Monday September 18, 2017

I knew I wanted to get up early again this morning to make the most of the day so I asked Grant to set his alarm for 7. For those of you who get up at 5 and think 7 is sleeping in, let's talk again when it is 1 am and I'm still wide awake typing and reading wishing I had your body clock!! I specifically asked Grant to change his barking dog alarm to something more peaceful so that I could rise more gently. Imagine my surprise when I am jogged from my deep slumbers to an alarm that sounds like a very loud doorbell and I am so confused about where I am and who might be at the door that I jump out of bed! Good Morning to me!! AWFUL!

It is slightly overcast today as apposed to our glorious sunshine yesterday but is still meant to get into the 20's by this afternoon. Dressing accordingly we head for breakfast with the intention of going for a walk before our driver picks us up for our wine tour at 9:30. Our walk was shortened when we released that it was actually quite cold today and even Grant wanted to change into warmer clothes. We had a few minutes to wander and found a small park with an extraordinary view of the vineyards and towns in the distance.

Our driver arrived in his lovely car promptly at 9:30 and we were off to first a tour of Barberesco and the Adriano Winery to be followed by a tour of a Barolo winery later in the afternoon. As we arrived we were greeted by 3 ginger dogs. Only one of them wanted to hang out so obviously that was our favourite. Missing our own Ginger guy! We got to see the wine in process as it is harvest time here which is very early this year due to the very hot and dry summer they have had. We then had a tasting (and more tasting and more tasting) where our opinions were quite extreme. Some we really liked and others we really didn't. I concentrated to make sure there was not a photo of my head on the table this year but I was certainly close to my notorious reaction to wine tastings! We opted to send a few bottles home so we could enjoy them later and didn't have to carry anything with us. Slightly stumbling to the car (we felt like geniuses at this point having made the decision to have someone drive us!!) we were not sure how we were going to manage another tasting so soon after the first and it was barely noon! Fortunately the town of Barolo is not terribly close by so we had a few minutes to re-group. While we sober up here are some facts to help you follow along…

The main difference between Barolo and Barbaresco and Barolo wines is found in the soils. The soil in Barbaresco is richer in nutrients and, because of this, the vines don't produce as much tannin as found in the wines of Barolo. Both wines smell of roses, perfume and cherry sauce — and they both have a very long finish. Barolo wines require storage for 3 years (Riserva 5 years) before release, whereas Barbaresco only requires 2 years (Riserva 4 years). This could be because of the high tannins in Barolo that require the wine to age longer before being put on the market. Barolo is also about 50 years older then Barbaresco.

Okay… ready to move on to the Barolo tasting.

The Barolo wines are not as quickly offered on offer at these tastings and we were given a choice of three different wines. All of these wines were heavier then what we have had in this region so far but are obviously a bit more pricey for a reason. Polished is the word that comes to mind. We opted to purchase one bottle that we will drink on route when we get tired of carrying it in a few days time as we can purchase these wines at home. (It's not going to make it past St. Moritz as I type this it's fate is doomed!)

Having had more then our daily allowance for wines before noon we arrive back at our hotel where we were offered yet more wine. We declined and drank water/coffee in the garden until we managed to sober up enough to realize it was actually quite cold so we headed inside for a nap. We woke in time for our tour and wine tasting of the cellars here at Castello Di Verduno which started as a winery as early as the 1800's and as a guest you can visit their cellars and have a wine tasting included in our stay. We visited the historic cellar located in the castle's catacombs and saw evidence of hundreds of years of wine producing followed by a tasting of several of their prized wines (not their best Barolo… those don't come out to play anywhere you go to taste!). We chose what is meant to be a lovely 2013 Barolo to enjoy with our dinner tonight in the hotel restaurant and once again went to sit in the garden but this time we did not decline a glass of local wine. The afternoon was spent enjoying the view, reading (sleeping!) and blogging as we enjoy our last days in the Piedmont region before we head off to Lake Como tomorrow morning.

Dinner in the restaurant was going to be one of our "special" evenings and it did not disappoint. You can only hear me describe food so many times so I will spare you but know that it was wonderful and the bonus of the night was that they opened the wrong bottle of wine for us and we ended up drinking a much nicer bottle then we had chosen but only charged for what we had originally ordered.

Being able to withdraw from the evening and enjoy one last evening view from our room was a bonus and knowing morning (and re-packing) was in my future… it wasn't long before I caught up to the marathon sleeper and dozed off!

We are trying our best to not compare our time here to Tuscany but as Grant explained to me this afternoon, "I think my heart was taken in Tuscany", it is a difficult endeavour. It is very beautiful here and there is so much more to explore in this area both historically and gastronomically. I would not complain if our travels brought us back but I have a feeling I know where our journey will lead if we decide to return to the familiar but I would also not be surprised to see Piedmont back on the map either!