Alba in early October is a town holding its breath. The nebbiolo harvest has just left the Langhe hills, the cellars smell of fermenting destiny, and one week from tonight the 96th Fiera Internazionale del Tartufo Bianco d'Alba throws open its doors (October 10 β December 6, 2026). And right on Piazza Rossetti, facing the Duomo itself, sits the restaurant that turns Piedmont's most precious ingredients into jewelry: Piazza Duomo, chef Enrico Crippa's three-Michelin-star dining room, born from the legendary collaboration between Gualtiero Marchesi and the Ceretto wine family. Crippa collected his stars in 2006, 2009, and 2012 β and tonight, I'm letting him and his sommelier decide how my evening ends. Spoiler: it ends beautifully.
Slipping out of my coat in the candlelit lounge, emerald silk against candle-gold, I claim a spot at the marble bar. A flute of Ceretto's Brut La Bernardina β the family's classic-method sparkling from the Monsordo Bernardina estate just outside town β arrives cool and fine-boned. The room hums low and warm, and I let the anticipation do its slow work.
The heart of the night: tajarin al tartufo bianco d'Alba β Crippa's paper-thin, egg-gold Piedmontese tagliatelle, shaven with fresh white truffle just as the season opens β beside a glass of Barolo Bricco Rocche, Ceretto's Nebbiolo from the Castiglione Falletto cru (its famous glass "Cube" winery stands right in that vineyard). Rose petal, tar, cherry, tannin like velvet β the wine curls around the truffle's musk and the pairing simply clicks. One sip, eyes closed. The sommelier saw everything coming.
Dessert is Alba in miniature β a hazelnut creation (this is Tonda Gentile hazelnut country, after all) with gold leaf catching the last candlelight. Beside it, a small glass of Barolo Chinato, the old Piedmontese digestif where Barolo meets cinchona bark, herbs, and a whisper of bitterness. I rest my chin on my hand and simply sit in it: the warm glow, the dimmed room, a nearly perfect evening drawing its final line.
π Seven days until the truffle fair throws this whole town into a frenzy β I got here just before the world did. Next Saturday, I'm chasing a vineyard the moon seems to favor. Wear something silk, darlingβ¦ and save me the seat with the view. π
