Chapter 21 - Last Day - Final Piedmont Wine Tasting and Two Final Culinary Treats

Morning Tastings

After checking out of the inn, we went to three small family wineries—husband as winemaker, wife as marketer. Italian hospitality was amazing, at two wineries when we tried to pay for the wine, it was given to us.  It was fun talking to the winemakers and hearing their passion.   

Piedmont is divided into two main wine areas--Langhe where we spent yesterday and Roere today's destination.  We spent the day in Roere, to the north of Alba,  which is white wine country. We got to taste Arneis is various forms. The wines in Roere are much softer than the wines in Langhe from the prior day. There is a slight competition in how the winemakers talk about the other areas.

First stop was the Baracco di Baracho, or Cantina di Baracco, which started making wine in 1871 and makes more than 10 different wines now. We had fun tasting a number of wines in their cozy tasting area with walls full of local art.

Next was Cantina Marsaglia, a small family run winery, now with the 4th generation. The winery has about 45 acres of vines growing. We basically visited their home.

And tasted wine in the kitchen!

The final winery before lunch, Nizza Silvano, has been run by the Nizza family for more than 50 years, with Silvano as the representative of the 2nd generation. They produce 11 different wines. This is the working area.

It was fun with good wine; and a young very personable winemaker trying to build his business. Although the winery is a family operation they have a partner who is Belgian and was an architect before he became a wine maker.  He is also a very good marketer and is trying to expand their lines to meet European market tastes—Stefano. Here we are with Silvano and Stefano.

It was very informative to talk with them about how they are creating new wines. Interestingly, we also had two sparkling wines there, one primarily Arneis and a rose Nebbiola--Antique Cantina dei Conti di Roero.   

Lunch in Alba

Lunch at Locanda Cortileeto d’Alba was a special treat—the owner personally greeted us and chatted with us during the meal. A very cozy setting... 

We had carrot flan,

mushrooms crepes, 

and spinach ravioli with ricotta and Gorgonzola. 

Dessert was a bronte-a pudding made from chocolate and hazelnuts—so very delicious.  We had a very precious nouveau version of this at lunch the day before  This traditional country version was even better.

The owner so clearly loved her restaurant and it showed. In serving the dessert she stenciled Elaine's name into the chocolate sauce.  A very special treat. 

Here she is!

Afternoon/Final (boo hoo) Tastings

First up was Antica Cascina dei Conti di Roero. It was a very nice winery but we must have been so full from lunch that we didn't take any pictures.

Our last Italian and Piedmontese winery stop was at Malvirà. We had a wonderful guide to their wines in the family home. a four generation fairly large winery with a knockout metal gate.

They make great whites in addition to Nebbiola and Barbera. The day and setting were beautiful on a hilltop.

The winery has an old cave that they want to turn into a tasting room right inside that hill covered with grapevines.

We sat in their tasting room (rather large) overlooking the vineyard and savored many wines even a dessert red. Hard to have a better tasting to end our Italian winery adventures.

Delicious Surprise Last Dinner

Our guide drove us from the Piedmont to our hotel at the Milan airport - we had a 6:45 AM flight the next morning for our first leg home - UGH.

As we didn't want to eat dinner at the Novotel, Leif, our winery tour master, had found a "local neighborhood" restaurant for us in Milan.  We were a little afraid we would o.d. on the somewhat similar food we have had over the past three weeks - but anything would be better than the Novotel! 

The taxi ride to the restaurant gave us a brief opportunity to see some of Milan—much greener than Rome or Florence with parks and greenways in many areas.  It made we want to come back and see more.

The restaurant, Sa Mesa, was a wonderful surprise—it WAS a friendly neighborhood restaurant.

It featured Sardinian food so we had the opportunity to try some completely new things. 

The Sicilian bread they served was additive a very thin, light cracker topped with olive oil and rosemary. We each had a glass of a very different vermentino.

We started with octopus with polenta followed by spaghetti with seafood (clams & sea urchins). Our main was fish. They took the fish from the tank to show to us before they cooked it. The waiter then did a masterful job of filleting tableside before serving it. 

It was sea bream with potatoes and artichokes, so sweet and delicious. 

When we said we were too full for dessert, he brought over a perfect wheel of pecorino to scoop out and eat!

But he wasn't finished yet and brought us a plate of sweets for the denouement. 

We discretely packed some away for the flights to come on the morrow...A great finish to the meal and the trip - and this blog.

More like this: Copenhagen and Stockholm http://eandlscan.blogspot.com/ 
and 7 weeks in Australia/New Zealand:  http://eandlaunz.blogspot.com/

Hope you have enjoyed. Love to know what you liked the best or answer any questions:

lester.levine@gmail.com