Buongiorno from Alba, Medford’s sister city in Italy.

For those unfamiliar, Alba (pop. 31,500) is a town in the Piedmont region of Italy, in the province of Cuneo in the northwestern part of the country. Noted as the White Truffle Capital, Alba, meaning sunrise or dawn in Italian, sits central to the hilly area known as Langhe Roero. This area, once a sea, is now a sea of vineyards and orchards. Designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site, the hills of Langhe Roero claim the first awarded site for cultural heritage linked to the world of wine — vineyard landscape.

Probably much older but “officially” founded by Romans around 100 BCE, Alba is recognized as a splendid town full of rich history, culture, food and wine. The town is also the home of Nutella spread, with hazelnut trees flourishing right next to grapevines.

The native grape varietals of the Piedmont are dolcetto, barbera, nebbiolo and moscato for sparkling and frizzante style wines. The highly sought after barolo and barbaresco wines come from nebbiolo grapes.

I’m here with a group of friends pulled together by David Gremmels, our own Mr. Blue, founder of Rogue Creamery and commissioner for Travel Oregon.

Within a backdrop of vineyards rimmed with the silhouettes of The Alps, our sanctuary for a week is a 13th century villa. It’s nestled in the hills of Trezzo Tinella — just outside Alba — with 18-inch-thick stone walls providing remarkable beauty with pastoral silence. It’s truly a dream come true for me.

We start with a delicious lunch at La Piola, on the piazza in Alba, then meet up with Luisella Vernone, president of Alba/Medford Sister City Association, and Pino Dutto, first ambassador to Medford in 1962. We then head out to the winery Domenico Clerico in Monforte d’Alba.

The heart and founder of this winery, winemaster Domenico Clerico, was nicknamed the “wild aeroplane” by his father, and this vision is present in both the building design and the wines.

From the road, the winery appears to be built into a hillside, a curved, hangar-style building with soil and grass growing on it. But once through the large gates, an expansive outdoor space, complete with pool, opens to a panorama of verdant hills. The exterior structure is modern style, mainly of steel and concrete. The barrel rooms are immaculate, separated with huge glass doors. French oak barrels along with stainless steel, amphorae and concrete eggs are used. The tasting room is sleek with surrounding glass windows focused on the vineyard landscape.

From the first sips of Visadì Dolcetto, an earthy wine with notes of minerality and black cherry, recognized as the daily wine of the Langhe region, to the legend of Aeroplanservaj (wild airplane) Barolo, the wines showcase the finest attributes of Piedmont wines through both traditional and innovative winemaking.

Another wine tasting was a “Sensory Tasting Journey” at Diego Morra in Verduna. This was presented as an experience of wine pairing with light foods and live music performed by a guitarist and violinist.

Set on a glorious patio with vineyard views and blue sky, this tasting featured a red wine native only to this small area called Verduna Pelaverga, with only 19 producers of the varietal. Aromatics of old rose lead into fresh floral and fruity layers tinged with soft pepper. This wine was a new taste to our group, and we all fell in love with it. Morra winery uses a majority of stainless steel for sustainability, along with tasting purposes. The stainless offers a fresh take on the fruit without any mask or fusion of wood. We found them delightfully fresh in flavor. There is some neutral French oak used at times in conjunction with stainless and the results add a vibrancy that is distinctive to this winery.

This particular area around Alba is distinguished by red wines, but other places within the Roero area produce white wines. I tried a vermentino and found it to be delicate, with a tropical bouquet, soft lemon and a beautifully rounded creamy mouthfeel.

My time here has been extraordinary, and although I don’t speak Italian or know my way around, it feels a bit like “home.” I still have a few more days to wander around, sip, taste and swoon.

We of the Rogue Valley are particularly fortunate to have Alba, of the red-tiled roofs, as our sister city.