viking272

My wife and I stayed for 3 days at Cascina Christiana at the end of Sept 2006.

We were after a nice luxurious relaxing break at the end of a tour of some of Italy's beautiful cities.

The B&B is also a vineyard and winery where they make and sell their own wine. The grounds have a stunning view across the valley filled with vines-also is a beautiful infinity pool.

We stayed in a large spacious room with en suite facilities.They also have 4 self catering apartments.
Breakfast was served each morning (in a beautiful wine tasting room!) downstairs.

The Cascina (we later found this meant farmhouse) is run by Peter and Chrisiana Kaplanski. The hosts are charming, knowledgeable and went out of their way to make sure we had an excellent trip.
They provided lots of information (too much for our weary souls!) on the surrounding towns and villages.

We were intrigued by the wine making side as the B&B is a working vineyard and winery. We got a tour of the whole setup and even had a wine tasting session too. The La Mota and Reiss wines are fantastic, both winning awards.

One evening we were also directed to a restaurant called La Sosta in a nearby town. Seven courses of amazing food for 35 Euros - they even served some of Peter and Christiana's wine!

Peter and Christiana add the personal touch that made for a super break.
We'd highly recommend this B&B which is slightly off the beaten track. A must for anyone interested in staying in the idyllic countryside location with 5 star treatment.
The B&B and area were so nice that we'll definitely be back as there is always so much more to see and do once you scratch the surface!
Thanks again for a wonderful stay.

Betsy

Hey, tell us about the rest of your trip! Your itinerary, the highlights. etc., etc. We long-time Fodorites get a little suspicious when someone registers just to tell us about a particular property. It reeks of advertising, which is definitely not welcome on this board.

From the FAQ: "Can I promote my business or organization on your forums? No, absolutely not. Fodors.com is one of the few major sites where travelers can come for unbiased, independent information about travel. Since our travel writers can't be everywhere at once, it's important that travelers be able to use our forums to get fresh-from-the-field updates and advice from other travelers. Please respect the integrity of Fodors.com and our forums, and find another way to advertise your business or organization."

lincasanova

i do think this sounds like a suspicious post. but i personally did stay there about two years ago and have recommended this lovely place to friends and here at fodors more than once.

i hope to go back someday not too long away.

it IS one of the nicest b+b's ( the rooms) we found ( in this price range) on a 5 night trip. Breakfast was correct, but nothing homemade, etc. as the wife was away.

bellacqui

Well, I am Peter and Christiana's "competitor", and I can promise you that I am quite sure that neither of them would ever use the boards for self promotion. That would not be their style. They happen to have a really great place, with everything that viking talks about. We drink, with pleasure, both of Peter's Barbera productions!! Great wines, lovely people.

They and we share a passion for the Monferrato Alto. Maybe viking can come back and tell us more about what he/she saw and enjoyed the most about our area!

La Sosta is great, Peter turned us on it, and we ended up enjoying a couple of stunning meals there in the fall. The ride up to Montabone is fabulous, through beautiful wine country which borders on the Langhe and the Monferrato.

Sampaguita

Great stuff, glad to hear Peter and Christine are doing well and getting credit, they were building their place the same time as ours, but we haven't seen them for a long time. Also happy to see on-line more and more interest in Piedmont, well deserved in my opinion.

kevin_widrow

Would just add that Diana's place www.baurbb.com gets rave reviews. We have had guests here who came over from Piedmont after staying at her place and they had only great things to say about it.

Planning one of these days to give it a try ourselves !

-Kevin

DAX

bellacqui: So Piedmont is where you left Hamburg for. I don't blame you. Would you care to spell out the name or website of your own B&B? It wouldn't be a self promotion since I ask for it; there are times when I wish my innkeeper is not too Italian (or at least have lived elsewhere).

bellacqui

Hi, DAX,

Yes, I left die schöne Hansestadt, where we had lived for nine years, for Piedmont, that's right. Well, Hamburg certainly is a wonderful city, but at the heart of it, Piedmont is where we were drawn to. I don't miss the rain or the drizzle, you can be sure of that!!

For all of the reasons which Sampi, Phil, Peter, and I know so well, there is some sort of wonderful energy here that just keeps us trying to push through the difficulties of presenting a relatively unknown, special area of Italy (while hoping against hope that it stays pristine and real) and give guests something genuine to take home with them.

If you look at my email address in my signature, my website is the part after the @. Thanks for asking. I hope that if you ever decide to come and visit the area, that you will enjoy it, its flavors and its feel.

Kevin, we really need to visit eachother...it is amazing how having an inn will keep you from moving around even when you have the best of intentions. Your inn is well known to be one of the nicest in your area. I think what those guests did last year - a Piemonte/Provence vacation - is a beautiful thing, don't you?

mcguire

My Husband and I recently stayed at Cascina Christiana in one of the apartments. We really enjoyed ourselves and loved the accommodations, setting, Peter's hospitality (his wife was away) and, although Peter doesn't know it yet (!), plan to return to stay a week in October, 2008.

Peter is a very modest man and, no way, would he stoop to advertising his site on Fodor's! Unthinkable! I wouldn't hesitate to recommend his wonderly cascina to any discriminating traveler!

bellacqui

That's what I think too, Mcguire. Peter is a modest man, by the way, who makes one HECK of a good bottle of wine. And they have not always had it easy--they lost quite a significant portion of their vines to a landslide after heavy rains a while back-- that was before that particular section of vines had started producing -- and had to re-grade, replant, and wait again. It caused significant delays and tried their patience. You live and die with nature here. I am sure it was tortuous.

We thoroughly enjoy their wines, as do our guests. We plan on presenting both Barbera's at several wine tastings this season.

Piedmont_Phil

I have only met Peter once (he and I are members of the same wine farmers union in Nizza Monferrato). I share the views expressed that he would not contemplate breaking forum rules in this way. Perhaps viking could post some more on his trip and put all minds to rest?