Author Archives: Piemontegirl

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About Piemontegirl

I am a wine lover currently located in Boston. I drink wine mostly from Piemonte and Burgundy. Two summers in a row I have worked at Vietti in Piemonte.

Hedonism Wines

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IMG_6159Hedonism wines was of course on my To Do List when I was in London. I had asked around, and most everyone told me that this was a Must See. And they were right. The store was incredible.

When you walk in, the first floor is filled with wine, the bottles surrounded by very nice decor, and of course lots of wine paraphanelia. The selection is good, however quite expensive.

When you’re done perusing the first floor, the basement is next. Down here you find all the treasures. I am not sure where to begin, with the impressive selection of Burgundy wines or the Dom Perignon room. Yes, it has it’s own room.

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Then there are the massive bottles, 5 litres, 12 litres, that are just casually hanging out. But let’s not forget the Romanee Conti area. I have never been so close to a bottle before, and I suspect I will never be so close again. The prices made my eyes bleed. But it was a wonderful experience.

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If you want a taste of wine you can head over to the *tasting area*. Let us dwell on the word *taste*. Here you can buy a card, and then taste your way through over 40 wines. If you wanted to you could of course select one wine many times, but it was quite expensive. But an experience nonetheless.

I would say my trip to Hedonism Wines was a success. And I’ll definately go back!

You can check out their website here!

 

Berry Bros & Rudd

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I took a quick trip to London, and of course had to stop by a few wine stores. On my list was Berry Bros & Rudd. A very cool little store near Picadilly, with a pretty impressive selection. The boutique style store had an old interior, with creaky floors and old artifacts.

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The staff was very welcoming and helpful, making you feel special as a customer. There were two main rooms, one for spirits and one for wine. I of course spent most of my time in the wine room, browsing the various regions, my favorites of course being Burgundy and Barolo.

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One of the features I enjoyed at Berry Bros & Rudd was the “Berry’s Selections”. Here they had chosen various wines from different regions, showing you what they could recommend. In this section I found a Comte Lafon, Macon-Villages. A perfect example of a very good wine that doesn’t cost a fortune, in contrast with the various Gaja and other expensive wines. In other words, a wine store that fits everyone’s needs.

Check out their website HERE.

Chocolatte

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This Chocolate store has some of the best chocolate in the world. Literally! Who knew, but there is an actual international chocolate contest. And in 2015 two chocolates from Chocolatte won: one with chocolate & salt and the other a mojito flavor.

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We have some friends in Helsingborg, where Chocollate is located, and they were kind enough to give us the two award winning chocolates. Thank you Jan and Barbro! Personally I was not a huge fan of the Mojito choclate but the other one was incredible! No wonder it won an award.

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Unfortunately the website is only in Swedish, but take a look if you want: http://www.chocolatte.se/

This Year’s Christmas Gift

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This year I was lucky to unwrap a bottle of wine. Peeling of that silver foil is as exciting every time!

The bottle that emerged was a Comtes Lafon Mersault 2002. The wine came with a card. On the card were some rules.

Rule #1: This wine has to be drunk by only Oda and Line (my mom)

Rule #2: It has to be drunk no faster than 5 minutes.

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My mom and I love white wine and drink it quite fast. So, someday soon we will crack it open and enjoy this burgundian goodness. It may last a whole 6 minutes 😉

Vietti at Nedre Foss Gård

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I am back in Norway, for good this time, but some things never change. I had the pleasure of attending the Vietti Winemaker dinner at Nedre Foss Gård in Oslo Norway, and it was absolutely fantastic. It was so good to see Elena again, and the wines of course were amazing as always.

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One the menu was the Arneis, the Perbacco, Barolo Castiglione and La Crena. The La Crena was incredible! We tasted one new and one old, and although they are both very good, I loved the 1998.

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Favorite Italian Whites part 2

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Ca Brione, Nino Negri: I drank the Ca Brione for the first time in a tiny wine bar located in the beautiful town of Bellagio on Lago di Como. It was an instant favorite. Refreshing on a warm summer day, but really suits any season.

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Langhe Chardonnay, Cavallotto: Again, Cavallotto is one of my favorite producers, and in addition to his Pinner, his Langhe Chardonnay is very good! I prefer chardonnay less sweet and oaky, so a langhe chardonnay from Piemonte is just perfect for me!

Roero Arneis, Vietti: Slighly biased since I worked with them and they are my good friends, but I think this is one of the best whites from the Barolo region. Very fresh, earthy and easy to drink.

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Oddero

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Isabella Oddero and I have been friends online for a while, and I figured it was time to meet in person. And what better way thank to do a tasting at the winery. She was kind enough to show me around even though she was sick, and I got the grand and Manhatten, her golden retriever, joined us in the cellar.

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The Oddero winery is an old one, one of the historical ones in Piemonte, dating back to the 18th century. At the start of the tour there is a little museum showing the old tools used to make wine. I just have to say “Thank God for technology.”

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Today, Christina Oddero is the main winemaker, with her niece Isabella doing most of the travelling and wine marketing. The first recorded bottle of wine made is in 1878. Another interesting fact about the Oddero winery is that they have a vineyard in Barbaresco, and make a Barbaresco wine, but they are one of the few who are allowed to bring the grapes back to La Morra and make it there. Usually, if you have vineyards in Barbaresco you can only call the wine Barbaresco if the wine is made within the borders of Barbaresco. The exception was made because Oddero started making Barbaresco before the rule was set in place.

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After the tour, we of course tasted some wines. We started with their White wine, which is a blend of Riseling and Chardonnay. It is an unusual blend of grapes, but it was very good and refreshing. We went on to the reds, starting with Dolcetto, then Barbera, then Barolo of course, their Barbaresco, and at the end I tried their Moscato. I LOVE Moscato, especially in the summer! And their Moscato Vineyard was the dowry from Isabella’s grandmothers wedding.

More e Macine

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If you are staying in the Barolo area, More e Macine is a must! The restaurant is located in La Morra, along the “main road” (if there is such a thing in La Morra…)

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Do not be fooled by the rather “simple” look, the food is great, wine list superb and staff incredible! Ito, the main man, is hilarious, a die hard juventus fan and a big champagne drinker. You can come to More e Macine for coffee, an aperitivo, lunch, dinner, or just to say hi! There is no occasion unfit for More e Macine.

You will also most likely run into the local winemakers, as it is a popular place for them to get a glass of champagne and hang out.

My brother leaving More e Macine with a bottle of Marengo

Roberto Voerzio

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This is one for the books.

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I had met Roberto at a Champagne dinner earlier this month, and decided I needed to visit his winery. I have tasted very few, if any, of his wines before, and so it was time. And it was a very good decision. Naturally, I did not expect him to be there. He is a busy man, and as always I try to not expect to much when I visit, as I know it’s a busy business to be in. His daughter in law, Miriam, showed me around (we were a group, it was not just me).

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We started in the vineyard. Few wineries do this, but I think it’s one of the best ways to start a visit. Because, after all, that is where the winemaking starts. And Voerzio is a firm believer in that the winemaking is mostly done in the vineyard. The work done in the cellar, once the grapes are picked, does not have an enormous effect on the wine. And as they add nothing to the wine, it’s really the vines, soil and grapes that makes the wine what it is.

“The wines are an expression of the soil” (paraphrased, but nonetheless what Miri said.

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We of course went in the cellar, where we ran into Roberto. He was doing a tour simultaneously. An example of how busy they are. After the cellar, we went to the beautiful tasting room. We tasted Barolo 2008, Barolo Riserva 2005, Barbera Pozzo 2010 2008 2004. Of all the wines my favorite was the Barbera 2008. Extremely good. They treat this barbera like a barolo, which is probably one of the reasons why it was exceptionally good.

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Now lastly, I want to mention the label. I think this is my favorite label so far. And this is why: As you can see, the label in 2004 does not have a star in the upper left corner, but the 2008 and 2010 do. This is because Roberto’s wife died of cancer. So the star represents her. A beautiful way to commemorate a family member.

Brezza

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Brezza, a winery, hotel and restaurant, lies right on the edge of the town Barolo. The Brezza family bottled their first wine in 1910. Today, the fourth generation runs the operations, with over twenty two hectares. Brezza also has a hotel and a restaurant.

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Brezza has a Langhe Chardonnay and a Rosé. Not many wineries I have visited makes a rosé and it was interesting to taste. I tasted almost all the wines, and I think my favorites were the Barbera Santa Rosalia, Nebbbiolo Santa Rosalia and Barolo Classico 2011. There were a vast number of wines to chose from, and of course the others were good, but the abovementioned three wines stood out for me.

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Brezza uses glass corks on some of their wine. There are different reasons to do this. One is to reduce the number of corcked wines. It is also said that the glass cork preserves the wines better, and the wine will hold onto it’s freshness longer. I have very little knowledge when it comes to traditional cork vs glass cork, but I know the DOCG does not allow glass corks, at least not yet.