Cascina delle Rose

We had an extraordinarily good time staying with Giovanna. We stayed for a full week in a beautifully furnished upstairs apartment that was spotlessly clean with a breathtaking view of the Piedmont countryside and the river valley near Alba. During daylight, we could see the towns and castles on the ridge on the other side of the valley, perhaps 12 miles away, and at night their lights were magical. On a clear day from our window we could see the Maritime Alps 80 miles away. Giovanna provided...

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We had an extraordinarily good time staying with Giovanna. We stayed for a full week in a beautifully furnished upstairs apartment that was spotlessly clean with a breathtaking view of the Piedmont countryside and the river valley near Alba. During daylight, we could see the towns and castles on the ridge on the other side of the valley, perhaps 12 miles away, and at night their lights were magical. On a clear day from our window we could see the Maritime Alps 80 miles away. Giovanna provided many unexpected extras for our apartment: many changes of towels and bed linens; rolls every morning; plenty of soap; coffee (and a miraculous coffee machine that provided espresso’s at the push of a button); cookies, snacks, etc. Her shower was the largest and best appointed that we found in three months of travel in Italy. Giovanna was kind enough to show us the single rooms (with baths) that she has available as well as the two other apartments. If anything, they were even better appointed than our large apartment. All of her rooms/apartments are large, airy, very modern plumbing, large showers, extremely tasteful country-style furnishings and all but one have wonderful views. Giovanna set out to treat us as friends rather than arms-length guests and we quickly became close. Giovanna, her husband Italo and her two young sons, all of whom speak fluent English (Giovanna also speaks French and German) operate an active vineyard and market their wines worldwide. Giovanna and Italo gave us a ’wine tasting’ (that of course may not be available to all guests) that was most enjoyable and we learned much about Nebbiolo and Barbaresco wines. At first, we were concerned that we were 10 tof 15 minutes’ drive from Alba as we had planned to eat dinners in that city, but quickly lost our concern. We were astounded to discover that within several miles of Tre Stelle (the little hamlet in which Cascina delle Rose is located) there are at least 8 great restaurants, one of them Michelin Starred. We never ate in Alba but dined gloriously at 5 different restaurants, all delicious, all serving typical Piemonte cucina rustico, and all recommended by Giovanna. (Our favorites were Resorgimento in the little town of Treiso just above Tre Stelle and Rabaya on the outskirts of the town of Barbaresco.) We found Tre Stelle to be a location where we could easily go south, west or east in our many explorations of the Piemote countryside. Barola, Il Morro, Cherasco, and many other little towns are easily and quickly reached from this location. Also, Cascina delle Rose is not at the end of a long dirt road as are some agriturismo’s, but is only 100 feet off a hard top two lane highway that ends at an Alba roundabout, 100 yards from the town’s piazza del duomo. We have no negatives with respect to the Cascina and, truly, this is an unpaid, unsolicited recommendation. You will enjoy immensely any time spent with Giovanna and Italo at Cascina delle Rose.

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