Tag Archives: elio altare

Cru – Arborina

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Cru – most of us are familiar with them, right? If not, a cru indicates a certain vineyard. And each cru has specific characteristics based on soil, altitude and exposure. When it comes to different cru, I think Arborina might be one of my favorite! It helps that many of my favorite producers make Barolo Arborina, like Altare and Giovanni Corino.

Arborina is known for it’s elegance and freshness. It is one of the more “feminine” wines, with a intense bouquet of fruits and berries.

Location: Frazione Annunziata
Size: 10.81 hectares
Soil composition: marna stone with clay, limestone and sand
Grape variations: 68% nebbiolo, 15% barbera, 15% dolcetto, 2% langhe rosso
Exposure: south, south-east
Characteristics: fruity, fresh, elegant
Arborina

Part of Arborina (From Elio Altare’s Winery)

Producer’s of Arborina include:

  • Giovanni Corino
  • Elio Altare
  • Renato Corino
  • Nadia Curto
  • Mauro Veglio
  • Bovio

Chandarfei

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Chandarfei

In the mountains, about 2 hours from La Morra, you will find a beautiful hotel called Chandarfei. Elio (along with some friends) has restored a tiny village in Castelmagno (just like a few other wine producers from Piemonte) where you can spend the night, eat, drink and relax. PSA: the road up is dicey, so if you go you might want the number of Chiara, the wonderful woman who works there, and she can come and “rescue” you.

Chandarfei view fog

This beautiful hotel is one of the most relaxing places I have ever been. The air is so clean, the rooms are cozy, the food is really good, the nature is breathtaking and the people there are truly wonderful.

One of the most impressive things about this place is the wine list. Should come as no surprise since Elio is in charge. The wine list is better than most of the places I went to in Milan. I will most definitely go to Chandarfei instead of Milan. I hope to be back soon!

Chandarfei restaurant

You can find Chandarfei on Trip Advisor or you can send me a message and I can put you in touch with Chiara! If you go, say hello to Fritella and Rambo for me! Fritella is the less than helpful herding dog and Rambo is the impressive looking goat!

What were the favorite wines?

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In a weekend with A LOT of good wines, there are bound to be a few favorites! I enjoyed most of the wines, but like always there are ones you love and ones you maybe don’t like as much. For me round 4, the last round, was the best one. The Veglio 1997 and Altare 1996 were by far my favorite – we all know how I LOVE old barolo!

Barolo Night Oslo 2

Picture from Barolo Night Oslo

In case you missed it, here are the tasting notes for all the wines in each round.

Round 1: Gianni Voerzio la serra 1998, Massolino Margheria 2008 and Renato Corino Arborina 2014

Round 2: Altare Barolo 1993, Aldo Conterno Barolo 2006, Gianni Voerzio la serra 1999

Round 3: Renato Ratti Rocche dell’Annunziata 2011, Mauro Veglio Gattera 2006 and Burzi Capalot 2013

Round 4: Mauro Veglio Rocche 1997 and Altare Unknown 1996

Top 5 Experiences Summer 2017

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Tour at Altare

We took the whole Norwegian crew to Altare and Silvia gave us a beautiful tour of the vineyards and the winery. Check out that awesome staff!

Repubblicca di Perno

Pylsa & Barolo Piemonte Edition

Every year for my dad’s birthday we have Pylsa & Barolo. This year we brought the whole crew to La Morra. It was quite the weekend!

IMG_0378

Meeting Giovanni Corino’s geese

This was a very strange but fun experience. Those geese were crazy, but they loved Giovanni. FYI I did not pet the goose. Not even close.

Giovanni Corino and the Geese

Just casually petting his goose

Lunch at Ciccio

Imagine 30+ crazy norwegians signing at the top of their lungs in Serralunga. Ciccio couldn’t believe his eyes. I wonder if we’re allowed to come back?

I am excite to see what this summer will bring! Stay tuned!

Barolo Night 3.0 Round 4

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Did we subconsciously save the best for last?

barolo night sthlm round 4

Mauro Veglio Rocche 1997

Color was dark brown, rusty. On the nose there were notes of toffee, sweet and some fruit This wine tasted a little strange to me, not quite sure what it was. For most of the other wine tasters it was fantastic.

Altare 1996

Rusty color, evident it was old. On the nose there were hints of mushroom, earth and forest. The taste was absolute heaven! Most likely a barolo, as you can see from the label but not 100% sure.

Barolo Night 3.0 Round 2

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Check out these three wines from round 2 at Barolo Night 3.0. Keep in mind we tasted them all blind.

barolo night sthlm round 2

Altare Barolo 1993

Dark, rusty color. On the nose a little bit of toffee, sweet, red berries, truffel. In the mouth the wine was soft, but with tannins present. Impressive for a wine with that age!

Aldo Contero 2006

This wine was “donated” by Toni (my dad). On the nose there was mostly rosehip. This wine was more tannic than the first wine.

Gianni Voerzio la serra 1999

Dark, rusty red color. On the nose hints of toffee and licorice. Mouth had a sweetness, some toffee. I liked this wine a lot.

 

Barolo Night Stockholm Edition

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Barolo Night 3.0

We are continuing the success of Barolo Night, this time destionation: Stockholm!

As per usual, we start the weekend with Friday Pizza and some “low key” wines. As you can see in the picture below the “low key” wines are quickly escalating! We did blind tasting Friday as well – because why not?? For me Wine of the Night was the Voerzio barbera, which is strange because his wine are normally not my taste. Vietti at a close second, but who are we kidding: all the wines are good!

barolo night sthlm friday

Saturday went a little crazy – look at that lineup! Double blind tasting, as in we didn’t know which wines were which when we were tasting, not even our own. Super interesting both to compare the ones in each round but also comparing them all at the end. More detailed notes will follow!

barolo night sthlm saturday

Pylsa & Barolo

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Pylsa og Barolo lineup

Happy birthday, dad!

It’s that time of year again. Pylsa & Barolo. Hot dogs and red wine.

Pylsa & Barolo 2018 went off without a hitch and as you can see we drank some good wines. We started the night off with champagne from Pierre Peters (a bubbly that even I enjoy) and moved into 2011 barolo while eating hot dogs flown in from Idsøe in Stavanger.

2011 is supposed to be a very approachable vintage now, but for me it is still too young. We all know I prefer older barolo. Unfortunately I did not make it to all of the wines as many disappeared long before they reached my table. But some of my favorites include Vietti Castiglione, Marengo Brunate and Bartolo Mascarello. I had some Altare Cerretta, and although this is a very good wine, for me it is a little too masculine and should have stayed in the cellar another decade.