Ask and myself
Elio Altare
This was such a great night. Good food, amazing wine and fantastic company.
#tbt Elio Altare Winemakers Dinner
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Chiara and Claudia at Territoriet
Friday Pizza @ Cascina Nuova
Pinot Nero from Langhe
#tbt 10 year old Dolcetto by Bartolo Mascarello at Maialino
Massolino Langhe Chardonnay
Dinner @ Cru drinking PYCM Saint Aubin
#tbt Cinqueterre
About 5 years ago I was on a family vacation in Portovenere and we happened to be there at the same time as Elio Altare. My dad was able to organize a tour of the vineyards and the small winery Elio has in Cinqueterre. This was my first wine experience ever.
Elio Altare, my brother Ask and me in Cinqueterre
Elio took us into the vineyards along the cliffs of Cinqueterre. The terrain was rough, very steep and there is not really any equipment that can move up and down the hills so everything has to be carried, even the grapes during the harvest.
Top 5 on my Barolo Bucket List
- La Ciau Del Tornavento
- Truffel hunting
- Pasquetta
- Harvest
- Conterno
La Ciau Del Tornavento
I have never been to this restaurant, but I here it is something you should experience. They have an insane wine list, and a very cool wine cellar. They have over 60.000 bottles of wine from over 450 producers in over 14 countries. That’s quite a selection. Some of the wines are quite old, so if you’re looking for some grape juice with some age, this is the place to go.
Truffel hunting
It may be clichè but I have always wanted to go truffel hunting. Truffel season in Piemonte is very busy as it is a very popular activity. Some *hunting trips* are better than other, or so I have heard. These days the whole thing is very staged. But I think it would be fun, besides the restaurants serve dishes with fresh truffle, and who can say no to that?
Pasquetta
“Easter Monday, also known as La Pasquetta in Italian, is part of the Easter holiday celebrations that are celebrated across Italy. It is a popular time to take short breaks to the countryside with friends and/or family. Easter games include egg races.” Basically, the whole day is set aside to eat and drink as much as you can with as many people as you can. If the weather permits, picnic outside is a must.
Harvest
This is something I have wanted to do for a while, but I have always been away at school during harvest time. Hopefully in 2016 I will be able to go down for at least a weekend to experience it. I’m sure I won’t last more than half a day, it would be nice to tick it off the bucket list.
Toni and Luca Currado (Vietti)
Conterno
This last one might come as a surprise to someone, but visiting Conterno would be pretty cool. It is almost impossible to get an appoitnment and if you are lucky enough to be let in the gate you mostly likely have to cough up about 300 Euros. Many think this is silly, and it kind of is, but Conterno is one of the legends and it would be interesting to both taste the wines but also see the winery and meet the family. Hopefully one day!
#tbt 1993 Elio Altare
This was one of my favorite wine experiences. At one of our tastings with Siliva she brought up a bottle for blind tasting. My dad was able to guess the grape and the year, one of his proudest moments. Apart from all that, the wine was incredible!
Instagram Moments
#tbt
#tbt to the time I took a selfie with Mr. Philipponnat!
Berry Bros & Rudd
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
Unfortunately the website is only in Swedish, but take a look if you want: http://www.chocolatte.se/
This Year’s Christmas Gift
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.
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 😉
PIEMONTEGIRL 