John & Sheelagh come to Italy! Barolo & Dogliani.

since I was in charge of the map, i lead my parents through the little piemontese villages on our way to our next destination. we drove through and stopped briefly in La Morra as we spotted vast views of the vineyard-covered landscape. cute little town. next stop: Barolo. where else to drink barolo than in Barolo?? we were greeted by the town celebrating the annual Barolo Wine Festival. the streets were lined with vendors selling all types of local and regional foods that we of course sampled - jams and honeys, wild mushrooms which we ate fried, salamis cured with fennel, truffles, barolo of course, cheeses and cheeses, hazelnuts, apples, dried pastas and risotto mixes, different bunches of grape varieties, desserts and of course wine tastings. there is even a cork museum and it was the inauguration of the Barolo Museum of Wine.

it was then on to Dogliani where we were greeted with another end of summer festival, but being the middle of the day, all the stalls were empty and everyone was sitting under the arcade eating lunch. some more salami samplings and wine tastings...

 get to keep the glasses!

sitting ontop of a hill outside of Dogliani, we arrived at il Relais dei Poderi Luigi Einaudi.  it is a beautiful estate.

Luigi Einaudi was the President of the first Republic of Italy after the Second World War in 1948. The estate was the family's summer home and is now converted into a guest house - it still maintains a homey-welcoming and comfortable feel. we were told we were the only guests for the night so we had the entire place to ourselves although the suite itself was big enough that the upstairs attic wasn't even furnished. the views of the vineyeards that covered the Langhe hills surrounded us and we sat out in the warm sun by the wine-bottled shape pool. mum napped and lounged. i (tried to) read (in italian) some Slow Food magazines - i think they had the entire collection. only dad was brave enough to test the ice cold water.

mum and i wandered through the vineyards, tasting fallen apples and picking figs off the trees along the way as protective dogs relentlessly barked at us.

before dinner, we sat looking at the sun setting over the vineyards and we sampled a bottle of the estate's Dolcetto di Dogliani. mum fell in love with dolcetto's while the family's cat fell in love with her, inviting itself confidently onto her lap.

 the cat rules the estate.

with the recommendation of the best restaurant in the area, we drove to Trattoria della Posta - of course after we stopped in town for a glass of wine - just outside of Monforte d'Alba. it is an old converted farm house with a traditional homey feel inside - kinda like a refined italian nonna's home. books covered the shelves and there was a fireplace that divided the middle of the room but was open on either side. again, i was overwhelmed by the amount of wines they offered, page after page of regional wines. the restaurant prides itself on history, tradition, typical Langhe dishes and seasonal products. i chose the tasting menu - based upon mushrooms.

mixed mushroom salad.

mixed mushroom salad all mixed up.

 Baked Stuffed Mushroom

 green ravioli filled with goat cheese, Bra sausage and leeks

 baked mushrooms wrapped in cheese.

 tajarin with meat ragout

 tagliatelli with mushrooms and truffles.

 mum ate it too fast.

the next morning before we left, we had a well-informed tour of the luigi einaudi underground cellar by a girl who was leaving the traditional wine making place for more modern method in tuscany. i loved seeing mum and dad's faces as they saw the bottles being filled, corked, and labeled, the steel tanks for fermentation, the huge racks of hundreds of bottles in storage, and the large wine holding barrels - something i've become accustomed to through all of our stages.

we all agreed that this was the prefect place to come as a vacation escape to relax or use as a base to explore the gastronomic region. the surrounding scenery rolled all the way into the distant mountains, the wines were delicious but encompassed something more by sipping them amongst the vineyards where the grapes were grown (terroir?!), and the guest house was full of luxurious charm. we could've stayed here for the remainder of the trip, but the lakes beckoned us. 

wedding destination #5

John & Sheelagh come to Italy! Monforte d'Alba.

after Cuneo, it was off to wine country. being told that we should make reservations to have tours around the vineyards i had written to a couple places over the summer but was overwhelmed by the amount of producers in the area - how was i supposed to pick the best places to bring my parents?! i also didn't want to create a time-strict schedule for us to have to follow. luckily, i got an email back following up to a previous tour-requesting email. so off we were to paolo monti's vineyard in monforte d'alba.

the piemontese countryside of the barolo region was beautiful with rows and rows of verdant green growing vines going vertically along and horizontally across the rolling hills. the chalky white soil appeared only to draw demarcating lines across the landscape. the buildings in the towns were cluttered together along the tops of the Langhe hills creating little picturesque communities while the red clay roofs of small and big estates appeared scattered amongst the fields of vineyards. the sky was endlessly blue without a cloud in sight. we slowly drove along the curvey road taking in the surrounding scenery and salivating at the juice-bursting purple grapes dangling at the bottom of the vines just had an arm's length away. there weren't any fences anywhere, so that didn't deter us from stopping to pick a couple grapes to taste....like a teaspoon of welch's jam bursting out of a thick protective skin. 

a couple of wrong turns, a shakey hazelnut-picking woman and a couple turn arounds in wrong drive ways later, we eventually showed up to paolo's unmarked winery. he stuck out his arm and introduced himself, "ciao, paolo monti." the owner himself! already impressed. we chatted a bit and then he brought us around to see the vineyard, tell us about the different vats and casks they use, brought us down to see where they are stored in a modern cellar and then on to the tasting. and we tasted each of the wines he produces: Barolo "Bussia" D.O.C.G, Barbera d'Alba D.O.C, Langhe Dossi Rossi D.O.C, Barolo D.O.C.G, Nebbiolo D.O.C, and the white L'Aura D.O.C. maybe a little tipsy-enduced...but I liked each one more than the next. they recently started importing directly to the US market via California and had mentioned a couple restaurants in NYC - including Lidia Bastinach's - so I'm sure my parents will be looking out for his name in future wine lists. the winery was more modern than other ones we had visited but paolo gave us his entire attention, describing his work, the place's history, and the wine making process to us while graciously pouring us his wines. it was so personalized, i think my parents were more impressed than any of the wine tours they went on in napa or sonoma. we would've stayed longer if we didn't have reservations for lunch.

wine tasting. is it noon yet? 

with paolo.

obligatory feet pic. dad's.