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
Instagram Moments
Reply
Tag Archives: piemonte
Wine of the Week
Cavallotto Pinner
Wine: Pinner
Producer: Cavallotto
Region/Appellation: Italy, Barolo
Grape varieties: Pinot Noir
Vintage: 2012
Eye:
Nose: fruit, apricot, some mineral, citrus
Mouth: subtle citrus, some vanilla
Price point: $20
Available at Vinmonopolet: No
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!
Top 5 restaurants in Barolo
- Mangè
- Centro Storico
- More e Macine
- Osteria Veglio
- Osteria dei Vignaiolo
Mangè
At Mangè you will find Maria Kristina and her husband. Maria is the chef, and her food is out of this world. The atmosphere at Mangè is friendly and you feel like you are surrounded by family and friends. You can come here for lunch or dinner, but also if you just want a glass of wine, a snack or a gin tonic. They have a little patio outside, where you have a view of the barolo hills and can catch the action of La Morra. Since the restaurant is located in the middle of La Morra, you are sure to witness the local life at its best.
Centro Storico
At Centro Storico, a small restaurant hidden in Serralunga d’Alba, you will find the best Champagne list outside of Champagne. You will also find Ciccio. Ciccio, which means little fat, is the owner. He, alongside his wife, make incredible food, and will serve it to you at one of the 8 tables they have. It may be small, but it’s a can’t miss if you are in the Piemonte region.
More e Macine
Located in La Morra, Ito and his crew will serve you good food and wine in a fantastic atmosphere. If you look around, it is almost guarenteed one of the winemakers in the area will sit at one of the tables, drinking coffee or wine, chatting with their friends.
Osteria Veglio
You can find Osteria Veglio along the widning road leading up to La Morra, in Annunizata. The restauarant recently changed chefs, and it has become a *must* when we are in the Barolo area. The food is incredible, and if you’re lucky, the terrace has room so that you can eat with a view.
Osteria dei Vignaiolo
This little gem can be found at a crossroads in Santa Maria. Weather permitting, sitting outside is a treat! The food is very good, but I go for the Panacotta! Truly amazing. I haven’t found panacotta that good anywhere else.
Instagram Moments
Manzone
In March I went to Manzone for the first time. The winery is located a little outside of Monforte. I was lucky to meet Mirella, Giovanni Manzone’s daughter. Mirella joined her father at the winery in 2012. Giovanni bought a plot of land in 1925 and started making wine, and today they produce 9 different wines.
I tasted 6 wines. We started with the white, a Rossese Bianco. I have never tried it before, it was very interesting, very fun to try. We then moved on to the dolcetto, which is one of my favorite wines. Dolcetto is so easy to drink, very fresh. And Manzone’s was no exception. We then tried the langhe nebbiolo before we moved on to the barolo. We tried 3 different crus. It was very fun to try the different crus together. The only difference between them is the terroir. So the different crus are each an expression of the soil.
It was very nice to meet Mirella and I hope to be back again soon!
Day 6
On the 6th day of my trip I started with a wine tasting at Manzone in Monforte. I had the pleasure of meeting with Mirella, and she showed me the cellar and a few of her wines. I will write more about my visit at a later time.
After the tasting I drove back to La Morra for lunch at Osteria Veglio with Isabella and Pietro Oddero. I know Isabella very well from before, but I only recently had the pleasure of meeting Pietro in Oslo at Territoriet when he was here for a wine tasting. For lunch we had Marchesi di Gresy’s Sauvignon.
After lunch I drove straigth to Brezza for a quick tasting and to buy some wine. Amanda, she works at Brezza, is a very nice young lady from America. We have spent some time together from before, so the tasting was more of a catch up. She has started a blog, check it out here: http://www.amandaswineadventures.com/
After Brezza I rushed over to see Carlotta Rinaldi and her beautiful dog Vida. I always love visiting Rinaldi. The whole family is great. And it is always a blast when Beppe *Citrico* joins us, as he did this time! The visit had more to do with dogs and motorbikes than to do with wine, although we did have the chance to try some of their fantastic wines.
The night ended not so quietly at More e Macine with a little too much wine that I actually consumed in the kitchen. A first for me. I spent the majority of my time with the staff in the kitchen, trying both food and wine while dancing to *Watch me whip*. This was a day for the books.
Day 5
Today was spent relaxing, both with this cutie pie and with some me time at the spa at Corte Gondina. My day tomorrow should be more exciting! Stay tuned!
Day 4
Unfortunately, I did not bring my camera with me today but I have a few iphone photos.
The day started at Vietti, where we tasted all their wines. This is something they do once a month to check the wines evolution in the barrels. After we went to lunch at Le Torri with the entire staff of Vietti!
In the evening I had dinner with all the “kids” my age. The dinner ended at about 1am and we went through about 6 bottles and 4 GT (we were 7 people).
All in all a good day.
PIEMONTEGIRL 