Some background might be useful. While California wines seemed be to renowned in much of the world, most Italians I have met don't have much regard for them. If you ask there opinion, they are generally polite but not very impressed. It has taken me a while to really figure this out, but Italians (particularly those from Piemonte) prefer much drier wine than most Americans. (I haven't done a survey but I infer this from what each group drinks and what is commonly offered in restaurants in the US). What I think of as a "full bodied" Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon, most Italians would call syrup. Far too sweet. From my side, my first experience with "better" Italian wines was that they seems light. But with time I've realized is that what I thought of as "lightness" is an absence of sweetness, and I discovered that I was a sweet wine drinker (at least in the Italian scale of sweetness) even if I did not consider myself that way. Keep in mind, there are some very sweet Italian wines produced, but most of those are for a unique regional taste (Lambrusco), for desert, or for shipping outside Italy (think of Asti Spumanti...which you virtually never see here. Even if Asti is right next to Torino.). As my friend mentioned this afternoon, most of the Italian wine shipped outside Italy would never be consumed here.
So, that said, I decided to go to the heart of the best. The Lange district of south east Piemonte. Home of Nebbiola, Barera, and Dolcetto grapes. And the most note worthy wines Italy has to offer... Barbaresco, Barbara and... the King... Barolo.
In truth I didn't really expect to do that much wine tasting while I was there... these are not roads to drive after any quantity of wine. But it is fun to know the back story when you go into a travel adventure and there was certainly some appropriate moments to do some sampling.
Actually the Langhe can be sampled in at least five ways. The view of the wine snub. As mentioned above, there is the best of the best readily available and you can easily spend hundreds on a single bottle if you like. There is the view of the history buff, with Saracen forts and watch tower from the first millennium, monasteries and churches from the later middle ages, and 18th century estates. There is the view of the biker and sports car buff with some of the best driving roads I have ever seen! There is incredible scenery to look at and photograph (and perhaps paint if I ever get any time!). Finally, and perhaps the best, is through the food. I tried to do a little of each (except the wine snob thing... I don't know nearly enough to cover this one. And life is too short to worry about it.) For now I'll post some photo's, some of the other details of the trip may need to wait for another night...
Actually there is a sixth approach... some good times with friends. I my case, one of my guys is from the Langhe. He and his parents had me over to their home this afternoon for a wonderful lunch. It would take too long, at the moment, to list the courses and wines, but I can say it doesn't get much better.
