We got back
from a wonderful week in Piedmont and here are a few notes to provide some help
for future visitors to the region, everything in my notes is jumbled so please
forgive me while I do this from memory:
Torino
Hotel:
Principe di
Piemonte: We had a last minute booking bargain rate through Booking.com and
jumped on this. Great luxury hotel in
the center of town, all excellent spa, breakfast, rooms, service. We stayed two
nights.
Restaurants:
L’Agrifoglio:
Our first taste of Piemontese cuisine: battuta, vitello tonnato, verdure a la
griglia, tagliolini al tartuffo. Excellent all around! Truffles were €3.50 a
gram. We had a 2011 Burlotto Barolo Monvigliero,
beautiful
perfume, ripe and approachable even at this age with just a few dusty tannins.
A top notch meal.
Bruschetteria
Pautasso: My first bagna cauda, and probably the most vegetables I had in a
restaurant in Piemonte. Ended with a
good tagliata di vitello. We drank a 2013
Renato Ratti Nebbiolo d'Alba Ochetti that was correct but nothing more. Good food, rustic atmosphere, but the place
was jammed and service was very slow.
To do :
We went to
the amazing Egyptian museum. Puts the NYC Egyptian wings in the Metropolitan
Museum and the British Museum to shame, a MUST GO!. Nice walking city, great
pedestrian areas in all downtown. I was
surprised as I thought this would be a very industrial metropolis. Lots to
explore not a lot of time.
Langhe
Hotel:
We ended up
staying at Ca del Lupo in Montelupo Albese the whole time. We were supposed to be there for two nights,
then continue to Alba for three nights and finish at La Morra for the last two,
we found traffic in Alba impossible (as almost everyone said) and La Morra nice
enough for a one day visit but no more.
Birger did recommend an agriturismo but we were too late and that was
fully booked for the period.
That said,
we found Ca del Lupo perfect for our needs, not cheap but not too expensive,
modern, spacious, beautiful views, great service, and easy parking. But we
especially liked the ease by which we could drive to any place in the
area. Oh, yes, the breakfast buffet was
also amazing, with homemade jams and cakes along with the usual plentiful
fare. Thank you Ian Amstad for the
recommendation
Restaurants:
We went to
quite a few, in no particular order:
Trattoria
in Piazza in Montelupo Albese: Great
family atmosphere, friendly and warm, we had a great dinner and the wine list
is varied and quite affordable. We
shared a vitello tonnato, a tajarin al ragu, a brasato al Barolo and a rabbit. For dessert great panna cotta and the bonet -
chocolate pudding - that I am now definitely addicted to. To drink we had a wonderful 2011 Francesco
Rinaldi Barolo Brunate that like all the 2011 Barolo that we had is very
aromatic and while this has plenty of time ahead, it is delicious to drink
right now.
Trattoria
Cascina Schiavenza in Serralunga d’Alba: Thank you Ian Sutton for this great
recommendation; both a restaurant and a winery.
A delicious lunch, mixed antipasti with the usual - bagna cauda, battuta,
vitello tonnato, funghi filled crepes, then tajarin and ravioli al plin. We
drank a good 2013 Langhe Nebbiolo.
Ristorante
Ca del Lupo, Montelupo Albese: So we were too tired to drive anywhere and went
to the restaurant in, or actually near, the hotel. As we had not had truffles
in two days, we went for the truffle menu: battuta with truffles, insalata
russa (no truffles ), tajarin with truffles, baked egg with truffles and a
dessert. All were great, and a bargain
for about €60. We had a great wine,
elegant and vibrant – the 2005 Camp Gros Martinenga from Marchese di
Gresy. A great meal and a bargain wine
yet again.
Enoteca con
Cucina Degusto, Barbaresco: Lunchtime and cases of wines everywhere, tight
spaces, totally jam-packed, looks like a hole in the wall but again, great
food, and again I go for the delicious mixed antipasti - pepper with bagna
cauda and vitello tonnato – and for a plate of tajarin, finishing with an
incredible tiramisu, best we had this trip. I am now officially addicted to
Piemontese cuisine. Everything is always
delicious. The wine we wanted wasn’t
available so the waitress recommended a 2011 Barbaresco Borgese Albesani Pierro
Busso. The wine wasn’t on the list, so the waitress called the winery to ask
how much they should charge, at €40, this is another good wine.
Trattoria
La Coccinella in Serravalle Langhe: A little more elaborate, great service by
the two brothers who own/manage the place.
Friendly, knowledgeable and happy to stop by and chat. At this point, we were a little tired of the
usual pasta and meat offerings and opted for the seafood menu. Delicious,
especially the swordfish (cooked rare! A first for me). We drank a 2013 Giuseppe Rinaldi Langhe
Nebbiolo. A great producer and it went
great with our food (actually, it would have been great with any food) we loved
the wine! Thank you to Filippo Ginanni
for recommending both the place and to go for 2013 Nebbiolo Langhe and 2011
Barolo.
Osteria la
Cantinella, Barolo: As we were leaving town, we tried to go to a couple of
places that were recommended but Veglio and Osteria del Vignaiolo were full,
this place had a table outside in the garden so we grabbed it. Cold and rainy,
we warmed up with a 2012 Bartolo Mascarello Barbera d’Alba that was a little
sweet and non-descript, we’d have been better off with yet another 2013 Langhe
Nebbiolo from anyone. The food was again great, I am sure, there must be one
bad restaurant in the Langhe but we couldn’t find it despite all our
efforts.
Now for the
expensive stuff:
Davide
Palluda, Canale: Fantastic food and wine at a tasting menu dinner, we had a
tartare of amberjack, a ragout of porcini mushrooms topped with shaved raw porcini
mushrooms, a fondutta on top of sweet potatoes and cardoons, all topped with
truffles, ravioli with some tomato, agnolotti with guinea fowl and a kick ass
dessert. Washed down with a great 2007
Prunotto Bussia Barolo. A wonderful
experience!
Piazza Duomo,
Alba: Well, we just had to try after all
the hype. And here it was also great but
a little mixed. The truffle menu was
ridiculously expensive at €160 per person, especially since one has to pay for
the truffle on top of that. Those at
€7.50 per gram were also ridiculously priced. The wine list is extensive but no
bargains. We drank a 2011 Ceretto
Barbaresco Basarin that was actually the most boring wine of the trip. Sweet
and elegant at first but does not evolve at all during the whole dinner. Best
way to describe it is monolithic. The food was amazing! Every bite is an explosion of flavors; every
dish is gorgeous to look at. The service
is befitting a 3 star Michelin place.
Too bad about the outrageous prices and the bleh wine but we’ll put that
as a one in a lifetime experience and move on.
Restaurant
conclusions: No bad meals anywhere, battuta, vitello tonnato, bagna cauda,
tajarin, ravioli al plin, for most meals.
Always delicious, only criticism is I wish there were more vegetables
served at the meals, the few times we tried verdure a la griglia we got two
slices of eggplant and two of zucchini.
I guess the Piemontese don’t believe in eating vegetables.
Wineries:
We visited
six:
Azienda
Agricola Fillipo Gallina, Roero: We were met by Laura and her husband Guillemo
(sp.). Warm, friendly, informative, good wines, intrigued by their Arneis,
seduced by their Sorano, everything about this visit is lovely. We bought a few bottles and would have bought
more if we even had room. Thank you
Birger for the intro.
Oddero, La
Morra: We had a very informative visit with Isabella Boffa Oddero who I believe
is the granddaughter of Giacomo Oddero.
While the winery had its critics lately, mainly claiming the wine is too
good young and can therefore not possibly be just as good with age, we loved
their regular Barolo bottling as well as the Barbaresco Gallina. We also were very impressed by the
cleanliness, the focus and the professionalism of the operation. This along with Bruno Rocca in Barbaresco
were our two favorite visits.
Azienda
Agricola G.D. Vajra, Barolo; We were greeted very warmly at the entrance
by the owner, Milena, but it went downhill from there. The visit, itself, we enjoyed less, the wines
were kind of nondescript, the tour was given by a nice eager intern of Chinese
origin but her accent was difficult to understand and I think the visit could
have been a lot better.
Azienda
Agricola Azelia, Castglione Falleto: We visited this small operation and had a
long tour with Lorenzo Scavino, the great grandson of the founder of the same
name. The young man explained that they
are cousins of the more famous Paolo Scavino.
This is a more traditional operation but they use modern methods and the
cellars looked almost brand new. We
liked the wines, especially the single vineyards Barolo, they showed a lot of
power and structure but these are wines for long aging.
Moccagatta
s.s.a. - Barbaresco; I have a soft spot for Moccagatta, I like the classy clean
modern label, I fondly remember the 1993 and 1997 Bric Balin, but the wines imo
need a lot of time. The visit itself was
enjoyable. Martina, was knowledgeable
and friendly, we liked some of their newer wines, no point in buying at the
winery since they are widely available in the USA.
Bruno Rocca
Az. Agr. Rabaja – Barbaresco; Our last visit to a winery was also one of
the best. We tasted great wines, the
elegant 2011 Barbaresco, the powerful 2011 Barbaresco Rabaja, a Barbera d’Alba
and a Langhe Nebbiolo. What struck in
all these wines was the great fruit but also a sense of balance. We also caught from the terrace a wonderful
view of the vineyards, the cellars themselves were clean, well organized. I was very impressed by Bruno Rocca, here was
a winery with a sense of harmony with its surroundings coupled with focus and
professionalism.
Wines
conclusions (warning! gross generalizations coming!!): I imagine by now
everyone is aware that the modern vs traditional battles that had taken place
here are now (for the most part) in the past, most wineries have moved to a
more or less traditional style with modern method ways of production. There may still be some bad blood though, as
one person said they wished everyone kept their style instead of constantly
changing every few years.
Of the
Barolos and Barbarescos we drank at wineries, we found the 2010s well
structured and built for the long haul, the 2011 perfumed and approachable, with
the Barbarescos a tad more elegant and the Barolos a bit more rustic, we only
had one or two 2008s and these were shut tight.
The 2012
Barbera d’Alba were for the most part good pizza wines but I found they all had
between 14.0 and 15.5 alcohol, they were quite balanced though but I imagine I
would have trouble drinking more than a glass during a meal.
The 2013
Langhe Nebbiolo we had were all delicious, perfumed, balanced, with good fruit
and acidity, they were our favorite wines for current drinking.
One more
point I would like to make and that is single vineyards vs blends. I find single vineyard Barolo and Barbaresco
to be more of an intellectual exercise, trying find the strengths and flaws in
each vineyard. I personally prefer blends which, when properly done, are more
enjoyable and are a better reflection of the area and the winemaker as whole.
Walks, we
only did a couple of hikes. Bought a €6
walking map at the weird enoteca/touristoffice/corkscrewmuseum shop in Barolo:
From our
hotel, a short walk toward Sinio, get on Via dei Pini, picnic on the side with
a stunning view overlooking vineyards, got back and detour through the town of
Montelupo Albese where we read all the wolf stories on the walls. Easy, quick
on paved roads.
From Barolo
to La Morra, a walk through the vineyards, the path is quite clear at first,
but the signs get more and more sporadic as we continue. Wear hiking shoes,
prepare for steep hills and a lot of mud, beautiful views from anywhere. Mostly unpaved but some portions on the paved
road.
Conclusions:
We loved
the area, it has a rare natural beauty with gentle rolling hills, vineyards
everywhere, the Alps in the background on clear days, a sense of magic when the
fog rolls in. It is also a land of
contradictions; rural and modern, rustic and sophisticated, family warmth and
farming traditions on one side and wealth from the wine and tourist business on
the other. The food is not very varied
and, again, I wish there were more vegetables offerings during meals, but
everything we ate was excellent. We
wanted to try Osteria Gemma in Ruddino which is apparently the go to place in
the area, but couldn't get in. Still,
this was one great trip.
