Sadly I had to say goodbye to Piedmont yesterday. We enjoyed two tasting in Barbaresco then we headed to Cinque Terre for a few days. Even though I hated having to leave I was happy at the thought of not drinking....yep, you heard me correctly.
The two may only be fifteen miles apart but the countryside of Barbaresco is much different than that of Barolo. It's not as refined, more blue collar if you will. The first winery we visited was La Spinetti. It's a family run business, like almost all here in Italy. They produce about 750k cases a year, mostly Moscato (a sweet wine). I wasn't into drinking, especially at 11:30 AM but the tour was great and extremely educational. For example, I learned that in order to buy land, you must offer it to your neighbor first. If he/she is willing to pay you what you're asking you have to sell to them. If someone is willing to pay more, you have to get your neighbors to sign a document releasing the property to the higher paying individual. Crazy mafioso stuff!
Post two hour tour, we had lunch at Antica Torre in the town of Barbaresco. We had the best pasta dishes thus far; lasagne and ravioli stuffed with veal and veggies coated in butter and sage. Yes, I was dipping my bread in the butter sauce. Ron wanted to take a picture of me licking the plate. I only declined the offer because things over here are a little more sophisticated than in the States. Post lunch, we went to a winery called Bruno Rocca. This is a small producer who was referred to us by Lance, Italian wine buyer, from the Wine House in Los Angeles. Bruno Rocca's daughter conducted the tour and the tasting of all 10 of their wines. Needless to say, we we there much longer than anticipated, two and a half hours. It was worth it! He and his son (we met him as well) are bottling some really good stuff.
On the drive from Barbaresco to Levanto, I fell to sleep only to wake up after an hour to discover my husband sweating even though it was pouring rain and about 60 degrees outside. Apparently in my slumber we hit 405 freeway type traffic. I looked over at Ron and say, "Why is the air on and how far have we driven?" To which he replies, "everything was great and relaxing until we hit this crap. No wonder why people don't drive stick shifts in LA! Oh and the damn tunnels. There are more tunnels than actual road. Did I mention that people don't slow down for s*** over here. This is some serious white knuckle driving!" Needless to say, we arrived into Levanto safely albeit it an hour later than expected. The drive was only supposed to take two and a half hours but it took us almost four.
This hotel is great but not as quaint as Beccaris. We did, however, get upgraded to a suite with 2 bathrooms a kitchen and sitting area. After we unpacked, Ron needed to relax so we went to sit in the steam room then the turkish bath. I know this is going to sound surprising but no alcohol tonight. I made the announcement in the car on the way here that we needed to rein it in for a few days. Flush our systems clean while here in Cinque Terre. Don't worry, we'll go back at it in Florence.