Return to Piemonte!
Castello di Sinio, Alba, other various locations
Tasted Thursday, November 25, 2021 - Saturday, December 4, 2021 by MC2 Wines with 922 views
Introduction
Back in Piedmont! Which is one of my most favorite places ever. I think one of the producers even said it - this is one of those places that even if you live here your whole life the view can just make you catch your breath and there’s a certain calmness to the soul. We were exceptionally lucky - we had views of the mountains almost all of the days. They don’t really look real (to me like a green screen behind the standard topography), but they are pretty stunning and its hard to take one’s eyes away.
Although we did Bordeaux a few months ago in some ways for me this is our first forte really into the ‘real world’. We bought these tickets mid-pandemic when it was very unclear if we’d get on a plane or not. Still - as Andy/Red in Shawshank said ‘hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things’ and so we took the leap. Very glad we did.
The place is mostly back. Perhaps a few restaurants a touch less crowded than normal. The truffle season was pretty terrible this year and so everything was quite a bit more than normal (I hope that was a one-off). But most mornings the town still smells like chocolate and the wines are all lovely (there’s been a string of really good years which has everyone quite happy). One thing to look out for - it does seem that the 2020 Langhe Nebbiolos are either sold out or certainly much reduced so if that is your jam recommend getting on it early.
While the world the is crazy this area has a 90% vaccination rate and case load is staying reasonable. Fingers crossed Omnicron does not change that too much.
Flight 1 - Lunch @ Ristorante Pizzeria I’ll Commercio (1 Note)
Worth noting that actually at lunch time there was no pizza on the menu and if we understood the Italian correctly that is a standard affair. As someone who was pretty geared up for first Italian pizza in a few years this was a disappointment despite having a lovely menu of standard osteria fare. No white truffles, but there were black. Tanjarin ragu (longer name, but the equivalent) was excellent. Plin with black truffles also tasty. And the wine list quite impressive (esp with a lot of age) although we decided to go with one of the ‘specials’.
Flight 2 - Dinner @ Pardini (Costello di Sinio) (7 Notes)
Typically we spend the first few nights of our trip in Barolo but as our favorite hotel there was a victim of the pandemic we ended up trying a new spot - Castello di Sinio. Denise has a special brand of hospitality and it is easy to see why so many of our friends have recommended being here. Also got a Thanksgiving dinner but with truffles so the best of all worlds.
Menu:
Assagini della Casa
Carote Ginger Zuppetta with Smoked Paprika & Duck Leg Confit
Autumn Harvest Salad with Smoked Duck Breast Prosciutto, Gooseberries, Pear & Raspberries with a Raspberry & Hazelnut Oil Vinaigrette
Turkey Roasted with Truffle Butter
Potato Purée with Brown Butter & Crème Fraiche
Sourdough Stuffing with Carmelized Onions, Porcini Mushrooms & Chestnuts
Sweet Potatoes with Vermouth, Apple & Dried Cranberries
Green Beans & Sugar Peas with Toasted Almonds
Truffle & Turkey Reduction
Quince Compote
Cranberry & Orange Compote
Freshly grated white truffles
Pumpkin Pie Frangelico Tiramisu, Pumpkin Spice Gelato, Frangelico Chantilly
There were some other wines that I missed getting a picture of including a late 70’s Santany and a mid-2000’s Rinaldi.
Overall a lovely way to spend the holiday.
Flight 3 - Massolino (7 Notes)
Definitely a miss that this wasn’t on our list before. It’s a wine we should be drinking a lot more of. Very much our style of barolo - all old school, big Slovenian oak casks and going for the elegance and finessse. Very enjoyable wines.
Flight 4 - Lunch @ Centro Storico (4 Notes)
Have heard lots of stories about this place so it was about time we made it. A very interesting list and lots of stuff that seems to be off list as well. The point in the trip where we realized that truffles are not as plentiful this year as in the past which is unfortunate, but still nice to get to have them.
Flight 5 - Giovanni Rosso (5 Notes)
Most of the tasting was barrel down in the cellar as they have sold out of a lot of their wine. Quite an intense place for a visit with a number of different options. We missed the hike out in the vineyards we’d originally signed up for, but it was fun to taste with some friends.
Flight 6 - Dinner (3 Notes)
Absolutely loved this place the last time we came and if anything dinner surpassed that which is really saying something. Amazing wine list and this time we got some champagne as well as barolo. My veal with truffles and cheese fonduta is likely to be one of the dishes of the trip. Truly excellent.
Flight 7 - Trediberri (4 Notes)
Wow what a visit. If you are a wine enthusiast then spending a few hours with Nic is an absolute must. His passion is obvious and his honesty is quite refreshing. It’s a visit that somewhat makes you feel like you’ve been through a hurricane or at least a bit of a sensory overload, but very worth it. Wines are very interesting. He has a clear philosophy of what he wants to create and he is getting it done. Glad that we’ve been buying and will continue to do so.
Flight 8 - Lunch @ Osteria Vignaiolo (2 Notes)
First time at this restaurant but I don’t think it will be our last. Food was very tasty and wine list was pretty good and overall it was a nice lunch. They have a tasting menu option which seemed quite reasonable but we do not need extra food on this trip so we each just got a starter and main.
Flight 9 - Ceretto (10 Notes)
I’ll admit this visit pleasantly surprised me. Didn’t quite know what to expect and when we got there and it seemed like a super tourist haven (basically the exact opposite of Trediberri in the morning) I was not convinced. We’d booked the Rare Wine tasting (very much worth it) which meant that most of the group went one way and we went another and had a lovely private tasting and really got a much better feel for the winery. The vast majority of production is focused on the Arneis and Moscato which pay the bills (and the Arneis we tried was quite good). The barolos and esp the single vineyard barolos are much smaller productions more in line with some of the other producers we’ve been at. There is clearly a lot of passion and history here.
Flight 10 - Dinner @ Gusto Madre (2 Notes)
Finally we get our pizza although to be fair this place is ‘contemporary pizza’ and so it would be quite easy to have ordered things that resembled pizza but not actually what I would call pizza (and we tried some of those as well). Enjoyable dinner and just wonderful to be back in Alba where everything is easily walkable and the little flat feels a bit like coming home.
Flight 11 - Lunch @ La Piola (2 Notes)
Lunch at baby Piazza Duomo which was very busy on this Sunday afternoon (I think it’s rare to see tables turn over in Italy and here the tables turned at least once while we were waiting). The food was excellent as always. More osteria-style fare but I am a big fan of that. My first egg and truffle ramekin of the trip (but obviously not the last). Delicious from start to finish.
Flight 12 - Dinner @ Osteria Dell Arco (5 Notes)
We had a few very basic wines at the Truffle festival but it seems unnecessary to add an extra flight for wines which I just took a few sips of and don’t feel a need to repeat. Dinner was lovely with ‘older’ (at least for a Piedmont restaurant) barolos at a place that is super classic. They have one of my most favorite egg and truffle dishes. Of course everything a bit crazier this year (and truffles shaved in the back rather than in front of you), but that is how it goes and at least we are back in Piedmont. Great evening with a whole collection of friends (6 Americans in a Piedmont restaurant are not quiet), but at least the sound was mostly laughter.
Flight 13 - Giulia Negri (7 Notes)
The closest this reminds me of is when we met Alex Macdonald and knew he was going to do amazing things with the wine (with his brother) and that perhaps the best was still yet to come. Giulia is that as well. She’s early in her career and already making great wines on her way to making brilliant ones. A really great visit. Radi was a super host and Giulia came by later and overall I think just worth keeping an eye out and continuing to follow.
Flight 14 - Lunch @ Ristorante Bovio (3 Notes)
This is one of the first restaurant recommendations we ever got for Piedmont and our first time coming for lunch. Usually we do dinner and usually I think it is way too much food but this time we opted for just a few of the white truffle course all of which were super. This is classic Piedmontese food done in the best possible way. Great wine list which is of course not small. All very enjoyable.
Flight 15 - Burlotto (5 Notes)
Fabio is really hitting his stride as a winemaker and the finesse, elegance and power that he pulls together reminds me a lot the older Giacosa that I love but with his own take on that style. I think he is one of the best in the area so a real treat to get to sit with him and hear his philosophy on life and winemaking and drink some of the truly excellent wines he’s created.
Flight 16 - Dinner @ Ristorante Larossa (4 Notes)
I think this was a fairly new restaurant or maybe it had just gotten its star the first time we came to Piedmont and we had quite an enjoyable meal. It is a nice blend of the more classic fare and some more ‘interesting’ or ‘gastronomic’ in style. The only restaurant we know in Alba proper aside from Duomo with that profile. So a pity to hear that it is relocating to Turin starting Dec 15th. It will be missed although for us too far of a journey to go for dinner when we visit here next. Last night’s meal though was quite tasty with a lot of fun bites that were more contemporary takes on standard fare while the main dishes themselves were very much the truffle classics. All delicious.
Flight 17 - Renato Ratti (7 Notes)
A charming visit. Another one of those ones you pay in advance for and if you buy the ‘top end’ you get the private tour and all of your questions and Emmanuele was talented. It has flashes of brilliance (Rocche) and otherwise solid wines but all good.
Flight 18 - Lunch @ Rossobarolo (2 Notes)
Still super impressed with this place. Food is excellent. We have moved beyond just shaving the truffles because of course it is a bad truffle year, but it was here that someone told me the truffles must coat the plate and still I see them grab the extra truffle so they can do that. The food is super. It will be part of our standard rotation.
Flight 19 - Chiara Boschis (5 Notes)
I am very conflicted here. Chiara was lovely and the number of people who told us that was almost immeasurable. She has been a very important person for Piedmont wine when it was still finding its way. She is also one of the early women to run a winery. A friend set up the tasting for us and though we were tasting with two other people, they were a bit less of wine enthusiasts so I think/hope ok. I was poised to not just like but love this visit. I’d say it was ok. Chiara herself was lovely and very friendly as was the host who ran the tour. The wines are well made. They are just a different style from what I really like.
Flight 20 - Dinner @ Dulcis Vitis (2 Notes)
It surprises me how under the radar this place is. Most of Piedmont the restaurants are totally full every day but here generally is not and I don’t understand because the food is delicious and the wine list is great (and the off wine list even better). A hidden gem that was recommended to us by a chef at one of the most recommended spots and he is right on.
As always we finished with a Moscato but now I can’t seem to find a picture of wine unfortunately. It was a bit of a pricier version and I think I’d say at that point in the night the more basic stuff is just fine.
Flight 21 - Cigliuti (5 Notes)
What a fantastic recommendation from Sarah. Sylvia is wonderful. The wine was amazing. This is exactly the style I like. A bit linear but elegant but powerful and just the best of Nebbiolo. And I loved the two takes - the Langhe Nebbiolo which is like fresh strawberries (less sweet) just picked vs. the Barbaresco which is complex and deeper and still has the fruit and power and finesse. A wine that I will now seek out.
Flight 22 - Lunch @ Campamac (3 Notes)
Our afternoon tasting did not work out which meant we had the opportunity for a four hour leisurely lunch and this was a lovely place to do it. The food was excellent (esp the meats, but honestly some of the ravoli and goose plin as well). Good wine list. Nice atmosphere. And then a little walk through the town of Barbaresco. All great.
Flight 23 - Tasting w/Fabio Gea (1 Note)
So ironically enough you might notice that in fact the one bottle we consumed this afternoon is not the producer we were tasting with. An unfortunate experience. When asked last week the producer I was most excited for this was the one. We had written and I’ll admit I was somewhat shocked when he wrote back and said you will be very welcome in the cellar and please write the first week of November. Unfortunately life interceded (as well as a renovation - those are never fun) and so it did not work out for him to meet us. We instead had a lovely leisurely lunch and did a pre-dinner sipper of Cavallotto which is a producer that quite enjoy and who we were not visiting this trip so all is well that ends well.
Flight 24 - Dinner @ Piazza Duomo (3 Notes)
Truly a gastronomic treat. A bit less intense than I remember from a few years ago when we ordered maybe just a dish or two off the menu but had all of the pre-courses and the post courses and then we’d agreed to share a dessert and by the time we were done we thought we’d done a ten course meal when we’d each gotten an appetizer and shared a main and dessert. Funnily enough, tonight was a similar amount of food. All precisely prepared and we did the white truffle menu. I’ll admit I had some questions for some of the dishes where he stretched the thinking around what can go with a truffle (an artichoke style root vegetable with anchovy foam was one of my favorite combinations). As always the vegetables almost steal the show (and if you know me I am very meat focused). All were lovely. I truly love Alba food and I’m hard pressed to say this is a must do because so much of Alba is so great and it is a different price point, but at the same time it is the best 3 star I’ve been to in Europe and maybe ever (there is a 2 star I slightly prefer, but that is a story for another day). Overall, brilliant and still focused on taste which is of paramount importance to me since so often the three stars move to ‘interesting’ and forget that the end goal is for me to enjoy the meal.
Flight 25 - Vietti (9 Notes)
I think this is the only producer that we have visited year in and year out and truly every time we come we have a wonderful experience. This year we went to the back of the caves and got to see more of the history and even potentially where the caves used to run to the castle. It is a massive establishment. The wine itself is always top notch and Elena was quite knowledgeable about the history of the place.
Flight 26 - Lunch at Le Torri (2 Notes)
This is up there for my favorite restaurant in the region. I think their dishes while all of the ‘standard’ fare are just done at a level above most other spots and it’s hard not to be overly impressed with them. Also a pretty nice and certainly deep wine list doesn’t hurt.
Flight 27 - Baroli (5 Notes)
First time with this producer who was a recommendation from Oli Krug. Great to get a chance to visit and a very well done visit. While it can be nice to do a the more detailed version of the tour by the time you are a week in you are pretty good on how wine is made and what’s interesting to me are the differences in style that the winery does than others. Covered all of that without the basics. And got to the tasting portion early enough to not feel at all rushed through those which was great as there were a few of the ‘older’ vintages thrown in.
Flight 28 - Dinner @ Enoclub (4 Notes)
Our first time at Enoclub although we have done Caffe Umberto in the past. Since COVID the menus and service have been combined although there is definitely a different vibe sitting in the cellar than upstairs so I really appreciated that we pushed to do the original ‘Enoclub’. Food was excellent and service was wonderful and the wine list was one of my favorites so we will certainly be back.
Flight 29 - Sottimano (5 Notes)
Claudia was beyond charming and hearing the story of the family and how they had built the winery together and how they think about the winemaking was all wonderful. This is a place we had heard might be more of the ‘new style’ with lots of barrique and while there are barrique they are mostly 6-7 years old so really don’t seem to change the character of the wine at all. Would definitely recommend making a visit.
Flight 30 - Lunch @ La Ciau del Tornavento (3 Notes)
This has been a huge miss for us these last few years and I think it might be because we have used the list published in the flat we rent as our ‘bible’ for restaurants in the area. Funnily enough the person who owns that flat is a chef at this place and so he did not indeed put his restaurant in the list. One of our favorite meals and I think we’d love to start a tradition where it is the Friday afternoon spot (perhaps without an appointment afterwards so we can truly relax and enjoy). Food has the traditional but also some fun plays on it, wine cellar is stunning, service was impeccable and it is almost impossible to beat that view.
Flight 31 - Giuseppe Cortese (6 Notes)
Our last visit of the trip and alas with such a great lunch we were actually a bit late for this one (which was maybe the only visit where there were others as well). So it was a tasting only and quite quick but on the other hand probably exactly right as we had a long drive back to Milan this evening and we have at this point perhaps seen enough tanks/barrels/etc. The barbarescos were lovely and nice to get to try a new spot.
Closing
As always this was a truly stunning trip and it’s hard to imagine anything being much better. This year we focused on some smaller producers or lesser known ones for us and I feel like on the whole that worked quite well. I liked the extra day in Barbaresco - it’s an area we should spend more time in. Some disappointments of course in not getting a few of the ones we’d really tried for (Roagna, Olek Bondonio, Fabio Gea), but there will be future years and maybe some day. In the mean time the ones we did get were on the whole quite wonderful. Also fun to spend some time with our friends with dinner conversations where we really pondered a lot of the state of the world.
I almost hesitate to call out wines or food that stood out for me. As I was going through my favorite meals I think I hit maybe half of the places we went. And for wines there were so many as well. I will leave it as anyplace that has that concentration of wonderfulness needs to stay a part of our story and so we look forward to next year.
2015 Elio Altare Barolo
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
(11/25/2021)
Sadly this is one of the places we are missing this trip. In our collection of slightly off the beaten track we didn’t write early enough and they were full up with tastings already on the days we will be in the La Morra region. Thus felt appropriate to try the wine and see how we feel. Very traditional style. Sharper edges. Good acid. It’s red fruits and a kindof tar and roses that barolo is known for. Young and fresh. The more time I spend in Piedmont, the more comfortable I get with drinking young barolo and even enjoying it. This was really nice.
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