Wine: Barolo Bricco Delle Viole
Producer: Marengo
Region/Appellation: Piemonte, Italy
Grape varieties: Nebbiolo
Vintage: 2009
Eye: ruby red
Nose: rose, dark berry, spice
Mouth: black cherry, cinnamon, vanilla
Price Point: $32
Available at Vinmonopolet: not yet
#tbt to the time me and my dad got to taste all the barolos with Elio and Silvia Altare right before bottling. They do this to see how the wines are doing, if they need to be racked and if the levels are ok. 
Elio Altare, Tess and my dad
When you visit with Nadia it’s more like a casual aperitivo than a wine tasting. She offers some salami and cheese, opens a few wines and you just sit around and drink together. I always love coming here, I just have the best time. Nadia is wonderful, extremely funny and very kind. It was a while since I’d been there, and one thing that was very different from last time was her labels! She completely changed them, as you see above. Below are her old labels.
My brother enjoying the wine and salami
The 2012’s are looking really good, it was a treat to taste her 2012 Arborina. She brought out a 2007 so we could compare them, which is always fascinating. The 2007 is showing well. Nadia also makes a Freisa, which is a lesser known wine, but quite a few producers make it. Sometimes it’s fizzy and sometimes not, some make it one way on purpose and others make it so it’s fizzy one year and not fizzy another. Anyways, it was an excellent visit and I hope to be back soon!
New label vs Old label
Dinner with Luisa Rocca in Barbaresco
Had a chance to taste 1995 Larigi
Lairig and Ito having a moment @ More e Macine
Yet another dinner at Al Velu by Lake Como (old picture of the family
Friday Pizza in Lake Como (snapchat photo)
During my visit to Beaune this summer, Joseph Voillot was my first visit. It was funny because I emailed them thinking I would probably get the same response as I’d been getting from all other producers saying: “we are closed, we do not take visits”, etc etc. However, he replied that we were welcome to visit and voila: he was penciled in.
I walked around Volnay looking for him, first at what looked like the wine cellar and then at what looked like his house. I rang the bell and a woman (I think maybe his mother) opened. In my terribly limited french I tried to explain I had an appointment. She disappeared into the house and a few minutes later Mr. Voillot was there!
He came directly from the vineyards in his tractor. He lead the way through this very tiny door into a small tasting room. There I tasted through his wines while we had a strange conversation in french/english/gibberish. It’s not easy carrying on a conversation when neither speaks the others language. But we managed and I actually learned a little more about wine. It was a truly fantastic experience and I hope to meet him again soon.
Wine: Barolo Vigna Giachini
Producer: Giovanni Corino
Region/Appellation: Barolo, Piemonte
Grape varieties: Nebbiolo
Vintage: 2006
Eye: bright ruby red
Nose: fruity, cherry and raspberry, some licorice, roses,
Mouth: silky tannins, easy to drink, fruity, balanced with firm structure
Price Point: $71
Available at Vinmonopolet: Not yet…
Piemonte is easily associated with good food. Good pizza, however, is hard to come by. If you are looking for Pizza, Monforte is the place to go. Right in the Piazza is an excellent pizza place. The have other dishes of course but it is a common place to get pizza. They also have a very good wine list and because it’s located in the piazza, it is usually quite lively. One Friday during our vacation, we had Friday Pizza here. I got my usual Margherita with prosciutto! It was belissimo!
Freisa Bartolo MascarelloWine: Langhe Freisa
Producer: Bartolo Mascarello
Region/Appellation: Italy, Barolo
Grape varieties: Freisa
Vintage: 2013
Eye: opaque, purple crimson hue
Nose: raspberry, cherry, red fruit, tea
Mouth: fruit, some yeast, slightly fizzy
Price point: $23
Available at Vinmonopolet: NO
PIEMONTEGIRL 