Viva Italia Part One

I spent the last week of January in northern Italy as the guest of the Instituto Grandi Marchi (http://www.istitutograndimarchi.it/). The group is basically a consortium of top quality family owned wineries in Italy representing the major regions and wines. Each participating winery represents an Italian wine region and is known for producing quality wine.

The tour I was on was one of two being offered to wine journalists in Canada and I had the option of going to central Italy with a focus on Tuscany or going to the north and seeing the wineries there. Well, I've been to Tuscany, and had never been to Piedmont and Lombardy so the choice was an easy one to make.

My itinerary at first glance was deceptively light, upon arriving at Turin the 24^th, my small group would be visiting one winery per day. One! One winery each day, almost unheard of, I have been on some trips where 4-6 visits were planned so this seemed like a treat. My list of wineries in order were

Pio Cesare http://www.piocesare.it/index.htm a winery that I have long been in love with their Barolos.

Michele Chiarlo http://www.chiarlo.it/ another top shelf producer perhaps best known in Canada for their Nivole Moscato d'Asti though producing fantastic reds.

Ca' del Bosco http://www.cadelbosco.it/it/#/home a winery that I wasn't as familiar with as I would have liked, but a large producer of Franciacota sparkling wine.

Alois Lageder http://www.aloislageder.eu/ an absolutely fantastic winery, I've been a fan for a very long time.

Masi http://www.masi.it/ who doesn't know Masi? Campofiorin? Amarone? Perhaps the one Italian winery that every Canadian has tried at least once.

All good trips have at least one glitch and luckily mine was experienced right upon arrival in Turin. My flight landed after travelling all night in Turin about 1130 in the morning. I picked up my bags, and proceeded outside fully expecting someone to greet me. Nope. Not a thing. Being the patient soul I am sometimes, I figured perhaps someone was delayed, after an hour I started double checking my itinerary and discovered that everyone else was slated to arrive around 230. Three hours later, the next person to arrive was delayed about an hour or so and we were able to find out that the remaining journalists on the itinerary were going to be delayed a few more hours after that. Thankfully everyone arrived safe and sound by early evening and we were able to get a short walking tour of Turin in during the late afternoon which broke up the "all day in the Turin airport" experience. Dinner was by necessity late, but truly a spectacular meal at a restaurant called Dulcis Vitis http://www.dulcisvitis.it/ thoroughly enjoyed with a magnum of Cannubi from Marchesi di Barolo and a few other tastes of some other wines. One of the meals I hope to remember forever.

The first day started in Alba which is also the birthplace of Ferrero Roche those tasty little chocolate which I am also allergic to, but recall fondly from early days.

January in Alba, Piedmonte

http://www.ferrerorocher.ca/en/ This does explain why parts of the town smell like chocolate and hazelnuts, but Alba is also the home of some great wines and is at the heart of Piedmont. Our Monday was to be spent at Pio Cesare (founded in 1811) in the company of Cesare Benvenuto involving a tour of the facilities at the winery which are not open to the public, a tasting of a number of their wines, and a memorable lunch. Especially of interest at the winery is that it is essentially built upon the remains of the roman walls which used to define the town. Land being at a premium in Alba, the winery has expanded downwards creating an interesting layout and blend of new and old spaces.

Eight wines were tasted at the winery and I am very happy to say that they were damn good. Best known for their reds, the whites were crisp, clean, and thoroughly tasty. The Pio Cesare 2008 Gavi DOC stood out, and for those interested in trying it here in Canada. The wine is NOT meant for aging and best enjoyed within a few months of bottling. The reds were stunning, but the one I really enjoyed was the Pio Cesare "Fides" Barbera D'Alba 2007 DOC, a bit ponderous initially, it soon opened up and it may be a bit more friendly to people getting into Barbera while still firmly in a top quality spot.

Cesare Benvenuto of Pio Cesare with most of the wines tasted

This wonderful day was capped off with another fantastic meal this time at Laliberra which some people might recognize from a TV segment from here in Canada. Certainly another "must visit" if you are ever in Alba.

Day two started nice and early with a ride to Michele Chiarlo which, known for a full portfolio of wines here at home, is perhaps best known for the sweet and bubbly Nivole in half bottles of Moscato D'Asti. We were graced with a tour of the facility by Michele Chiarlo which was a pleasant contrast to the smaller operation of the earlier day. Followed by a comprehensive tasting of the portfolio of about a dozen wines. The standouts there for me were the Barbera D'Alba Superiore 2007 "le Orme" DOCG and the 2006 Barbaresco "Asilie" DOCG. The wines generally showed a little most restraint, and were a little leaner in fruit, but just begged to be enjoyed with food. Closing the tasting with a little Nivole, I have to admit that Moscato D'Asti is just fun wine and so easy to enjoy. Live a little, try some again soon.

The lineup of wines at Michele Chiarlo

From there, off to lunch at Ristorante del Belbo da Bardon which has a pedigree going back more than a few years and an incredible wine list chock full of Piedmont wines. Lunch was a few hours long and perhaps has the finest cheese table I have ever seen in a restaurant. After our experience at M. Chiarlo we were back to the hotel where foolishly I agreed to fit in another winery that was off the official itinerary and looking to increase their international distribution and we were there to see if the quality of the wines was up to snuff. A quick visit to the facility, a tasting of about 20 wines and I was ready to go for some dinner.

After returning to the hotel, we were starting to lose a little bit of steam and in the effort to find a meal that might be shorter than 3 hours and contain less than 4 courses we embarked on our only poor meal of the trip. I'm not going to bother saying where we were, but it was something a little more basic than the restaurants we had been at, but a few of us were drinking beer rather than magnums of top shelf wines. It was also nice and relaxing and a perfect way to close the first half of the trip.