Our education on the food and wine of Italy continues. This past weekend we joined two other couples for a weekend visit to Alba in Piemonte. It was about a two hour drive southwest from Como to this area known as one of the great wine regions of Italy. Nebbiolo, Barbera and Dolcetto grapes are primarily grown here in the Langhe above Alba. Our first destination was the Alessandro Rivetto winery which is a small winery in Serralunga producing some quality Barola, Barbaresco and Barbera D'Alba wines. Alessandro, who is the 4th generation winemaker in his family (and a good friend of Roberto, one of our our traveling companions), gave us a tour of his production facilities and then gathered us in an upstairs room overlooking parts of the vineyard for wine tasting and some antipasti. We appreciated having a personal contact to help us enjoy this beautiful place and learn about these wines.
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| After the harvest. |
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| 4 generations of wine makers |
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| Fog rolling through - that's why they call these grapes Nebbiolo |
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| Our host - Alessandro Rovetto |
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| Aging in special wood |
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| Jules and Guy tasting Rovetti wines |
Next stop Alba, a town well known for wine, truffles and chocolate. We covered all three as we went to the winery, to the International Truffle Festival (84th Fiera Internazionale Tartufo Bianco D'Alba) and then to a stop at the Torroneria Chocolate factory outlet. At the truffle festival, we saw how seriously they take this fungal delicacy. Most specimens were behind glass and there were even officials that would inspect your purchase to guarantee its quality and authenticity. When one realizes the price of the prized white truffle is about 2,000 euro per kilogram (or about 75 euro for a little glob), the fuss is a little more understandable. There were all sorts of ways to sample the truffles in candy, ice cream, cheese, etc. but I waited until dinner where my primo piatto was orecchiette with truffles. I guess my palate is not quite sophisticated enough yet to fully appreciate them but it's always fun to try something new.
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| International Truffle Festival in Alba - "take a whiff" |
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| The famous "Tartufo Bianco D'Alba" (White truffle) |
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| They take truffles very seriously here. |
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| Morning fog over the vineyards (serralungo d'alba) |
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| Grana - a hill town in Asti (population 645) |
As we left the area Sunday morning, we drove up to the small village of Sinio where we had some beautiful panoramic views of the vineyards and historic buildings on the hillsides. To the north, as the fog rolled away, we could see the snow covered Alps. Our culinary adventures were not over however as another couple met us in the tiny hill town of Grana, located near Asti. They had made plans for us to join a "Polenta Party" put on by the community in the church hall. Four courses of Polenta - first with funghi (mushrooms), then with merluzzo (cod), then with salsiccia (sausage), and last with gorgonzola (cheese). No one was in a hurry but by the time we were served a dolce (dessert), we were ready to be rolled down the hill to our car. The hills were golden from the late afternoon sun as we drove away.
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| Polenta Party |
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| (photo taken by local teenager) |
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