An exclusive food and wine tour on Lake Maggiore

The surroundings of lake Maggiore are the homeland of some of the most prestigious Italian gastronomic specialties: varieties of cheese like the "Bettelmatt" are the natural match for elegant yet full-bodied wines like Nebbiolo, the king of Piemontese vines. This exclusive tour will lead you to discover some of these mouth-watering treasures: starting form Stresa, where you'll have an espresso or a cappuccino, together with a sweet specialty in a historical tea room. The following stage will be a cheese seasoning cellar, where you'll have a tasting matched by some varieties of wine. Finally, you'll reach Gattinara, a charming small town which has given its name to a fine red wine based on Nebbiolo grapes: the Gattinara DOCG. A guided tasting of this nectar will be held in an historical local winery.

1. 1

   Stresa

   1 hour

   This small town, standing on the Western coast of Lake Maggiore in the so-called Borromea Gulf, is one of the most visited touristic sites of entire Piemonte. Its territory includes three of the four Borromean Islands: Isola Bella, Isola Madre and Isola Superiora, also named Isola dei Pescatori. The first recorded file about the town is dated 998, but even in the Roman age, the way leading from Milan to the Sempione pass ran by this site.

2. 2

   Stop 2

   30 min

   Stresa is well-know for its sweet called "Margheritine", soft biscuits created in 1857 in the pastry shop of Pietro Antonio Bolongaro. The shop still exists in Stresa today, with its art-nouveau style pieces of forniture. It overlooks Lake Maggiore. here you will enjoy an expresso or a cappuccino together with these delicious biscuits dedicated to princess Margherita di Savoia, who would become the future Italian Queen Margherita

3. 3

   Gattinara

   2 hours

   This small town was founded in 1242 by the Municipality of Vercelli as a brand new settlement, a so called "Borgo Franco": that is to say, free from feudal bonds. Since the Napoleonic age, Gattinara has gone through a progressive economic growth, especially linked to the industrial sector. The city is also well known for the production of a prestigious DOCG red wine (Controlled and guaranteed origin).

4. 4

   Stop 4

   2 hours

   When great-grandfather Luigi Guffanti, in 1876, began to season Gorgonzola cheese, his brilliant intuition was to purchase an abandoned silver mine in Valganna, in the Varese province. n the mine, with its temperature and humidity constant year-round, the cheese matured so well that Luigi quickly cornered the markets: his sons, Carlo and Mario, at the beginning of the 1900′s, exported as far as Argentina and California, lands of Piedmont and Lombard emigration. Maximum attention to the handcrafted quality of the cheeses and passionate care taken in the refinement process mark the proud Guffanti Fiori family tradition handed, down for five generations. Experience gained by processing the Gorgonzola has gradually been transferred to the Tomas of the Ossola Alpine pastures, the Reggiano Parmesan, all the cheeses, Italian, French, English, Spanish, Portuguese.

• Suitable for all physical fitness levels

All sales are final. No refund is available for cancellations.