Day 5, November 8, 2012

Domenico Clerico

Another day, another great Italian buffet breakfast at Corte Gondina.  Soon thereafter we arrived at Domenico Clerico.  His facility looks like a giant spaceship on top of a hill.  The modern architecture sticks out like a sore thumb in the area with all the old, traditional looking structures.  I have been buying and cellaring Clerico wines now for years - largely due to the high scores they receive from Antonio Galloni.  I've had a few of the older Ginestra Barolo that have been delicious at Babbo and Capriccio on Bonaire.  The facility is quite large and completely modern.  No surprise there since it was just built.  The tasting room has a beautiful view and our host was very kind and hospitable.  I found the wines less than interesting though.  Modern and lacking in soul.  This hurt a bit since I have so much of the wines in my cellar.  My favorite wine of the tasting wasn't even a Barolo.  It was the current Barbera d'Alba.  I strongly prefer the traditional wines - I'm sure that is pretty obvious.

After a good lunch at La Salita in Monforte we started our afternoon visit at G.D. Vajra.  I loved this visit.  We were hosted by the young and passionate Francesca Vajra - the daughter of the owner and founder of the winery.  Francesca was a fantastic host.  Her hospitality and passion for the wines was a stark contrast to what we experienced at Elvio Cogno just a few days early.  Francesca poured us through the entire current offering of G.D. Vajra.  The wines showed very, very well.  I have always enjoyed Vajra wines and buy them when I see them.  They can be hard to find - I usually buy them from Astor Wines in NYC.  The tour of the wine making facility was interesting as it was easily the most packed of any wine making facility that we saw.  There is literally no room to move around.  The space constraints certainly aren't hurting the quality of the juice.

Dinner was at Castello Grinzane.  This was the only restaurant of the trip that earned a Michelin star.  The setting is inside a really old castle.  The food and service was really good.  I'd recommend this place for a nice meal.

Day 4, November 7, 2012

Elio Grasso

I had a good feeling about our scheduled tastings at Elio Grasso and Aldo Conterno, both of which were late additions to my schedule.  Fortunately my premonition was correct.  This was one great day of wine visits.

We started on a crisp and clear Piemonte morning at Elio Grasso, just outside the small town of Monforte d'Alba.  Wow, what an impressive property.  Everything from start to finish was fantastic - our host, the wine making facility, the old house, the views of the valley and the young wines poured for us.  The style is purity and balance.  I immediately fell in love with these wines.  This was definitely a memorable visit and I will buy, cellar and enjoy the wines of Elio Grasso for years to come.

The memory of my visit to Elio Grasso was further enhanced by the fact that my top wine of the entire trip was the 2008 Elio Grasso Gavarini Vigna Chiniera from our dinner at Bovio in La Morra.  The wine was not available for sale at Elio Grasso as it was completely sold out.  I bought 6 of these upon my return to the States and look forward to following its development.

Our afternoon appointment was with Aldo Conterno and this was another special, special visit.  The facility looks something like a French chateau - it is huge and artfully designed.  We started with the recent Dolcetto and Barbera and then we were treated to the full range of the 2008 Baroli and they were all very impressive.  I find the style to be a good balance between ultra traditional and modern.  The hospitality at Aldo Conterno was top-notch and the generosity was humbling.  The wine making facility was absolutely spotless - the same was true for Elio Grasso.  

Dinner on this night was at La Libera in Alba. It was easily the most disappointing meal of the entire trip - by a large margin.  I picked this restaurant based upon strong feedback from the wine boards including favorable commentary from Antonio Galloni and several other recent visitors to the area.  The service was terrible, the wine list lacking and the food was unimpressive.  A highly disappointing way to end an otherwise excellent day in Piemonte.  I even heard people at breakfast in our hotel talk about how this was a can't miss place.  Boy were they all wrong.

Day 3, November 6, 2012

Giuseppe Mascarello

Today was the day for the ultra traditional producers - Giuseppe Rinaldi and Giuseppe Mascarello.  We started at Rinaldi near the town of Barolo.  The location was a bit tough to find but eventually we got there.  We were warmly greeted by the young and attractive Marta Rinaldi and given a quick tour of the very old cellar.  Soon we moved on to tasting the wines which all showed very well.

Lunch was in the town of Barolo.  Barolo is a fun little town to walk around in.  It is a bit more touristy feeling than the other small towns in the Langhe.  We picked a lunch spot that was near the center of town without a recommendation or reviewing feedback from other travelers - Locanda della Posta.  This was the most uninteresting lunch of the entire trip.  The food wasn't bad, it was just uninteresting.  The wine service was bad though.  The inside of the restaurant was on the warm side and so were the wines that were left sitting out (some of them under bright lights).  I'm sure there were better choices in the town, we just picked a bad spot.

After lunch we ventured to the town of Dogliani to walk around a bit and check out the public market.  It was pretty small and most of what was on sale was clothing.  Dogliani is known for its Dolcetto - there was plenty of it for sale there as you would expect.

Our afternoon appointment with the legendary producer Giuseppe Mascarello.  I was warned that this location would be very difficult to find and indeed it was.  I asked for directions from several locals in the small town where the Cantina is located and eventually they got us on the right track.  This was a really fun visit.  In a room full of fruit flies we tasted through the complete set of current release wines.  They were all excellent including the 2008 Monprivato.  Our visit was led by Mauro Mascarello and his friendly wife.  Mauro isn't a fluent English speaker and we don't know much Italian but we managed to communicate just fine.  This visit was a definite highlight for me.

We purchased a few bottles of Freisa to bring back to the hotel to enjoy.  The 2006 Freisa was superb - funky and earthy.

Dinner was in La Morra within walking distance of our hotel at Pizzeria Per Bacco, which was excellent.

Impressions from my trip to Piemonte - November 2012

Sunday - November 4th

Arrived on the overnight flight from EWR.  Picked up the rental car at MXP airport and headed for La Morra.  The drive was relatively easy until we got close to Alba, then the GPS started getting confused with all the changes to the roads in the area.  Make sure you have an up to date GPS when traveling in Piemonte. We reached our hotel Corte Gondina and met Bruno.  I had to laugh when I first met him because he probably thinks I am slightly mad.  There was a lot of back and forth about appointments, dates, times, changes and questions.  Lots of questions.

Lunch was at the local Osteria More e Macine.  A very cool and boisterous place with the menu written on a chalkboard.  The wine list was deep and reasonably priced backed up by a large walk-in wine cellar.  Food was very good all around.  The white truffles here looked fantastic and the pricing was reasonable.  I wish we had come back for dinner here.  The vibe was really fun.

Our first wine visit was in Barbaresco at Produttori di Barbaresco.  The distance from La Morra to Barbaresco isn't much but with all the twisting roads it takes about 25 minutes or so.  Barbaresco is a tiny little hill town.  The main strip holds a few places to taste wine and two Michelin starred restaurants.  The tasting room at Produttori di Barbaresco is open to the public and doesn't cost anything.  We tasted through a range of wines that included a 2007 Riserva.  The most impressive wine of the tasting was the 2005 Barbaresco, it was the most expressive of that group.  The Riserva was a close second as it showed the most polish and potential of the bunch.  Pricing to buy the wines was much lower than in the US - this would be theme throughout the trip.

Dinner was at Bovio in La Morra.  This is an impressive restaurant that is not to be missed.  The service, decor and wine list were my favorites of the trip.  The food was good but short of excellent for the most part.  My brasato al Barolo was slightly disappointing.  The wine list was a thing of beauty though with excellent stemware and polished wine service.  We had our wine of the trip here 2008 Elio Grasso Barolo Vigna Chiniera.  What an extraordinary wine!  From the moment the cork was pulled this wine was explosive.  The waiter put the wine into a fancy decanter but that wasn't really necessary.  This is a wine of considerable elegance and I'm going to be buying several of these.

Cinque Terre, Italia

Enjoying a lazy day in the Cinque Terre today.  The last day before the long journey back to New York.  Did some hiking yesterday from Vernazza to Riomagiore.  The regular trail from Corniglia to Manarola was closed with a detour up into the hills above.  The first 30 minutes were very steep and difficult.  What used to be a fairly easy 45 minute hike is now a 2 hour grueling march due to a land slide.  The views were great and it felt good after we got back to Vernazza and enjoyed a cold beer.

Great dinner last night in Monterosso at Ristorante Miky.  Spaghetti al vongole and salt baked sea bass.    

Taking it easy this afternoon and then a boat ride after lunch.

Last day in Montalcino

3 great tastings today - started with Siro Pacenti at 0930.  Very impressive facility and top notch wines.  Rosso and Brunello are both aged in French barrique.  The wines are structured and built to age.  From there we went to the best tasting of the whole trip - Uccellieria.  More than two hours of tastings that included multiple barrel samples, current releases and library wines.  Incredible generosity, talent and passion.  Andres and his wife met with us but they don't speak much English.  The wines were unbelievable and give all of us wine lovers good things to look forward to.  The final visit was Ciacci.  Very professional tasting, beautiful facility and good wines.

Off to Siena tomorrow.

Orvieto

Chianti Classico

What a beautiful area.  Lots of small winding roads and spectacular views.  Back to tasting in Montalcino tomorrow. 

Tuscany the beautiful

Breathtaking views today in Chianti Classico.  Two great tastings at Felsina and Fontodi.  Excellent wines and nice people.  More truffles for lunch.

Orvieto

Really nice small town.  Hotel Duomo was excellent.  Lots of interesting restaurants and good local wines.  I wish I had another day here.

On to Orvieto

Had a good full day in Roma yesterday.  Lots of walking and a couple good meals.  Roma Sparita was awesome.  Cacio e pepe was better than Da Felice.  Da Felice is really soupy, which is good but on the heavy side.  Sparita is lighter with lots of cracked pepper and the clincher is the cheese bowl that it is served in.  Incredible dish.  Thanks to Tony Bourdain for the find.  Nice spot in a quiet piazza in Trastevre.  Good pizza too.

Picked up the car this morning and drove to Orvieto.  Good drive and the countryside is beautiful in Umbria.  Nice town too.  Took some good pictures.  Off to Montalcino and tasting at Valdicava in the morning.

Next trip...Toscana, Italia

stay tuned for the details...departing on 13-October

I have the following wine visits already set up:

Ciacci
Sesta di Sopra
Uccelliera
Valdicava

Felsina
Fontodi
Quercibella