We started the day at Cantina Renato Buganza. The Buganza family has made wonderful Barolo since 1978, together with more than 10 other wines. The tasting was lead by the current generation owner. We tasted 2 whites and 3 reds and bought 1 red.
The winery tasting room was typical of the small wineries we visited - not exactly the "wine Disneyland" of Napa!
It was a bit like another room of their house.
The Piedmont countryside is beautiful. Stepping out of the winery doors is stepping into a winery postcard. You can really see the difference with Tuscany as the town is much lower. Of course, the church tower is still always at the top.
Next up was Massolino. They have been making wine since 1896 in Serralunga d'Alba and are one of the rising stars in Barolo wine making. They make 5 different Barolos, basically
it's 4 Barolos from different vineyards and a more blended Barolo.
The tasting there, like virtually all ours on this trip, was informal and led by the winemaker. He was a bit scripted, but the wines were very good.
And the country setting was peaceful and lovely.
The last winery of the morning was Cagliero. Cagliero
is one of the oldest families growing vines in Barolo, there are documents that
tells about activities since 1500's. As in many small Italian wineries, the place is often decorated with old tools and winery objects. This is the son who is the current generation.
As for history here, he showed us an aging shelf with the same wine from years gone by - you really can age Barolo for quite a while!
Just before we left, we had the special treat of meeting the mama and poppa!
Lunch in the Town of Barolo
Yes, there really is a town called Barolo, population less than 1,000. But, given the clientele for Barolo wine, we had lunch at an upscale nouveau Italian restaurant, Matteo Mora. That meant small exotic very tasty dishes.
There were families and even a business lunch going on in the very contemporary setting.
As usual, we started with the chef's "amusements" for a surprise.
Then a scrumptious grilled octopus and asparagus appetizer.
And a great pasta.--gnocci with basel
The main was a perfectly cooked fish.
This time we were really too full for dessert.
So, we walked off our lunch by seeing the tiny town. It was a picture perfect Piedmont wine town, starting with the town gate
And the distinctive Piedmont building detailing.
Of course, there is always the pretty little, simple church.
The alleys seem to lead you into the vines just beyond.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7xgyF2NE-ykFmavKt1wwG02aSGUSyuvC1MtjvSLB953V5HZhxkzPt2_XQ0uJAd7ut36tl-FczAsZw4J-ceKHwqyig8SdoNqB7OTuf2lxWzA8db0tU_o1_mMy0bG4VEYiw71j6072lqec/s320/P1050620.JPG)
And from the top...it is all wine, wine, wine with the Alps beyond.
The Afternoon Wineries
Our first stop was Cascina del Monastero. At the winery they have a wine cellar from the 1700's. The houses were originally built by the Benedictine monks. Giuseppe and Velda Grasso started the winery in 1993, and runs it in a very family style, combined with a B&B, something pretty common in Piedmont.
As in a couple of wineries, our tour was led by the wife of the owner. The tasting room was quite lovely with artifacts, awards and family furniture and mementos.
Our last winery of the day was that of Gianni Ramello.
He started his wine making in the year 2000, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. It's a very small family owned winery with 7-8 acres of vines.
Again we were in a quaint, small farm building.
We were led through the delicious tasting by the wine maker.
We tasted a variety of wines and bought one for home consumption.
The weather was getting very changeable. That mean a beautiful sunset.
We had a fun dinner at a farmhouse B&B and winery Ill Torriglione. The winery was Gacciola. We were the only non–Italians in the restaurant which is only open to the public on Friday and Saturday night. It was quite an adventure. There was no menu and everything was served family style. We never knew what would happen next. It was a parade to remember.
It started with three different antipasti—tuna salad, an incredible Fava bean in vinaigrette and this pickled white fish.
We then had veal tartare with white truffles.
Next came this asparagus soufflé
followed by risotto with herbs...
and taglioni with red sauce.
The main was veal in Barolo sauce very rich with crispy potatoes.
The topper was a simple scrumptious cake. We were too full to take a picture :)
The evening was made even more special because of the owners/servers granddaughter—Camilla. A beautiful Shirley Templesque little girl who flitted from table to table—so cute.
Soon after arriving at the hotel, the skies opened up with heavy wind and rain. Just before bed we received a text from our driver that the first winery in the morning had to cancel due to flooding. We were sad, but a bit glad to have a lazy start after a busy day.
As for history here, he showed us an aging shelf with the same wine from years gone by - you really can age Barolo for quite a while!
Just before we left, we had the special treat of meeting the mama and poppa!
Lunch in the Town of Barolo
Yes, there really is a town called Barolo, population less than 1,000. But, given the clientele for Barolo wine, we had lunch at an upscale nouveau Italian restaurant, Matteo Mora. That meant small exotic very tasty dishes.
There were families and even a business lunch going on in the very contemporary setting.
Then a scrumptious grilled octopus and asparagus appetizer.
And a great pasta.--gnocci with basel
The main was a perfectly cooked fish.
This time we were really too full for dessert.
So, we walked off our lunch by seeing the tiny town. It was a picture perfect Piedmont wine town, starting with the town gate
And the distinctive Piedmont building detailing.
Of course, there is always the pretty little, simple church.
The alleys seem to lead you into the vines just beyond.
And from the top...it is all wine, wine, wine with the Alps beyond.
The Afternoon Wineries
Our first stop was Cascina del Monastero. At the winery they have a wine cellar from the 1700's. The houses were originally built by the Benedictine monks. Giuseppe and Velda Grasso started the winery in 1993, and runs it in a very family style, combined with a B&B, something pretty common in Piedmont.
As in a couple of wineries, our tour was led by the wife of the owner. The tasting room was quite lovely with artifacts, awards and family furniture and mementos.
Most interesting were these paintings of the prior two generations.
We were served an amazing blue cheese made of blue cheeses from three different areas.
The old building just seemed to set up another still life of shapes...
The wine was quite good and outside was a fantastic object of earlier times.Our last winery of the day was that of Gianni Ramello.
He started his wine making in the year 2000, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. It's a very small family owned winery with 7-8 acres of vines.
Again we were in a quaint, small farm building.
We were led through the delicious tasting by the wine maker.
We tasted a variety of wines and bought one for home consumption.
The weather was getting very changeable. That mean a beautiful sunset.
We had a fun dinner at a farmhouse B&B and winery Ill Torriglione. The winery was Gacciola. We were the only non–Italians in the restaurant which is only open to the public on Friday and Saturday night. It was quite an adventure. There was no menu and everything was served family style. We never knew what would happen next. It was a parade to remember.
It started with three different antipasti—tuna salad, an incredible Fava bean in vinaigrette and this pickled white fish.
We then had veal tartare with white truffles.
Next came this asparagus soufflé
followed by risotto with herbs...
and taglioni with red sauce.
The main was veal in Barolo sauce very rich with crispy potatoes.
The topper was a simple scrumptious cake. We were too full to take a picture :)
The evening was made even more special because of the owners/servers granddaughter—Camilla. A beautiful Shirley Templesque little girl who flitted from table to table—so cute.
Soon after arriving at the hotel, the skies opened up with heavy wind and rain. Just before bed we received a text from our driver that the first winery in the morning had to cancel due to flooding. We were sad, but a bit glad to have a lazy start after a busy day.
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