26
Nov
2008
- Details
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Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy
It all started at the Charton-Hobbs tasting and ended with me nursing a stuffed nose for two-plus weeks; but I would have to say it was well worth it …
We started the morning off in an old theatre (teatro) for the Barolo press conference. The press sat in the seats in the main body of the theatre as 3 speakers, from different aspects of the Barolo region, talked about the wines, the vintage and the tourism from the main stage.
Claudio Rosso discussed harvesting, Barolo’s DOCG status, the next Barolo launch to market (the 2005’s will see the light of day in January 2009) and the 2008 grape growing season: fresh spring, below average July and August with a hot summer-like September. His wrap up assessment: “Not an abundant crop but good grapes with excellent flavours and good acidity … these will be good wines for ageing.” He then told us that Barolo is sold in 48 countries – 14% of the wine is sold in the U.S. while another 34% is sold locally and over 10 million bottles are made annually. Claudio then sat down and took a hefty belt from his glass of wine (remember, it’s about 10:45 in the AM – what a great country, or as Konrad put it at the airport, “civilized”.) ... (Read more)
To read about more interesting adventures thru the world of wine check out the On the Road With the Grape Guy blog.
26
Nov
2008
- Details
-
Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy
It all started at the Charton-Hobbs tasting and ended with me nursing a stuffed nose for two-plus weeks; but I would have to say it was well worth it …
Flying Air Italia at a time when the airline is close to bankruptcy is a scary proposition –the question of, “how the heck will I get home?” kept running through my head. But as someone pointed out to me, at least you'll be stuck in Italy. My road to get there was just as interesting as being there ... the call came in on a Monday to replace a last minute cancellation; I was up in the air 4-days later flying to Italy for my first European "vacation". Dinner on board consisted of a chicken breast and lasagna; breakfast was ham and cheese on egg bread with a danish; I loved the sweet red orange juice served at both meals. Final destination was Milan, which meant having to change planes in Rome. Walking through the airport to get to our connecting flight I noticed that the place looked more like a shopping mall. How surreal - this is an airport? My fellow traveler and wine-writer colleague Konrad Ejbich comments, "this is a civilized airport.”
We arrive in Milan a few minutes before noon (a few minutes earlier than expected), collect our bags and go to exit 4 to meet our ride. We wait, and wait, and wait … at 12:45 Enzo shows up making apologies, but alas he does not speak a lick of English. He leads us to two different levels of the parking garage and down four different aisles on each. Enzo, it would seem, has lost his car. He returns Konrad and I back to the arrivals “lounge” while the intrepid and somewhat inept Enzo goes off in search of his (and our) ride. By 1:15pm he returns for us; he has found his car and we are to follow him. He makes another wrong turn in the parking structure, but does eventually find his car. Enzo makes me very nervous - he drives way too slow, on a road that’s speed limit is set to 120km, Enzo does not break 80 … fatigue takes over and I fall asleep in the back seat, Konrad nods off in the front, neither of us can bear to watch the train wreck that is our greeter and driver.
3:15 PM we arrive in Alba, it's 15° and sunny. We have a little free time to grab some quick groceries (namely water) at a store that is recommended to us, just a few blocks away (La Famiglia). Here I found bottled water in a 1.5L size for .08-Euros ... I buy 6. Back to our accommodations to get ready for a 6:00pm dinner at La Morra and what should be a very busy few days.
Dinner in La Morra Vineyard ... (Read more with pictures)
To read about more interesting adventures thru the world of wine check out the On the Road With the Grape Guy blog.
