year gets a super interesting touch. So not annually but from years to years, I have the special honor to travel all the way to the West of Italy for this special event. Wait? I said event? Well, how about if I tell you that a tiny tiny town on the countryside of one of the most rural areas of Italy transforms into the world’s culinary epicentre of gourmet for a period of two months? The “Fiera Internazionale Tartufo Bianco D’Alba” is hosted annually from the beginning of October until the end of November.
Although the name already sounds like food heaven (it is kind of, just very very busy as only opened on weekends), the main highlight is not the fair itself. I am always keep on going back since ALL restaurants (well no need to mention that Alba does not have any fast food restaurants in the centre, this is the home of Slow Food) serve the white gold as I was told a few years ago – also known as White Alba Truffles. For all those who think why I am getting crazy about a kind of mushroom, I have to point to the fact that this is a luxury travel blog and it’s the wrong place to educate on this issue. As the most expensive of its kind, white truffles are just food porn to my personal taste. Nothing can compare with fresh and perfectly prepared simple Tagliolini with fresh, sliced white truffle on top. Well too much talked about the main attraction in the Piedmont we now need a place to stay and as a lover of design and luxury hotels, there was one newly opened property that draw all my attention to itself: Reva Vino & Resort! Situated in Monforte d’Alba, just 20 minute off the capital of Lange region, this chic resort is my new favourite place to stay when in and around Alba.
Basically you never stay in Alba itself, as you are here for the truffle served in the restaurants, as well as because of the wine and the hazelnuts in the Langhe. So when staying at Reva you either dine at the hotel’s new restaurant which serves medieval local food reinvented or you head to Osteria Battaglino (a place to forget as soon as possible as I shall try to keep it secret tough). If you look for fellow Conde Nast readers, best option is Trattoria della Posta. Did I mention, I LOVE wine from the Piedmont. I could drink Barolo and Barbera every day if they would not be that strong and intensive. For me, the Piedmont is the top wine producing region in the world with Bordeaux, followed by Tuscany and perhaps Austria (not because of homesickness or anything else HAHA) and Veneto. To be honest, I swiped out a lot right now but there is nothing spectacular to say about my disastrous arrival which nearly ended somewhere in the Aosta valley with a broken wheel on the Italian highway – no need to say how adventurous that is. After a delay of only 2 hours (I was impressed too) and a new wheel, we arrived at the lovely front desk of Reva Resort.
Soon we were handed over the keys and made our way to the room, kindly been accompanied to the amazing ground floor room that even had an outdoor seating by Dedon. The entire interior design is totally according to the area with elegant furniture and chic textiles. I totally appreciate the details: linens by Rivolta Carmignani, hotel’s own hazelnut as a welcome gift, my world’s favourite lemonade in the minibar (Lurisia Orange Lemonade) and a lovely bathroom. There was a shower cabin, a bidet and toilet along with a sink and a set of French toiletries. For Italian standards, the beds were really good with comfy pillows and there was lots of wardrobe space plus enough space to put the suitcases so all in all the room was totally perfect. During the night it was extremely peaceful, as you would expect from an Italian countryside resort.
After a lavish dinner in the town nearby and a heavenly sleep after I was ready to explore the breakfast at Reva. With a cool farm-to-buffet theme, the breakfast is on the small side, but there was not one thing I missed for a real Italian breakfast. There was orange juice, Prosciutto Crudo and Cotto, excellent cheeses, chocolate cakes along with brioches as well as the hotel own sparkling wine especially created for its guests – due to the limited amount they do not resell this special wine. Lucky me had the pleasure to attend a complimentary wine tasting – YES, after breakfast. I really like the wines and their biological touch – introduced and explained by no one else than the General Manager himself.
Before I left for the actual event of my trip in Alba, I made sure to at least have a look into the spa area. While the initial plan to just stay for a few minutes was not really successful, I have to admit this spa is even worth staying an entire day. There is a huge, heated indoor pool, a treatment room overlooking the winery as well as a wet zone with a hot Jacuzzi, a cold pod, a steam bath as well as a dry sauna. All in all, the spa was super amazing and had a great ambiance, so that I was totally relaxed when we rushed through the completely crowded town of Alba. Generally, Reva Vino & Resort was an amazing decision and I will be staying there again next year for my trip to Piedmont.
I was guest of the Reva Vino & Resort and my stay was complimentary. However all above written expresses our own opinion and has not been influenced.
