By Tessa Wong

The enchantment starts ordinarily enough, with a ride from the Turin airport into the countryside.

The van trundles down expressways and plain windswept roads, before it starts winding upwards. Before you know it, the scenery outside suddenly melts into a jaw-dropping vista of rolling hills and valleys plastered with vineyards and quaint medieval houses, all dipped in golden Italian sunshine.

This is Piedmont, a bountiful north-eastern region of Italy that is famous for its wines such as Babaresco, Barolo and Moscato, and premium hazelnuts that are used for making biscuits and Gianduja chocolate.

Latteria Sociale Stallone

I am tagging along with two culinary students from hotel and tourism college Shatec, who recently won a cooking competition in Singapore jointly held by their school and the Italian Chamber of Commerce.

Their prize is a one-week course at the prestigious Italian Cooking Institute for Foreigners, based in a little town called Costigliole d'Asti.

Housed in a towering 1,000-year-old castle, the institute attracts students - professionals and amateurs alike - from all over the world for its wine-tasting and cooking courses, which cover Italian cuisine from different provinces.

The town (population 6,000) may not be as regionally famous as its neighbours such as Alba and Asti, but it has its charms, particularly its older portion known as The Fortress, of which the castle is the crown jewel. Surrounding it are steep cobblestoned roads, ancient Italian homes which are still inhabited and swooping arches.

You can really feel the history seeping through the crumbling walls and pathways, and such is its quiet magic that just a peaceful stroll in the hot sunshine can be subtly transcendental.

Costigliole d'Asti sits on a Strada Del Vino or 'Road of Wine', the name given to a route which winds through a major wine production region. In Piedmont, trips to its various wineries are a must, and two notable places are Caudrina, in Castiglione Tinella (Stada Brosia 21), and La Contea, in Neive (Via Lo Asilo 13).

If you are travelling in a large group, you can try contacting the owners in advance to book a tour of their facilities. At the very least, you can still drop by to sample and buy their wines.

Funghi Tagliatelle

There's nothing better than gazing out at the 20ha Caudrina vineyard while sipping a lovely Asti Spumante (at only ?8, or S$15, a bottle) and munching on another regional delight: nocciolini, which are hazelnut meringue-like biscuits.

Food in this region, naturally, is a must-try. The eponymous restaurant at Da Maddalena bed and breakfast in Costigliole d'Asti (Via Roma 43) is unassuming, but serves good authentic home-cooked Italian food, thanks to Mamma Maddalena and her children.

After eating the wood-fired thin-crust pizzas and homemade pastas, which cost between ?5 and ?8, you'll never be able to settle for anything less in Singapore again. Their funghi tagliatelle is like a light, tasty Italian version of mee pok tossed in herbs and mushrooms; their gnocchi pomodoro is hearty yet not heavy, drenched in a savoury tomato sauce.

Another must-try for foodies is La Contea. Besides its winery, this bed-and-breakfast establishment comes with an acclaimed restaurant known for dishes such as duck legs braised with Barbaresco wine, or soft vegetable tart garnished with black truffle. Be prepared to shell out at least ?50 a person for a nice dinner though.

There's also a charming enoteca, or wine shop, across the street.

Shopping for regional specialities is a must. If you enjoy strolling down a cobblestoned main street in a picturesque town, Alba is a good choice with its dozens of paneterias (bakeries), gelaterias (ice cream shops) and enotecas (wine shop-cum-delis). This is a good place to stock up on truffles, olive oils, breads, wines, chocolates and cured meats.

If you have the time, the neighbouring region of Parma is also worth exploring. Just an hour's drive takes you into the vicinity of hundreds of local producers of parmagiano reggiano and grana padano cheese, as well as - you guessed it - parma ham.

Meat producer Antica Corte Pallavicina

Check out the Antica Corte Pallavicina in Polesine Parmense (Via Sbrisi 2), a local producer of a type of cured pork called culatello di zibello. The grounds even feature a bed-and-breakfast housed in a charming 700-year-old mansion, and below the bedrooms in the basement-cum-curing cellar hang more than 4,000 culatellos.

Turin, the capital of Piedmont, is also worth visiting either for a day trip or a last stopover before you fly home.

Reflecting its heritage as the capital of Italy from 1861 to 1865, the city centre has gorgeous Baroque buildings and shopping arcades aplenty, laid out in a neat grid and brimming with heaps of Old World charm.

You get the usual gamut of labels here from mid-range ones such as H&M and Caroline Klee to luxury names such as Prada and Gucci; some items from these high-end labels sell for up to 30 per cent less, depending on the season.

Nip a little further out of the city centre to renowned chocolatier Guido Gobino (Via Cagliari 15/B). You won't be disappointed with its award-winning olive oil chocolate and even chocolates flavoured with floral essential oils.

In between checking out the sights like the soaring Mole Antonelliana, which houses the National Museum of Film and offers a spectacular view from its spire, you should make time for walking around its numerous piazzas and people-watching at sidewalk cafes such as Mood (Via Cesare Battisti, 3/e).

And what a crowd greets you: beautiful Italian youths clattering down flagstone pavements, zooming around on noisy little Lambrettas past goths in piercings and dreadlocks. It may be a centuries-old city, but Turin's youth culture has never been more alive.

As you watch the world go by while sipping espresso in the Italian sunshine, sated with the wine and good food from the past week, just one word will come to mind: paradiso.

twong@sph.com.sg

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Nov 4, 2008.

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