WELCOME
August 2019
Hello Society of Bacchus Members and Guests!
We hope you all are having a terrific summer. Our Piedmont celebration is fast approaching!
We wanted to update you that the formal invitations went out on August 1. Since we know that many of you travel during August, we have also posted a digital copy of the invitation here under the “Attend” tab. Please take a look if you are not able to get to your mail soon. Since we have unique logistics for this event and kindly request timely responses, we will also send a digital copy of the response card via email.
As you know, we have scheduled winery visits, among other items, as part of our festivities and our RSVP cards require a more detailed, “choice ranking” response from you. Please remember that these wineries can only accommodate small groups. We will also need your flexibility and understanding regarding cancellations if these family run operations are in the middle of harvest. Please know we will endeavor to get as many of you as possible to some of your higher choices.
As always, please reach out with any questions or issues.
Grazie mille! 
May 2019
Greetings Society of Bacchus Members and Guests:
We hope you have all had a fantastic start to your Spring! I spent several beautiful days in Piedmont last month as we continue to plan for October’s festivities. (Frankly, it was a bit too beautiful: sunny, unseasonably warm and very dry. Join me in doing a rain dance for abundant truffles in the fall!)
We hope you all received your Save the Date cards and have been able to book your hotel rooms. Please let us know if you encounter any issues.
Please be sure to review the balance of this website as we have updated the following:
- - Restaurants for our celebration
- - Wineries where we have Bacchus scheduled tours
- - Details on an optional village hike (weather permitting)
- - Additional details on the truffle hunt
- - Plus
- - Some additional favorite restaurants should you be extending your visit
- - Additional wineries that may be of interest
- - Further thoughts on Milan
- - Additional ideas if you want to wander beyond Piedmont
An important note: The wineries we will be visiting are quite small and can take only a portion of our group at a time. In order to ensure that everyone has a chance to participate in this experience, we will be sending the invitations a little earlier than normal so that we have a chance to work through the logistics. Note also that the wineries have the right to modify the schedule based on harvest schedules. While we are “Italian locked” with all of our restaurants, we will let you know immediately if anything should change (but we wanted you to know what restaurants you will be enjoying should you wish to experience others).
In the meantime, we look forward to seeing you in Baltimore as we welcome Robert Parker!
October 2018
We are thrilled to announce that we will be hosting you in Piedmont, Italy for the 2019 Society of Bacchus America Mr. Gourmet Induction ceremony.
Please know that while we seriously contemplated hosting this special event in our home city of Los Angeles, we felt that the uniqueness of Piedmont and, most importantly, our passion for this special place and its wine, food and culture ultimately swayed us to celebrate there. We sincerely hope you are equally excited and truly appreciate the extra effort involved in your travel for this celebration. For that we offer a heartfelt thank you.
Our events will take place on Thursday, October 10th through Saturday, October 12th. We already have many exciting things planned for our weekend and will be releasing various additional details in the coming months (see Schedule).
Our first important order of business: HOTELS
As some of you likely know, the heart of the Barolo region of Piedmont, where most of our celebrating will take place, does not have a classic, luxury big brand hotel option. In fact, for the most part, it is quite the opposite of that. In addition and as importantly, the area is "under keyed" for their high season and October and November are the very pinnacle of that high season as it coincides with both grape harvest and the harvest of that glorious fungus, tartufo bianco, the white truffle. As such we kindly ask you to book your hotel rooms now (see Hotels).
We have reserved rooms at four hotels with limited availability at each. Two in La Morra, one in Serralunga d'Alba and one in Monforte d'Alba (three of the five major hill towns of Barolo). We will be providing transportation to and from these hotels for all of the major events. Il Boscareto Resort and Spa in Serralunga d’Alba is the largest (30+ rooms, built in 2009) and runs like a full service traditional hotel with amenities such as spa, gym, television, pool, 24 hour front desk service, Michelin Star restaurant, etc. The other three hotels have 15 rooms, 10 rooms and 9 rooms and have much more limited services and, as such, run more like a nice bed and breakfast. To help in your decision making, the essence of the difference with these options is that Il Boscareto is full service and well run but offers much less design and local architectural appeal and the other three are more design-centric and “of the place” but with much more limited service. Finally, for those who are willing to stay farther afield and don't mind added distance and their own car service or who want to extend their stay in the area, we recommend Relais San Maurizio, a Relais & Chateau property in Santo Stefano Belbo.
We hope this website proves valuable to you and we look forward to sharing more exciting details in the coming months.
We will be using both email and this website to communicate with you, so please check back from time to time.
Distinti saluti,