> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://there-are-no-secrets.ghost.io/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Piemonte - URL: https://there-are-no-secrets.ghost.io/piemonte/ - Published: 2026-10-12T07:15:45.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-12T07:15:45.000Z - Author: David Bass What do white truffles, Nutella spread and Barolo wine have in common? Give up? All three come from Italy's Piemonte (or Piedmont) region, where life slows down and elevation ramps up in northwest Italy. The most famous white truffle in the world is the Tartufo Bianco d'Alba (White Truffle of Alba), found in only three UNESCO protected territories surrounding the quaint town of Alba. They are among the most prized and expensive delicacies anywhere in the world. The white truffles of Alba cannot be cultivated; they grow only underground at the roots of certain hardwood trees, to be hunted by specially trained dogs and their masters during the truffle harvesting season from October thru January. In other words, starting now! We stayed at a wonderful traditional bed-n-breakfast in La Morra, a smaller town about 10 miles from Alba. On Friday morning, I asked our hostess about the nearest laundromat, hoping she would beg me to let her handle that. Instead, she explained there isn't a single laundry in La Morra and directed us to Alba. She also pointed out the annual truffle festival would be start in Alba a day later, making crowds and parking a potential problem. As the numbers below will confirm, the truffle festival isn't the place to be for budget conscious travelers like us. So we did laundry and wandered Alba's downtown area on Friday. Nutella, on the other hand, is quite budget friendly. After WWII, cocoa was scarce in Piemonte, so a local entrepreneur creating a sweet paste from the locally plentiful hazelnuts and a very small addition of cocoa. Recipe and packaging improvements over nearly two decades led to Nutella, the creamy hazelnut and cocoa spread we know and love today. The word Nutella is a portmanteau of nut (for the hazelnut) and ella, an Italian positive-sounding suffix to add a melodic and memorable ring. Our B&B hostess served roasted hazelnuts at breakfast each morning, and we noticed a number of hazelnut groves on our hikes through the hillsides. For every hazelnut grove, there were many vineyards. Piemonte is home to Italy's Barolo wine region, and the wine consumers on our trip all agree that Barolo is the best red wine of all. And that's after visiting France's outstanding Côtes du Rhône, Burgundy and Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine regions. It would seem hard to have a favorite, but Barolo is... just find some and see for yourself. Barolo is made exclusively from the Nebbiolo grape. The root of Nebbiolo is nebbia, which means fog, which is deep and intense in Piemonte during harvest season, which as you can see from the picture above is coming soon. Owing to its complex flavors, aging potential and ties to Italy's royal House of Savoy, which heavily promoted Barolo, this wine is widely called the "King of Wines and Wine of Kings." The House of Savoy was a historic European royal dynasty that started in the very early 11th century and lasted nearly 1000 years. Savoy is credited with Italian Unification in the mid-19th century and became Italy's royal family in 1861 when the Kingdom of Italy was officially proclaimed, and exiled after WWII when Italy became a democratic republic. On Thursday and Friday, we took long afternoon hikes up and down hills and through vineyards and hazelnut groves near La Morra. The weather was good, the path was steep, the air was clean and quiet and peaceful, and the scenery was spectacular. Getting back to our B&B one of those days was a difficult uphill climb, including some recently plowed, slippery mud in one of the vineyards. Our glutes ached and we slept well that night. By the numbers: $5-6 typical price range for a 13 oz jar of Nutella in the U.S. $40-150 typical price range for a 750 ml bottle of Barolo wine in the U.S. $6,728 per kilogram, current price of large (> 50 grams) white truffles 21,258 steps on Friday, our peak hiking day in Piemonte Enjoying this blog? Comment, share, subscribe!