Saturday 14 October 2017:   Yesterday we had a long long drive, nearly 200km, all the way from Bergamo airport. In nearly three hours we did four successive motorways across most of the Po valley. When we reached our agriturismo among the hills south of Asti it was almost dusk and we were dead hungry. So after taking possession of our rooms we jumped back into our nine-seater and headed a few kilometres further south into a small village called Costigliole d'Asti, where our agriturismo hostess Kirsten had booked a nice and cozy enoteca, called Café Roma for our first cena. It was well worth the hunger pains for Gino and Anna Rossi, the owners, reserved for us a long table under a beautiful red brick barrel-vaulted sala and served us a hearty dinner worthy of their fame as the gastronomic gurus of the area. Now I am not usually an admirer of Barbera, but I have to admit that Gino's Barbera d'Asti was pure silk and tasted like nectar. And since all the group, especially the girls, agreed on this point, Gino was thoroughly pleased. Well, he was playing on home turf for this part of Italy (called the Astigiano) is Barbera country per eccellenza.

Sunday, 15 October 2017:  This morning, as we drove slowly and expectantly round the last bend of the Via Alba and beheld the Castello of Barolo, rising out of the vineyards on a hill, with its borgo clustered around it like a hen's brood, all eight of us started clapping and cheering with joy. For this was the most beautiful sight we had seen yet.  We parked in the town's outer car park, which, luckily for us, was hosting a jaw-dropping raduno of vintage classic Alfa-Romeos, (needless to say, our jaws dropped!).Then we walked briskly into this small, picturesque village and lunched in a small enoteca called Barolofriends, right in front of the Castello. Luckily, I had booked this particular pranzo from Malta with a simple e-mail, for the place was popular and most tables were being snapped up first come first served.

My primo of lingua di vitello, roasted tongue of veal with porcini mushrooms and animelle*, was simply mouthwatering but the secondo: Stinco di Vitello, (veal shank served in its own Barolo reduction with polenta) was unforgettable. My wife and friends had tajarin (typical piemontese pasta), ravioli, more lingua, and more stincos!!

But the real stars of the show here were the wines, all invariably full-bodied, silky-smooth Barolos of the highest quality, which was to be expected from a wine that is described as 'The king of wines and the wine of kings'.  In our jolly mood, half-drunk with beauty and grape nectar, we next drove into the very heartland of the world famous Langhe**, a veritable picture-perfect landscape of rolling hills carpeted with vines of the ubiquitous Nebbiolo grape. Other small quaint towns awaited us: Monforte d'Alba, and especially Serralunga d'Alba with its spectacular castello.

In four full days we also drove up to La Morra, Barbaresco, Neive and finally Grinzane Cavour with its towering, red brick Castle, once the residence of Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, first prime minister and mastermind of a united Italy way back in  the 1860's.

Monday 16 October: There has only been one disappointment so far: the famous white truffle of Alba, unique in all Italy, is nowhere to be had. Every restaurant, every enoteca we have been to, simply declined to serve us tartufo bianco. The main cause of this near 'tragedy' was the lack of rainfall during last September. So we have come up to Piemonte all the way from Malta primarily for the yearly Sagra del Tartufo Bianco, and like true colossal sfigati (untranslatable in English but, roughly speaking, losers) we were left roaming about for the elusive tuber like headless chickens.

Nonetheless, as I have just said, this area of northern Italy still regaled us with breathtaking magical landscapes of rolling hills carpeted with vines stretching infinitely on every side!

All roads in this region lead ultimately to Alba, the mother hen of the Langhe, a city, which, despite modern non-descript apartment blocks on its periferia, still possesses a centro storico of decent proportions and a discreet architectural beauty. We managed to go there three times in as many days. The Duomo has an impressive red brick three-partite façade in a singular north Italian Romanesque style. Facing the Duomo, Piazza Risorgimento, and adjoining via Cavour, with their three still-standing medieval towers, is an impressive area that for two days running held a sort of Notte Bianca or Baccanale with food stalls offering typical Piemontese fare and games of all sorts run by extras in colourful medieval costumes. In my opinion, however, there were too many crowds for my liking. This world-renowned Sagra, unfortunately, is being overrun by its own popularity.

 One last great satisfaction we had was visiting the small sleepy village of Barbaresco and tasting its world-famous red wine in two private cellars (cantine) right in the shadow of the village Torre, which we then climbed up to for a glorious 360 degree panoramic vista of all the surrounding countryside.

 

Tuesday 17 October: This has been a happy invigorating break shared with dear wine-loving friends, for which I thank my lucky stars. Already I feel hooked on to these wine and food-tasting holidays. So, more of them in the future? Let's see; Burgundy, Tuscany (did that!), ........ Bordeaux? Perhaps.

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*Animelle, called sweetbreads in English, are small lymphoid growths around the pulmonary tract of cows and calves, similar to tonsils and, served fried, are a sought-after delicacy of Italian regional cuisine.

** The Langhe, a Unesco World-Heritage site, is an area of rolling hills stretching south of Alba roughly 45 km south east of Turin

 

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