The disappearing art of truffle hunting is facing a new and “grave threat” from winemakers in northern Italy. The rare white Alba truffle and Piedmont red wines are among the region’s most prized products, and have been sourced in happy proximity for decades.

But winemakers in the Langhe area of Piedmont are now eyeing up the shadier side of the hills - prime truffle hunting territory - to shield their vines from increasingly hot summers. “Opening up north-facing slopes to the production of grapes would pose a grave threat to truffles,” Antonio Degiacomi, president of the Centro nazionale studi tartufo (National Centre for Truffle Studies) based in Alba, told La Stampa newspaper.