ON THE ROAD | Elton Muço in Piedmont

21 November 2025

Elton Muço, Head Sommelier and Lounge Operations at 67 Pall Mall London, accompanied Members on a wine-and-food-themed trip to Piedmont last month, timed to coincide with the truffle season. He’s probably had tougher assignments…

That evening, family members from two more producers, Sandrone and Ca del Baio, completed our initiation into the region with a tasting and overview of the Langhe over another light meal of polenta fondue topped with truffle (you might be starting to pick up a common thread here…). 

The next day it was time to fend for ourselves, at Azienda Agricola Marrone (useful fact: if an estate has ‘Azienda Agricola’ in its name, it means it has a tourism element – accommodation or a restaurant, or both). Fourth-generation Denise Marrone hosted us for a cookery class at the La Morra estate, where we learned to make the local regional tajarin pasta –– the Piedmontese version of tagliatelle. It sounds simple enough, given there are just two ingredients. Two egg yolks, one egg white and 100g of flour. What could go wrong? Well, the secret to a good sheet of pasta is patience – a quality for which I am not always renowned. It’s all in the touch – fold, push, fold, push. Then leave it to rest for 30 minutes, stretch it out a bit with your hands, and then it’s into the roller – eight times through, to a different setting each time, so as to get it smooth and uniform, and achieve the optimum size and thickness. Then it’s just about cutting it into strips, in the same machine. Simple!

By now we needed a little exercise to work off some of the calories, so the next morning it was time for a truffle hunt near Cascina Pistone, an organic farm in Barbaresco. White truffles are impossible to cultivate, endemic to the region and highly prized. And we were right in the middle of the season, which doesn’t last long. As a result, there was a certain element of subterfuge to our mission – truffle hunters like to keep their best sites secret from their competitors, and this year in particular, competition is rife. It’s been very dry, meaning, just like wine, the yield is low, which has sent prices spiralling. 

Now I like to think I have a pretty good nose, but I must admit I was outflanked by our canine companion, Tuma, who was in a state of high excitement when sniffing out the subterranean treasure. What was almost equally impressive was his restraint. Dogs are trained only to dig a very small amount – just enough to uncover the truffle, but not to damage it. Pigs, on the other hand, are good at finding them, but then just destroy and/or eat their bounty. 

Lunch came with – you’ve guessed it – truffles that we’d hunted, at Marchesi di Gresy, a 12ha estate at the heart of Barbaresco. There it produces three MGA wines (Menzione Geografica Aggiuntiva – essentially single-vineyard wines) from one site, and we were fortunate to try them all, under the guidance of owner Alessandro di Gresy.