Piedmont
Girl’s Gotta Drink – Valerie Quintanilla
Private Wine Tours · Piedmont, Italy
Credentials
Luca: AIS Certified Sommelier (lead guide)
Languages
English · Italian
Tour style
Private · Small group
Val moved from Denver, Colorado to Barolo wine country in 2013, two years after a first visit to the region in 2011 convinced her to leave a career in PR and marketing behind. She built Girl's Gotta Drink into a full Piedmont travel planning practice from there, starting with daily Barolo wine tours and growing into custom multi-day programs, now covering Barolo, Barbaresco, Roero, and the Monferrato.
Tours are led by a local team of sommeliers and culinary experts, including Luca, an AIS certified sommelier and native of southwestern Piedmont who leads the Barolo program. Val was named unprompted in a WineBerserkers thread in August 2025 by a community member fielding a question about access to serious Barolo producers. Girl's Gotta Drink appeared in Wine Enthusiast's 2020 wine travel issue for its Barolo tours and truffle hunts.
A cantina visit in Barolo or Barbaresco is not a staffed tasting room experience. As Val puts it on her site, you may find yourself welcomed into the winery that is also the family home, the visit led by a family member themselves. Luca, as an AIS sommelier and native of southwestern Piedmont, reaches these producers through working relationships built in the region.
- Family-run cantinas in Barolo and Barbaresco where the tasting is led by a family member rather than dedicated visitor staff, arranged through the guide team's local relationships.
- Smaller producers across the Roero and the Monferrato, reached through the team's network rather than public booking.
- Artisan food producer visits across Piedmont: farmhouse cheese, pasta, cured meats, and chocolate makers arranged alongside the wine program.
- Truffle hunts featuring Alba white truffles and spring and summer black truffles, organized with specialist hunters in the area.
- Winemaker lunches and dinners with specialty pairings, arranged directly with producers when their schedule allows.
- Wine sourcing and shipping coordinated from the cellar door.
Custom Piedmont programs begin with a consult call, where Val's team works through what a guest wants to see, taste, and do before building the itinerary. Daily Barolo tours run on a joinable basis for solo travelers and small groups alongside fully private programs; most days hold to two winery visits, three at most, since producer appointments in this region tend to run long. Val's team handles transfer services, lodging, dining, and driver coordination, including door-to-door transfers from Turin and Milan.
Private and small-group visits · By inquiry
Girl’s Gotta Drink – Valerie Quintanilla
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This operator was personally evaluated by Michelle Ryan: WSET Level 3, French Wine Scholar, IATA Certified Travel Advisor. Vetting criteria: guide credentials, access to producers not available through public booking platforms, and knowledge intake process. Not every operator we evaluate makes it onto this site.