2011 June Langhe Trip - Barolo

The first stop on our tour of Langhe was the town of Barolo.  I mentioned this town in my post "Sideways" so I won't describe it again here.  But we did spend some time seeing the sights there.  First stop was the wine museum.  It gives a nice overview of the history and development of wine from 10,000 BC to now.  There are a lot of references to wine and its relation to historical events, historical figures, and mythology.  Later in the museum, it narrates the history of the family that owned the castle that houses the museum and their involvement in the promotion of the local wine industry and their relation to the people the led the unification of Italy in the mid 19th century.

The rooms that represent the family living quarters have a number of interesting decorative elements that provides some ideas to emulate.  It is amazing what effects can be accomplished with paint.  In particular there is on room that seems to be covered with very expensive satin wallpaper but in reality it is simply a very effective execution in paint.  Very impressive.

A second stop was the cork screw museum.  I bit of a tourist trap, but it is a good place to buy a unique T-shirt.  And there is a moderately interesting display of hundreds of cork screws for Europe and North America.

Final stop in town was for lunch.  Since we arrived a little late, the place was already packed both inside and the outside seating areas.  When we stepped in, the staff was fully occupied and the proprietor was away from the counter located near the door.  But there seemed to be a couple tables remaining open so we decided to wait for someone to seat us as we stood a couple feet from the counter.  A few minutes later the proprietor arrived at the counter just as a couple of twentysomethings stepped in...  A rather aggressive Miss High Maintenance scooted between Queen Bee and the counter and got the attention of the proprietor first.  Of course they were instantly seated while we were left standing.  QB buzzed angrily.  Luckily there was the second table (directly next to the Miss HM and her perspective mate).  It was a little difficult to calm the angry bee and avoid a stinging encounter but as the food arrived QB moved on and we enjoy a simple lunch (gnocchi for QB and risotto for me) and nice dessert.

2011 June Langhe Trip - La Morra

The second stop on Day 2 of our Langhe trip was La Morra.  Rather than being nestled in a valley like Barolo, La Morra is one of the hilltop towns of Langhe.  We were just passing through to see the sights so we didn't do much there other than taking photo's.  But we did see an elderly (70's) gentleman dress as a western sherif.  You don't see that everyday in Italy.  But no one in town seemed to take notice, so perhaps it is more normal than we would guess...

Beyond that we ended our walk at the town cantina (community wine shop that features the local vineyards).  Unfortunately we had left our wine guides back at the car.  There seemed to be a zillion types and makes to chose from but we were pretty clueless so we grabbed two bottles from a maker that looked familiar (from our tasting in Barolo earlier in the day).  At 5 euro a bottle they seemed like low risk.

The cantina included a small lecture hall the was evocative of a wine cellar.  Very nicely styled with a mix of old structure and modern lighting elements.



















Here are a few shots from the city streets....

2011 Langhe Trip - Monteforte d'Alba

Monteforte d'Alba was the third of three cities we visited on day 2 of our Langhe trip (June 2).  It is one of the many hilltop towns in the Langhe area of Piemonte.  QB and I were only there an hour or so, walking around and taking photo's so there is not much to tell.  We did see a number of interesting approaches to exterior ornamentation that we took note of.  Some are shown in the photo's below.  The streets are very steep and it is a bit of exercise just exploring the town.  There was one wine bar and an osteria that looked interesting for future reference.  Otherwise it was just an opportunity to take photo's.

As nearly always we found some interesting combinations of unrelated items that make a scene interesting (for example the scooter and rose bush above).

Seen along the streets...

The town viewed from the outdoor theatre at the top of the hill...


























More street scenes...

2011 June Langhe Trip - Cortemilia

Friday, the last day of our tour of the Langhe.  We decided to drive through the hills to the town of Cortemilia.  When I was here a month ago, it seemed the roads in this direction were particularly scenic and pleasant.  Following check-out at the B&B at 11:00 am.,  the hour or so drive would get us into Cortemilia a little before lunch.  This would let us walk about a little then grab quick lunch before taking leisurely drive back to Torino where we had reserved for the evening's dinner.

The day was cloudy and a little hazy as well, continuing the trend for the holiday weekend.  But the green of the Langhe hills looks splendid in any case.  Perhaps the way the green hills Ireland always seems attractive in photo's with fog and mist. The roads were curvy, narrow, and hilly but there was minimal traffic so the drive was nice.

Once arriving in Cortemilia, we decided to call a coworker that lives there with his parents on weekends to see if he would like to meet us for a coffee.  After a few moments of comparing schedules, we concurred on a  on a coffee at 2:00 at his parents house, hoping they would not go to a lot of trouble.  (Keeping in mind the last time I stopped by their house for lunch, I was treated to a wonderful 10 course Piemontese dinner!)

So we went about our mid day knowing we would have a nice chat and coffee in a couple hours.  QB lost no time finding the open air market and noticed a number of clothing items she needed for the summer.  For my part, it was a welcome discovery as the last time we shopped in Torino was pretty much a disaster.  I.e. little selection, long lines at the check out, and nothing looked right.  So about 5 itmes, 15 minutes, and  50 Euro's later, the need for summer clothing update was satiated.  Not a bad outcome just as the market was winding down for the day.

This gave us about an hour to kill, which we used to check out the town, take some photo's, and take a light lunch.  Wikipedia says Cortemilia has a population of about 2500 but it seems significantly larger than that.   In terms of structures it looks two or three times the size of Chelsea, but in Chelsea, or other rural American towns, you only see the commercial core,  and a lot of the population is disbursed in the surrounding neighborhoods and countryside.  In Italy, even the small towns are dense with multistory dwellings so it probably seems more populous then it really is.  Like many small Italian towns, Cortemilia has seen many businesses leave the city, and as a result the population has diminished since its peak a hundred years ago.  The town is a mix of nicely maintained or restructured building along with some more weathered  structures.  In either case the town has a lot of character and seems like a nice place to live.   There are many more covered porticos along the shopping streets then you generally see in a town this size.  This would seem to indicate a vibrant economy in the past.  Nestled in the Langhe hills and less than an hour from the sea, it is easy to see why the young people are disappointed that most work is elsewhere in Italy now.

How many towns you know have a thousand year old Saracen tower overlooking the town.  Along with the tower shown above.  I am posting a small selection that captures some of the town.

Catching Up

It has been a busy spring and I have been a bit negligent in keeping up with regular posts.  Thursday June 2 was a holiday here and the office chose to shut down Wednesday and Friday as well, so we ended up with a 5 day weekend.

It seemed a waste to sit around for five days while we are here in Italy, so we decided to do a little adventure for three days then use the remaining two to catch up on things and rest a little.  As I said, spring has been busy and two days to recover before summer comes along seems like a good idea.  So now I have a couple days to go back through the notes and photo's and update my journal.

I'll post these as a series which will probably be, more or less, in reverse order of the spring agenda to date. First will be the short trip to Langhe with Queen Bee, revisiting the area I described in my "Sideways" post early in spring.

Sideways

Some years ago there was a movie called "Sideways" about two middle aged guys going on a California wine adventure.  Drama and humor follows the two as they wander through the hills of California wine country. So while Queen Bee was on her Tennessee adventure I decided to embark on my own weekend trip of wine discovery.  And I chose to visit the Mecca of Italian wine culture.  The Langhe district of Piemonte.

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.

Enjoy the photo's.

Some Italian Dishes Will Never Make It in the USA...

Last night Queen Bee and I went out to dinner in Torino at a restruarant called L'Acino (the grape).  Apparently it is noteworthy as offering very good examples of traditional Piemontese dishes at reasonable prices.  It is consistently full and is one of the few places here that need a reservation at least a week in advance.

As we listened to the description of the dishes it was quickly apparent that one item was off the table for consideration.  In these situations we're not always certain that we are understanding the descriptions correctly, but but it was reasonably clear that the Finanziera was not a contender for our dinner.  As the other guests arrived, we were amazed at how many people, young and old, selected this traditional dish.  And at the end of the evening nearly everyone complimented the owner on how his Finanziera was equal to their mother's (or grand mother's or aunt's etc...).

So returning home I dragged on our Piemontese cook book to confirm our interpretation of the description. And the main ingredients are...
- beef
- beef spine
- beef brain
- chicken liver
- pork liver
- crest of chicken  (brings to mind a witches brew)
- beef sweet breads (glands from the neck)
- beef kidney
along with mushrooms and other stuff... Actually I'd be OK with many of these things but brain and glands cross the line from my perspective.  And Queen Bee's list of OK items is much narrower than mine.  Of course we American have become ridiculously fussy about what we eat and have lost the connection to many of the traditional foods our ancestors used to looked forward to.

In any case, we did stay traditional with a dinner that included... sliced beef with tuna sauce, a small cheese quiche, small ravioli (call agnolottini...  forget the tomato sauce, these were swimming in butter with sage.. yum!), braised beef (for Queen Bee), port shank (for me), and roast potatoes (forget the olive oil...  these were cooked in real beef or pork fat.. as they should be!).  The gentleman that owns the pace is very attentive and chatty.  He seems happy to talk about what the dishes are and where they originate.   It was all wonderful.