Wine makers are getting ready for a lot more work during the labeling
process, in the past the control tag (fascetta) was only required for D.O.C.G.
wines about 15 to 20% of their production. New laws in 2010 mean almost
all of their wines will need the control label.

Small producers who did this one at a time by hand in the past are
now looking for machines to do this tedious work.

However these machines don’t always get it right.

This is the closest thing to coffee to go in Italy, gotta love it!

Living next to many different winemakers gives us the
opportunity to try their experiments, we’ve been drinking
our way through 100 liters of a Nebbiolo and Sav. Blanc
Rose blend made by our friend Enzo from La Ganghija.
Luckily for us Enzo didn’t care for the wine but we love it
and are happy to drink our way through it 2 liters at a time.

The other night at the neighbors we drank an 2003
Cortese it was fantastic not fresh and crisp the usual
descriptors used for this varietal but mellow and creamy
with tons of carmel

We did some scouting this weekend for our spring trips to the Franciacorta
wine region,which is about 3 hoursnorth east of Barbaresco.
Was fun but way too cold.

Our first snow arrived on the 17th of December, only 2 inches but enough for a
white Christmas.The garage is packed full with fire wood so Robert parks under
the bedroom balcony to maintain his recored of never scraping the car here in the
Langhe. He does not miss that old MN sport of scraping and shoveling snow.

Testing out the new stuffa, made it to 93 F

Treiso covered in snow.

A couple of weeks ago we went to a giant Barbera
wine tasting that was a great way to compare many different
producers using only one varietal.

There were 4 tables each with about 75 wines to pick from, almost 300 wines in total.

Chiaro and our friend Richard talking a break from some very hard work!

Cotta choosing our next wine to try.

The fall colors this year is the best we've seen yet !
Another great tasting/winery tour with our expat friends at RESSIA
A very passionate wine maker Fabrizio

Fabrizio Ressia's line up of wines.

A must try and very interesting Dry Moscato this will be our aperitivo
wine next summer and our spicy food wine this winter.

Carlo (Darryl) Warning Chiaro to stop finding new producers who make great wine.
This is starting to get expensive !

This weekend was the annual "Barbaresco Week-End" wine tasting held in the
Barbaresco city hall. Chiaro with our expat friends Andrea and Lesley as we "work"
are way through 51 2006 Barbaresco's, La Ca Nova winery was the favorite
of the day. We exempt our usual favorites from judging Sottimano, Moccagatta,
Ca del Baio, Vigin, La Ganghija etc.

Everything is a family event in Italy, good training for Oliver

The quote of the day go's to Carlo a.k.a. Darryl " A nothing nose
with a hint of what i don't like"

The last pressing of 2009 at Vigin ( Cru Cotta ) this pomace is off to the
distillery to be made into Grappa (rocket fuel )

Chiaro celebrating her 40th at her friend Chiara's 50th surprise birthday party at
La Ciau del Tornavento (way to go Bob). Yes that is a freshly sciabolaed
bottle of Cristal however we still prefer Bille.

birthday(week): wine at the Piacere Barbaresco tasting with our friend and
Treiso neighbor, Andrea. The tasting was a hit, they decorated the elementary
school gym like a vineyard.

A new event this year at the tasting was a hit. The 9 glasses in the background
had extracts of veris wine smells for to to try identifying, if you got all 9 correct
you win a bottle of Barbarecso

Zero tolerance in ITALY (NOT) you have to love a country that has a huge
wine tasting in their elementary school caffeteria along with a temp wine shop
in the front office. The tasting lasted through monday so, no school !!

Showing off a few of our favorite wineries to some recent visitors,
shown here is moccagatta. After this tasting we went to visit a winery
very close to our home, after driving by it for 2 years let's check it out .....

We soon realized what we were missing. We've had a few of their
wines over the years and always liked them but had never tasted through
their full line wow! The nose on the pinot noir smelled just like a Willamette
Valley pinot noir and tasted great. They also make some very unique whites.
we are going to be learning more about Poderi Colla

At dinner this past weekend we asked for some salt. Great idea and
presentation very cool! (salt and pepper is rarely seen on tables here in
Piemonte)

Spring has quickly turned into summer, the vines are growing very fast
and are in constant need of training and leaf pulling.

Even Robert, he's helpping the neighbors Vigin in their nebbiolo vineyard
"Cru Montersino" next to our home (in the back ground)

O.S.H.A. would have a field day here, however nobody seems to get hurt.

We spotted imported wine for the first time at the big super market in
Alba but nothing worth buying, bummer we miss Oregon Pinot noir

Jazz is very popular here in Alba it's as if we've moved to Chicago except the
shows here are usually free, always outdoors and wine is everywhere.

If we don't show up at a tasting with puppy cotta we are not let in.

Cotta greeting her friend Nicola who organized today's tasting of barolo's
(2005) from the sub region La Morra. Below are a few standouts from todays
tasting (no special order)

AURELIO SETTIMO

I BASTIONI

STROPPIANA

There was only 720 bottles of IL LAURO made. Very strong
eucalyptus in the nose was catnip for Robert.

SAN BIAGIO also makes a Cru Barbaresco from Montersino
the vineyard our home is in, we're exited to try this wine soon.

On via Maestra, the main shopping street in Alba, a new wine bar opened last
week called GOLD, very upscale and flashy. (look for a full review in the future at
our Alba Wine Bar page) Times must be good ?

Wow the first P.O.S. system we've seen in a bar in the area, the next thing you
know they'll be getting that internet thing.

Ever thing you need to know about gold is on the back wall

However on the other side of Alba we saw this sign

Times must be bad ?

we went to a Barbaresco tasting this past monday comparing
the 2005 and the 1999 vintage's of 20 or so different producers
all showed well but as to be expected the 99's were very charming.
some of our favorites below (no special order)

Summer is here so is the start of endless wine festivals.
Our first one this season was great, 3 euros gets you a glass and
there was lots of Barbera to try.


Taking a break from tasting Chiaro shows a producer her art work.
He invited us to tour his cantina later in the week.


The side streets are filled with venders selling cheese, art and even tractors.

10:00 in the morning and Chiaro has to wait in line for a taste of Barbera.

Outdoor dining has returned

Vineyard workers burning brush between the road and vine row's

Trimming the hazelnut grove's for next winter's fire wood

This past monday we stopped by the Nada Giuseppe Winery to watch
them bottle their rosé. The equipment is a little more specialized ( for rosé )
so they are using a mobile bottling machine. All of their other wines are
bottled in the winery.

This self contained bottler is delivered by a flat bed truck, then setup on the ground.

Barbara loading bottles with Valle Grande vineyards in the background

Nella and Giuseppe along with there grandson filling cages that are moved into
the winery for labeling at a later date.

Rosé from 100% Nebbiolo, just in time for spring!

Tags: wine

We first met Giuseppe last fall at Eataly in Torino. He was pouring his
white wines, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, in the wine shop for
the customers to taste. We liked both of the Whites alot and bought some
that day. Last Friday, we finally made it to the winery and got to taste
all the wines and see the cellar. The winery has been in the family
for many generations and is today run by Giuseppe and his family.

We first tried some tried some young Barbera d'Asti right from the Botte
then finished our tasting upstairs where it was warmer.

Giuseppe's wines are a great example of a gem of winery, along with it's vineyards,
situated outside of the well known zones of Barbaresco and Barolo.
He pours alot of energy and unique ideas into varietals like
Barbera, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvingnon and Chardonnay.
We have found that wineries outside of the Langhe,
when they get it right, like here at Sciorio, the wines are a
tremendous value for the quality. We enjoyed all the wines, but
especially liked the Barbera d'Asti and the Monferrato Rosso(Syrah).
Sciorio does a private label for a restaurant in Portland, OR called
Alba Osteria & Enoteca. A place we are sure to check out next time we are
in Portland. Giuseppe said the food is very authentic Piemontese
which is a rare find in the US.

The cellar is very beautiful and will definitely be on Leslie's list to paint

What's an Aperitivo? Here in Piemonte the word becomes a verb meaning
let's meet for a drink. There are some noticeable differences from the American
version.
In Italy it is always at a bar/cafe; these terms are interchangeable, hours are
from about 5:30 to 8:00(so you have time to get home for dinner, they eat
late here).
The drink of choice is usually wine, here in Alba bubbles are very
popular; Champagne, Franciacorta, Prosecco or local sparkling wine.
Food is always served with your drink order and is always
included in the price.
The food is bite sized snacks whose quality can vary
that you eat with a toothpick or your fingers.
Very trendy bars will sometimes offer their snacks buffet style on the counter.
Here are some examples of the snacks "stuzzichini":

Tags: wine bars

What can be more interesting than trying new bubbles
from off the radar wine regions.
Recently we tried a wine from Bulgaria.

Edoardo Miroglio
Brut Rose
Metodo Classico 2006

It appears to be vintage, the label says 2006, but we are not
clear on Bulgarian wine laws.
It was disgorged in September 2008.

We poured some and gave it a try. Light salmon in color with a fine bead
of bubbles. Looks promising. We try a taste. Very dry and crisp with
lots of cherries and fresh cranberries. Balanced with a nice yeast component.
Fairly strong enjoyable yeasty finish. We approve.

A few days later we tried their rose made from Pinot Noir even though
it was a 2005 still showed lot of fruit. Makes us want to try a current vintage.

Tags: wine

You sure can't judge a wine bar by it's door. We have been walking
by this place for years and finally gave it a try, once inside we found the
perfect definition of a vineria (think wine bar mixed with coffee shop,
neither of which exists separately in Italy). The place is great and the staff very
friendly, it's called Casa della Torre. It is located on a side street off the
main walking street in Alba. From this lesson we have decided to give
the other wine bars we've been walking by a chance and do little "mini" reviews
on all the wine bars in Alba(This could take awhile, there are ALOT of wine bars).

A back bar to be proud of with great stemware along with very serious
coffee. By definition a vineria is not a restaurant, however you wont go
hungry.

With every glass of wine you get a fancy plate of snacks, always delicious
but varies day to day, hour to hour. The wine by the glass is unusual too,
most vinerias in the area only serve local wine, but this place always has some wine
from someplace else, like Chile, Spain or other regions in Italy.
This is great because we go a little crazy drinking barbera and nebbbiolo
everyday, even though we love it. It also has ample choices for "bollicine" bubbles.
Bubbles are the most popular aperitivo in Piedmont wine bars. You don't see
very much Prosecco but alot of Franciacorta, Champagne and of course, locally
produced bubbles which most are quite good.

Tags: wine bars

Nearing the end of our 2nd harvest. I finally get the joke producers (wine makers)
tell about why vegetarians shouldn't drink wine.

This nebbiolo is getting a little extra air during it's pump over.

Tags: Barbaresco,wine

Veraison (grape ripening) has begun in the vineyard behind our home, harvest will be here soon



Very happy to hack our iphone !!! works great wow email at home what a great idea
( Wine - Mustella)

Tags: vineyard