Here we go atruffling... (aka Piedmont... and Veneto)
Alba, Guarene, Modena, Barolo, La Morra, Lake Garda .....
Tasted Friday, November 16, 2018 - Friday, November 30, 2018 by MC2 Wines with 1,119 views
Introduction
So wow - what a trip! First time in Northern Italy (aside from Milan) and I must say it's not going to be our last. Amazing food, wonderful wines, beautiful sites. These were maybe two of my favorite spots in Italy that I've visited.
For Barolo - just wonderful. Surprised me how comfortable everyone was with drinking the young ones especially since the few older wines we tried were just completely rocking. I am now much more interested in the region and will continue to seek these out. Also feel a bit more prepared to actually know what I'm doing with buying the wines which helps.
Amarone - so fascinating. Had never seen that process before. In fact in general found the tours on this trip much more interesting. In general have found that a tank is a tank is a tank, but there were a lot of differences in how people approach making the wines here and understanding those helped understand the differences.
Word to the wise - if you go to Alba - make restaurant reservations. For literally every meal. Especially if you want to eat in places that have truffles. We ended up with pizza the first night (great pizza) and got the only walk-in table the first day, but it was a good learning.
Flight 1 - Hotel dinner @ Sheraton Malpensa (1 Note)
Typically I wouldn't include this in a tasting story, but I must note that for a connoisseur of ragu pasta as I am, this was actually really quite well done. The wine I'd say was so-so, but I was dealing with a by the bottle list and at least it was not overpriced.
Flight 2 - Alba Truffle Festival: Barolo with Truffles (1 Note)
We started our experience with the Truffle Sensory class which is its own form of torture since all you do is smell and touch truffles but there is no tasting allowed. By the time it was over, we were ready to go back to the festival and sample the goodness. Which led us to the Barolo, Uova, and Truffle pairing. Wine was again very much in the fine category, but it was nice to have a glass
Flight 3 - Alba Truffle Festival: The Crus of Barolo (3 Notes)
To put in context, this was like a 25 euro ticket so expectations weren't so high and they were I'd say probably in the met range.
Flight 4 - Lunch @ Osteria del Vicoletto (2 Notes)
This was a meal that could haunt you in your dreams. We were incredibly lucky to get in (see above recommendation - if you go to Alba, you must make reservations for all of your meals). We were the first ppl there when they opened and got the 'crappy table by the door' but it was irrelevant because they also served us:
40 yolk pasta with white truffle
Plini acosta with white truffle
Fonduta with white truffle
Huge portions that somehow disappeared because they were just that good. This was a meal for the ages (of course until we hit dinner).
Flight 5 - Dinner @ Ristorante Larossa (3 Notes)
One of the newer Michelin 1 star restaurants although it is clear that this place is due for bigger things. From the beginning it was an experience in the best possible way.
Unnumbered pre-appetizers that were all wonderful but especially this ball of soy and apple something and I'm not describing it well, but it just melted
Amuse Bouche - a venison cheek in mole sauce
Truffle Menu
Finished with a bunch of after dinner things which were prob highlighted by the nutella doughnet. Although amazing, you're also quite full at that point!
Flight 6 - Elio Grasso (4 Notes)
We don't often do group tastings and when we do we're not often the plebians in the bunch, but both were true of this one where we tasted with a group of folks who were in the industry and teach wine courses or have a Master Somm or make wine. A fun group to interact with and interesting to get to try these wines.
Flight 7 - Lunch @ Il Torri (1 Note)
This was just fabulous food. My ragu completely melted in my mouth. And it was steps from Vietti which was our next visit. Highly recommend.
Flight 8 - Vietti (10 Notes)
We paid for the 'fancy' tasting here and it was totally worth it. A great line-up and a very eductional view to get to see Barolo over a number of recent vintages. I've been referring back to my memories of this tasting as I consider what it means when someone pours us a '10 vs '12 vs '14. The Ravera stood out for me. Would be interesting to try some of the other single vineyards although it seemed many of them were sold out at this point in the year.
Flight 9 - Dinner @ Ristorante Bovia (1 Note)
Up on the hillside with what could have been a fabulous view but for the fog and rain. This was a great restaurant. As per always we did the truffle menu and wow was that a lot of food. It's not often that both of us have to call 'uncle', but we found ourselves sharing the last two dishes as it was just a lot. Wonderful meal with the truffles aflowing and a really fabulous wine.
Flight 10 - Cavallotto (7 Notes)
Wow was this place good. A friend of the family helped us set up the visit and what a really wonderful one it was. This is a place that very much tries to be true to the grapes. Mostly large oak barrels. Mostly aged (the 'young' ones are 7 years old). All Slovenian which does seem to work well with the Nebbiolo grape. They were sold out of quite a few wines which meant we drunk mostly young ones, but what promise! This is something to seek out in the future.
Flight 11 - La Lambruscaria (2 Notes)
When in Modena....
Flight 12 - Dinner @ Osteria Francescana (8 Notes)
The best way to describe dinner here is art. Some of it is incredibly tasty art. Some of it is more just intellectual and interesting. Everything is very thoughtful and different. I was also surprised at how much he relies on sauces for his cooking - there is clearly a lot of French influence. The food was certainly very interesting and a neat experience. This was a place that was awesome to go once, but I'm not sure I need to try it again.
As for the wine - well - I don't know that it lived up. This was more in the vein of restaurants who make a high margin selling moderate wines. It's not particularly easy to see from the menu how you might pair yourself with bottles, but I think the answer is a champagne to go through the first few courses and then a Burgundy to finish up (if you do the Everything menu which we did). In retrospect would not repeat the wine pairings which were mostly fairly forgettable.
Flight 13 - Dinner @ Piazza Duomo (4 Notes)
First time in my life I've ever back to backed 3 michelin star restaurants. And it was interesting to see the comparisons. Both great chefs, but clearly looking for a different approach. This place was very fresh vegetable focused, with a comfort with some of the traditional dishes. We ended up going a different way and taking a mix of a la carte dishes which we shared. Everything was awesome.
A set of multiple starters which came out in two rounds
Fresh scallops and sea urchin
Rabbit and Hazelnuts
Il Plini with meat sauce
Potato soup with spices (and truffles)
Il Plini with Fonduta
Deer and Foie Gras
Finished with a little hazelnut dessert and then again a plethora of chefs items
Very different experience from OF the night before. Here the service is a bit more friendly and engaging. There's almost a hint of fun to it all. I went in thinking this would be a one time place, but I think we'd be happy to go back.
Flight 14 - Roberto Voerzio (4 Notes)
If there was one producer I wanted to make sure that we visited it was this one. I have a very clear memory of trying my first Voerzio at a dinner a few years ago at Del Posto and having it make me reconsider my position on Barolo (which generally had been - nice wine, not a favorite but not bad). His wines were so elegant and precise and thoughtful. They had the capacity for reasonable age (and in fact my favorite of that tasting also happened to coincide with being the oldest wine at the tasting). I was excited to visit. And it was great. You could really see how they think about the wines from the vineyard (and the more unique form of green harvest) through to the lack of filtration and instead the approach just moving the wine a number of times until has cleared. All of the wines were lovely although the Cerequio always seems to stand out a bit to me.
Flight 15 - Tasting at La Cantine in La Morra (4 Notes)
As we were wandering the town we found a little collective store with lots of the smaller producers from the area. Tasting through a few and had a nice chat with the woman running the store who was quite knowledgeable. Very reasonably priced tastings. Would recommend a stop
Flight 16 - Lunch @ Osteria More e Macine (1 Note)
This was a recommendation from a Krug rep and as expected Krug reps know their wine. The restaurant reminds me a bit of our living room during shipping season. There are boxes everywhere. The temperature is set almost to be more amenable to the wine. There's empty bottles of great wines from all over in different spots (and not always the well known ones). They have devoted a page of their list to wines from the Loire. It's a great spot. Oh - and food is pretty good too. We ended up splurging on that '90 Voerzio and man was it pretty. Wine of the trip.
Flight 17 - Aldo Conterno (5 Notes)
Absolutely fabulous tasting. I love meeting people who are excited about the industry and listening to them tell you their approach. The piece that Giacamo said that resonated the most was around how he thinks about his wine. We were talking about blind tasting and how humbling it is. In that context he noted that he's never concerned that someone will try his wine in that setting and later tell him that they liked a wine a third of the price three times better. To him that is ok. It is likely a style preference and wine is personal and the style that they aim for is the style that the brothers like. His bigger fear is that someone will say 'I tried a wine a third of the price and I couldn't tell the difference'. Interesting theory that, but seems to get so much at wine which I believe is a personal experience and there shouldn't right or wrong answers but more just what works for one. These wines were lovely though and definitely worked for me.
Flight 18 - Dinner @ the Castle (aka Castello del Guarene) (1 Note)
I think we may be one of the few folks staying here who are actually leaving the property. This is really made to be more of a spa with a beautiful pool and crazy views and an actual spa for massages and the like. We opted to have at least one dinner here. One of the biggest truffles I've ever seen. Pretty good food. Too much of it as always.
Flight 19 - Giacomo Conterno (3 Notes)
One of the great names in Barolo and clearly well deserved. The property is just beautiful. We went a bit quickly as they were kind enough to fit us in when really there shouldn't have been space. Still, some special wines and nice to see a piece of history.
Flight 20 - Lunch @ Marchesi di Barolo (also with tasting) (5 Notes)
This was by far the biggest and most commercial of the places we went. There was a gift store. Still, there is some real history here. It was the wife who was from France who first started leveraging some of the French techniques to make the nebbiolo and then called it Barolo. The restaurant was quite tasty with an excellent little egg ramekin dish with truffles (as well as a cheese risotto and barolo beef). Very enjoyable.
Flight 21 - G.D. Vajra (7 Notes)
Earlier this year we went to one of those wonderful Ai Fiori dinners where they bring in a producer and had tried through many of the Vajra wines. So we were happy to get a chance to come and see where they come from and learn more about the wines.
Flight 22 - Dinner @ Osteria Dell Arco (2 Notes)
One of the recommendations that we got in Alba and so we have finally made it there. The food was excellent, the pricing considering truffles was fabulous. The wines were well priced. Perhaps a bit on the young side, but this happens in the Barolo area. Overall would highly recommend. Esp the initial egg dish with white truffle which was just fabulous.
Flight 23 - Lunch @ Massimo Camia (3 Notes)
The new incantation of an old restaurant this is located near the Damilano facility and seems to have some affiliation (there are many Damilano wines on the list) but also be separate. Has one michelin star. our meal happened to be quite excellent. We were too full to do a full tasting piece and so instead ordered a number of different items and shared them
Il Nuovo Tonnato
Uova, Toppinanbure e fonduta (e tartufo bianco)
Piccolo Plin di fonduta (e tartufo bianco)
Millefogli di Gobbi di Nizza (e tartufo bianco)
Plin della tradizione (e tartufo bianco)
Guanciale al Barolo
Per Michele Ferraro
Flight 24 - Borgogno (3 Notes)
We've really only had the very old vintages of this wine. They had a tasting room in Barolo where you could go and basically create your own tasting tray including with some of the older vintages. We opted to try a few of their single vineyards and a 1982. These are nice and classic and the people could not have been nicer. Great experience to take these up to the roof with a view of all of Barolo and the broader environs and taste through
Flight 25 - Other tasting rooms (Barololand, Barolofriends, Museo di Barolo) (9 Notes)
Barolo is a wonderful town where it looks like you could easily taste a vast array of different wines just by going to the different enotecas or small wine bars. My favorite of this group was Barololand which was pouring a wide array of interesting things (and most everything they poured was really good).
Flight 26 - Dinner @ La Cantinetta (1 Note)
Lovely little restaurant in Barolo town proper. This meal was just excellent.
Ravioli di Uovo w tartufo bianco (this was really awesome - so many truffles you almost couldn't see the ravioli!)
Plin w tartufo bianco
tangerin w ragu
and then some assorted desserts
Flight 27 - Lunch @ Osteria del Vicoletto (1 Note)
Back here again this time with some friends. Amazing what a week in Barolo can do in terms of knowing how to read a wine list. This time around we opted for a place we'd visited earlier.
Flight 28 - Pizza dinner in Riva del Garda (1 Note)
We got into Lake Garda after dark and were looking for something easy. It's offseason here so a lot of spots closed, but we did find pizza takeout. Decided it was time to pop our Dolcetto which is of course a great pizza wine!
Flight 29 - Guiseppe Quintarelli (6 Notes)
This was one of the places I most wanted to visit so I was pretty excited that they agreed to have us come taste. First time seeing the amarone process and it was interesting with all of the racks and boxes. While many wineries at this point don't have so much going on, the drying is in full swing. Lots of great history to the spot. It's a beautiful winery up on the hill. And their wines are really special. So unique and interesting.
Flight 30 - Lunch @ La Cantina (1 Note)
Never ones to pass up a good recommendation for lunch we headed over to the other side of the valley after our Quintarelli tasting for some fresh pasta and well cooked lamb. This place was wonderful.
Flight 31 - Dinner @ Mediterraneo (1 Note)
Wandered around the town of Riva del Garda one night to see some of the Christmas decorations and scope out a dinner spot. It's quiet season so not much going on, but we stumbled in here. The best part was the wine list - lots of old Amarones very reasonably priced.
Flight 32 - Masi & Serego Alighieri (5 Notes)
This was a bit of a random visit for us. We tried the wine at the Wine Spectator event in NYC in October and liked it so opted to put something on the calendar. Wow the history here. How many wineries trace their lineage back 20 generations? All the way to Danta Alighieri (yep, not just the same name). They have a really broad range of wines from the very reasonable table to some nicer amarones. Also fun to see the cherry barrels as that's a new twist for us. Enjoyable visit.
Flight 33 - Lunch @ Osteria No. 1 (1 Note)
After Masi before heading to Milan we opted to grab a bit of food and decided to try an IGT from the area. The IGTs were described to us by one of the wineries as a place where wineries can do their 'signature' style since there are no real rules governing how the wine is made.
Flight 34 - Bonus bottles (5 Notes)
We got some great advice from our first Alba host who basically said you should always be eating or drinking or both during this trip. That is the way to have fun in this area. And so we took his advice and when there was less going on we were quick to add bonus bottles to the mix. These included some favorites of the trip.
Closing
From the beginning of the trip I was convinced this would be one of my most favorite wine region visits ever and I wasn't wrong. There's amazing wine here and it's also white truffle season which pretty much means every meal is one of the best meals you've ever eaten in your life. It's hard to keep up with it all. But I think it's fair to say, we are winning.
2015 Cantina del Taburno Aglianico del Taburno Fidelis
Italy, Campania, Aglianico del Taburno
(11/16/2018)
Also by the glass in Milan. This is one of those totally fine, but nothing great wines. The pasta overshadowed it, but I think the pasta might also have been a bit better for it if that makes any sense. It was more muted and more secondary and just a bit less vibrant than a great wine. Something that looks to play second fiddle and is good at that. For the price point right on.
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