Gourmet Holidays

Salami in Italy

Truffles in Piemonte

Truffle Hunting, regional specialties & gourmet restaurants

On all our tours the local food and how it combines with the wines is important, but on these Gourmet Holiday tours in Italy, food takes centre stage!

We visit producers of local speciality food where we have an insight into how they are made or found. For instance the rare chance to go truffle hunting in Piedmonte (Piemonte). We taste the produce and there is often the possibility to buy some goodies to take home in order to be able to re-create some of these wonderful flavours in your own kitchens.

As these are still Arblaster & Clarke Wine Tours, we also visit our selection of wine estates in the region, and at meals we will of course be tasting the best regional wines to match the food. For us ‘gourmet tours’ do not just mean gastronomic ‘high class’ restaurants, it can equally be excellent fresh local produce prepared in a traditional way. So meals on the tours range enormously from hearty traditional regional fare such simple pasta with white truffle prepared at the truffle hunters forest hut, though to gastro adventures at great restaurants run by some of the world’s greatest chefs. Although these are not cookery tours, no doubt along the way you will pick up some interesting recipes and tips to try out at home.

(If you are looking for Gourmet Wine Tours that include several Michelin starred meals, do also consider a Reserve Collection wine tour, in particular to Burgundy, Bordeaux, Rhône and Champagne which all feature at least one Michelin starred meal as well as several gastronomic meals at top wine estates).

Each Gourmet Holiday is accompanied by a local wine and gourmet guide who joins you for the touring and the included meals only – so that for the handful of non included meals you can choose to give yourself a break, ready for the next delicious meal, or explore on your own or take the advice of the local food guide as to where to dine.

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Other Ideas and Past Tours

Gourmet Istanbul

19 - 23 November 2012

With the recent rapid interest in the cuisine of Turkey, the huge improvement in the wines and the many lures of Istanbul, this is another A&C wine and gourmet tour first. On this unescorted Turkey cooking holiday we stay in a …

Gourmet Emilia-Romagna

27 - 31 October 2012

Parma Ham, vintage Balsamic vinegar and Parmigiano Reggiano are just a few of the culinary delights you will discover and learn more about on this fabulous Gourmet tour based in the region of Emilia Romagna. Emilia – Roma…

Gourmet Piemonte: Truffle Hunting & the Slow Food Festival

24 - 28 October 2012

Experience truffle hunting in the Piemontese countryside; taste wines from our personal selection of Barolo wine estates; sample chocolates of Cherasco; visit the Slow Food’s flagship trattoria in Bra plus visit the Slow Food…

Gourmet Istria

29 October - 2 November 2008

Istrians tend not so much to think of themselves as Italians, Croatians or Slovenes, more as Istrians first who happen to be Italian, Croatian or Slovene. The majority of Istria is in Croatia and that is where this tour is base…

Bruges & Christmas Beers

2 - 4 December 2006

Arblaster & Clarke began escorting tours to taste the specialist beers of Belgium in 1988. We were, and remain, intrigued by the many idiosyncratic styles, including Kriek (cherry beer), lambic (wild fermentation) monastic Trap…

Ceylon Tea & Gourmet Tour - Sri Lanka

24 February - 3 March 2004

This tour, set up with Dilmah, the leading estate tea-grower, starts in the colonial Galle Face hotel on the water front in Colombo. We visit Dilmah’s offices where the blendings are made, and hope to attend a tea auction. Up…

Gourmet Azores

Our fabulous new gourmet tour visits the spectacular archipelago of the Azores. The nine islands of the Azores have a mild climate, dramatic mountain ranges of volcanic origin and were uninhabited until 1427. Situated in the mi…

Cooking in Provence

Departures throughout the year.

On all Arblaster & Clarke Tours local food and how it is combined with the wines is important, but on this gourmet holiday in southern France, food takes centre stage! Our Cooking in Provence tour consists of four days of cooki…

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Client Comments

"Excellent tour. Food, wine, hotel spot on. Silvia was a star and a very amusing bunch of guests. Only regret not taking a car to bring back some vino. Many thanks."

— NA, Gourmet Piemonte 2008

"We thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience and will definitely use A&C again...The whole group were fantastic and excellent fun. Silvia is a first class, superb host and knows her stuff, accommodates individual's needs without affecting those of the group. Ascheri hotel is first class and the wines also as good. Being able to arrange your own transport is a positive as it allowed us to bring plenty back and extend our European tour."

— PM, Gourmet Piemonte 2008

"The fixed-menu meals were great for forcing my husband to try dishes he would not have tried in a hundred thousand years and we were both surprised when he loved them - such as pork tenderloin with prune sauce, watermelon gazpacho. My husband said the tour was "fabuloso", very rare praise from him"

— JR, Barcelona & Priorat September 2012

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