Welcome to StayInPiedmont - luxury B&B and apartment rental on our Vineyard in centre of Piemonte wine region


Majestic Alps tower above the vineyards and town of Fontanile in Piedmont	English, American and Bermudian visitors enjoy a guided tour through the vineyards and surrounding hills

We are Phil and Ingrid Blades vineyard owners, wine producers, reformed corporate executives, guardians of nature, poor but happy farmers, learners of Italian, parents of Kevin and last but definitely not least, your hosts!

We welcome you to our web site where you can find lots of information on:

Our bed and breakfast or self-catering apartment accommodation’s;
our vineyard and wines and;
on a host of other topics relating to Piedmont (Piemonte) in Italy.

We sincerely hope the information on this site will encourage you to visit this very special place.

Here at Vecchio Podere Santa Cristiana (translates as ancient grand farmhouse) in addition to looking after our guests, we grow Barbera DOC and Moscato DOCG grapes and produce our own quality wines which are for sale here and in the UK. Our farmland extends to about 7 hectares [around 18.2 acres] with just under half currently populated with vines. We are actively developing the vineyards and hope soon to add other grape varieties to our mix. Read more on the wines and vineyard side of life.

WHERE IS PIEDMONT?

Piedmont is in the North West of Italy. Being bordered by the Alpine mountains of France and Switzerland, and by Liguria [home of the Italian Riviera] means amazing geographical features abound. Here you will find mountains, lakes, the sea and hills. Go to the ‘About Piedmont’ button on the menu. or ‘Things To Do’ menu button for more details.

Vecchio Podere Santa Cristiana can be found on a hilltop 219 metres (689 feet) above sea level about 1 mile from the village of Castelnuovo Belbo [near Nizza Monferrato]. The good news is that seclusion does not translate into ‘miles from civilization’, it just feels that way. Airports, train stations and major motorway links are close

See us/find us on Google Earth with this link (note: you must have Google earth installed for the 1st link to work):

View in Google Earth View in Google Maps


barbera vineyards above the house	harvesting our moscato grapes

Why should you visit our part of Piedmont?

We personally think that one of the most attractive things about this place is that it has not yet succumbed to the commercial imperatives of mass tourism. You will find no hybrid culture, no diluted cultural norms; this place is genuine and 100% authentic, the real Italy lives on. If you are up for the adventure of discovering great wine and food and exploring one of the few places in mainland Europe with oodles of history and culture but not yet overrun with tourists, then we will be delighted to welcome you here.

Things to see in Piedmont

visitors to our B&B tell us..

Still interested? Then check out the list we have compiled below of the most common things our guests repeatedly tell us they like.

The feeling of calmness from the seclusion and tranquillity of the surroundings and the views that lift the spirits and rarely disappoint;
We can also attest that drinking the local wines and sampling great food seems to positively influence guests experience;
The Italian culture as experienced through local people who are kind and generous to visitors;
When temperatures climb guests enjoy the benefits of relaxing around our environmentally friendly salt water pool. No chlorine and the pools great position with views over the vineyards are often mentioned in guests feedback;
Catching the odd glimpse of the varied wildlife that roam in our orchards and woods;
Location, location, location – varied activities and terrains, great drives.


visit local craft fairs	taste gourmet foods

Testimonials and reviews

OK so we love this place and that naturally means we might be a tad biased, we recommend therefore that you read some independent guest reviews on the independent site trip advisor (link below) or here to read some of their reviews we have copied directly onto our site.

Our final point on the ‘Why Here’ question is that we believe the best way to answer this is to give you enough information for you to decide for yourself, so please enjoy exploring our web site.


view of the house from the vineyards	the 11 x 5 metre pool nestled in our vineyards with views to the Alps

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Latest visitors review:

We have just returned from a short break on a hilltop retreat with stunning views at Vecchio Podere, a working vineyard near Castelnuovo Belbo.
The accommodation, provided by our hosts Phil & Ingrid Blades, is excellent, in a magnificent setting of the rolling vineyards & hills of Piedmont. We have never had an experience where we (there were 8 of us) have relaxed and re-charged our batteries so quickly and effortlessly. This was in no small part due to the very friendly welcome, excellent service, information & guidance given to us by Phil & Ingrid - what really nice people, hosts and guardians of their own domain.
The location of Vecchio Podere is probably perfect - perched on the side of a gentle hill, with the pool and terrace area giving a terrific view across the vineyards and valley. It was so incredibly peaceful we were able to "step off the world" and just enjoy our company, location, service and Phil & Ingrid's homegrown red and white wine (at very reasonable prices). Ingrid's healthy and tasty breakfast are mainly drawn from her own home grown and local produce - a really good, relaxing start to the day (how often do we all rush breakfast? - not here, it's part of the experience)
The villages and towns around Santa Cristiana, all 30 minutes or less by car, are still authentically Italian with excellent restaurants at cafe prices, and such friendly and lovely people who take pleasure in ensuring you have good food and enjoy your meal...great!.

Overall I would say this is probably one of the best places we have ever stayed on holiday..... we are definitely going to try and get back before the secret is known by everyone.
Brian & Marie, Liverpool, England........ read more

I cannot recommend staying with Phil and Ingrid highly enough. They are superb hosts with a true passion for the region and culture that they have adopted as their own. This comes through particularly in their love and knowledge of the food and especially the wine of Piedmont, which they produce themselves with admirable results....... read more

view our in-house visitors book pages

visit our friends - antiquepiedmont.com

A very warm welcome to www.stayinpiedmont.com, the home of Vecchio Podere Santa Cristiana - a working vineyard & premium wine producer in Piedmont (Piemonte), Italy