Month: July 2014

Cycling up Semnoz from Annecy

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I’m back-dating this posting because I realize I never posted anything about my stay in Annecy, France.

Annecy is beautiful small city south of Geneva situated on a picturesque lake. While it’s touristy and there are throngs of people that visit I really enjoyed my stay there and would go back. I really enjoyed walking around the city and several of the restaurants. And cycling in the area is excellent. There’s a fantastic route that goes along the lake. You can spend hours on that route alone, but the other ride I did there was to bike up to the top of Semnoz.

The Sunday of the weekend I was there turned into one helluva day of cycling. It had its ups and downs both literally and figuratively. I’ll explain…

From Annecy to the top of Semnoz is up hill all the way. It’s quite a climb. But then that’s half the point of choosing such a route. It’s the challenge of it. I went by way of Leschaux to get there. The grade at 4 to 5% is not bad for the first part to Leschaux. From there, it gets interesting and a fair bit harder.

You can see my progression up to the summit in the photos here. Starting from Annecy down by the lake and then winding my way up to Leschaux. The ride up to Leschaux is not too difficult but it makes a nice spot to take a little break in prep for the next leg. There’s a bar/restaurant there where lots of cyclists take a pitstop. You can see a bunch of other riders taking it easy in one the photos.

From Leschaux the climb gets a lot steeper. You can see in the photo right below the one at the restaurant that after a bit more climbing I’m looking back down on the small town of Leschaux. You’ll need to click to view the photo because otherwise the town is too small in the thumbnail.

More climbing … you can see the grade gets to 8% pretty frequently. Then finally, the summit. There’s a couple of restaurants and a ski resort at the top. I pulled in for a coke and a sandwich. It was actually pretty chilly at the top. I was glad I had some gear I could change into for the ride back down.

After starting back, now the bad news: I got a broken spoke on the descent! Ugh! A broken spoke means the wheel was way out of balance and so the wheel wobbled horribly and rubbed the brake on every revolution. That made for a long, shaky trip back to Annecy. Thank God it was almost entirely down hill into Annecy.

Click thru here for route map to the summit, from Annecy.

The VinoRama in Lavaux

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In my last post, I mentioned visiting the VinoRama. It reminded me a lot of some of my recent visits to regional enotecha in Piedmont. In this case, the VinoRama represented many wines from the Lavaux region.

If you’re just inclined to try wines of the region or are headed to Lausanne or Montreux it’s pretty easy to get to the VinoRama, you don’t even need a car. You can take the train from Geneva (or whereever) to Lausanne and then from there, grab a more regional train to Rivaz. From the train station there, it’s walkable.

There were hundreds of regional wines on display and available for purchase at the VinoRama, which I must say is a pretty great name for a wine showcase. You can also taste a set of wines as well. There are several choices on the tastings. I chose an option that included some bread and snacks with it. The tasting I got included 3 whites (Chasselas) and I think 3 reds as well. Though the guy helping me, Louis, may have sensed I was interested in something else and he brought out the Z Collection you see here. It was my favorite and this was the only one I bought. I wish I could tell you what is in it but my notes are sketchy and I couldn’t find too much of a description of it at the web site I dug up for it.

The VinoRama is set back into the hillside next to a pretty little waterfall. Once you get in, it’s really dark. I guess they’re going for a kind of ‘cave’ like setting. In addition to the wines, there is also a little movie theater that does a show about growing wine in the area. It’s done in a different language depending on what you want to see. I think they do it by request.

My tasting started with a set of 3 of Chasselas wines. I don’t know much about Chasselas wines. In fact, this recent visit to Switzerland may have been the first time I can recall them. Who knows, years ago I was in Switzerland and maybe had some, I don’t remember. These three were good but my memory is that the 2nd one in the photo here was more to my liking. The wines are definitely minearly but more round in texture. I’d try them again if I can find them back home.

A Visit to Lavaux in Switzerland – Hiking and Wine

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If you like hiking, and you like wine, you’d be hard pressed not to like to spend a little time trekking through Lavaux in Switzerland.

I can’t quite recall how I heard about this area but considering I was going to be in Geneva over a couple weekends, I put it on my agenda once I read about it. It’s a beautiful area of terraced vineyards above Lake Geneva.

First of all I had no idea that Switzerland even did wines (though I should have probably figured that it did) and second of all that they would do something else besides white wines in this region. Live and learn. As to whites, they do a lot of Chasselas but they also do a fair bit of Gamay and Pinot Noir.

I chose to stay in the little town of Grandvaux and it turned out to be a fine base. Directly from my stay I could connect up with a walking route that took me through the vineyards. While it may look like it’s just a walk in the park it’s not quite as trivial to go up and down some of the slopes as it might look from the photo here. For the most part you can easily follow routes that are paved like a city hiking trail but there are some places you go up and down where the grade (according to the signs) is upwards of 25%. Trust me, you will use all the muscles in your legs as you go up and down. But the views are spectacular, you can stop in little towns along the way and just do as much as you want.

I’d been given a tip to make my way to Vevey. As you can see in the map below that I got from the B&B owner, Grandvaux is on the far left of the map and Vevey is on the far right. A pretty good hike. As it turns out, Saturdays are market days in Vevey and they have a wine tasting done at the market during the summer at least. I was told that it showcased a different producer each week. So, that’s where I headed.

Now turns out that last section to Vevey is not quite as nicely hikable, and because the wine tasting ends on the dot at 1pm I dropped down the hill to take a local train over to Vevey. I got to Vevey with time to spare and really enjoyed the tasting of a couple of wine from nearby Yvorne. They had both a Chasselas and a Pinot Noir. Both were good.

With the market going on at the same time, I was able to find some tasty pizza to have with my little bit of white and red wine. Hit the spot after the walk over.

Later in the afternoon, I started backtracking and ended up at the “Vinorama”. See the other red highlighted box in the map. More on the Vinorama in another post.

Using the Public Transit in Geneva

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So you’ve come to Geneva and need to get around. Maybe these few tips will help some similarly lost soul when they first arrive here from the US and aren’t used to taking public transport.

Arrival

Before you leave the arrival area where you get your baggage, pick up a pass good for 80 minutes. It’s free, but not once you leave the arrival area. Once you get out into the regular part of the airport, a ticket will cost you something like CHF 3.50 to get a one-way 2nd class ticket that’s good for an hour – which is all you need to get to the main train station in the city.

Once you hit your hotel – if you’re staying at one – ask them for the go-anywhere pass that is given to visitors. If you’re staying like I am – in a rental, it’s not quite so nice. You have to go buy one. In that case, go read this and decide which kind of pass you need.

Routine Use

While you’ll find the passes are rarely checked (so far in a week nobody has asked to see my pass) you can be fined. From what I’ve read, it’s CHF 80 if you pay immediately, or CHF 120 if you are only able to pay later. Sounds like a real hassle you don’t want to deal with. Get the pass from your hotel or buy one.

I found the info desk at the main train station very useful for pointing me in the right direction – and giving me a local transit map. That was enough to get me pointed to the right stops for the routes I was after. Even if you just happen by a tram/bus stop, they’ll always tell you what routes will stop there. And timing. Some have electronic displays that show how many more minutes before your bus/tram arrives.

The thing that I’ve found pretty amazing is how often the tram or bus I need comes by. I may have waited 15 minutes once but more often than not it’s a few minutes. And many times I’ve been lucky and just walked up to find the tram/bus arriving. Also in many cases you can take one of several different buses to get you to the same place. For example, in the morning for me to go to the office, from the location in the photo here I can take the 6, the 10 or the 19. They all go by the office.

Leaving

Well I haven’t left yet but I’m pretty sure it’s not that hard. From the main train station you can take the Geneve Aeroport train. There’s one going all the time – and it’s still in zone 10.

When I went to Grandvaux it was similarly easy though I did need to buy a ticket because my pass was only good for zone 10 of Geneva. You can arrange to get a train to any of the little towns along the lake – at least the north side of the lake all the way over to Montreux.

Visiting Geneva

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I’ve now been in Geneva for a week. I came here for a two week stint following my trip to Italy. This visit is less about vacationing and more about kinda being back into the work routine – albeit from a distant location.

As the crow flies, this is actually not all that far from my Piedmont, Italy stays. As Lufthansa flies, you have to first go to Munich and then fly back. Strange, but that’s what I was able to arrange.

We have an office here in Geneva and I am simply working out of this office for a couple weeks. The primary motivation aside from the interest in seeing one of our European offices was to see some of the area nearby on the weekends. The 7 hour time difference makes the weekdays a bit of a challenge, particularly if meetings back home are in the afternoon there. That means they are at night here.

I’m doing a short term rental rather than a hotel. I have a private room with bathroom in an apartment a couple of stops from the main Geneva train station. The picture below was taken from the patio just off the shared dining room. Nice.

The Geneva water spout gives some sense of where the center of everything is. It’s not too far away. But then, with public transit being what it is here in Geneva, you can get anywhere pretty easily.

As cities go, Geneva isn’t all that big. I think someone told me it was just over 200K people. As you can see from the photo, there aren’t many big tall buildings in the city either. I was told that is by design (and probably ordinance though I’m not 100% sure of that one).

Despite being as small as it is, the city is extraordinarily expensive. In fact, by what I understand, it’s among the most expensive cities in the world. Even the most basic of lunches with something to drink are over CHF 20 which would put it over $22. Generally I’ve found food to be on the order of double what it would cost in the US. Have dinner in a decent place and it’ll be over CHF 50.

I’ve had a mix of weather since getting here. The weekend I arrived it was cool and on again off again rain. Today, a week later it’s pretty similar. In the mean time during the week it was very nice. Sunny and drier. I’ve been surprised at how humid it’s been here. And with little if any air conditioning, it can sometimes be stifling inside buildings. Woe is you if you end up stuck inside a restaurant instead of out on their terrace. By comparison I guess we’re used to frigid indoor temps in the summer.

You can see in the photo below how nice the weather was during the week. This photo too was taken from the patio at my apt rental. If you look close, that’s not a white cloud but is instead the snow capped peak of Mont Blanc. At least that’s what I’m told by the owner of this place.

Piedmont: Two Favorites and Sum Up

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I’ve mentioned many of the high points of my visit to Piedmont here already (though I may yet backdate another post or two for some specific things I never got around to commenting on) but at this point the visit there is done and I’m just trying to gather a few last notes.

For me, this was not a look at old historical things and museums and things like that. My visit to Turin was short and mainly transitional from one thing to the next in the area. I made the visit to Piedmont primarily because I wanted to bicycle there and I wanted to learn about and taste more of the wines of the region. In both cases, I found what I came for.

Whether they were places I found and arranged or places that were arranged by as part of the bike tour, I had fantastic hotels and B&Bs to stay. Similarly I managed to eat at some great restaurants. But I wanted to note two places in particular that were standout favorites for me in the event someone just happens by these notes and takes these as tips.

The first was my stay at Hotel Castello di Sinio. On top of being a beautiful place the service and food were perhaps some of the best I can recall. Driving in you have to buzz in at the intercom down below the castle. So they knew I was coming up. As I rounded the corner to the entrance I was met by a small team of people that greeted me and helped me with my bags, took my car to park it and helped check me in. Immediately someone handed me a glass of sparkling wine. And then Denise Pardini (who runs the place and is exec chef) walked me through some really helpful notes on the area. I really just can’t recall ever getting this kind of helpful and personal welcome anywhere.

I found this place via TripAdvisor. I otherwise didn’t know anything more about it. But if I have a good enough reason or chance, I’ll go back. Check out the rooms at this place. I had the “Superior Room No. 3”. Dinner there was by arrangement and appeared to be only for guests of the hotel. Similarly excellent. If the weather was good and the timing was right then breakfast was out in a patio area to the left in the photo. While you can’t see it, between those two buildings in the photo is a nice little pool.

And one final note on the hotel: when I got ready to leave they went and got the car for me, backed it up to the entrance and the guy cleaned the windows and mirrors before sending me on my way. Meanwhile Denise was there to say ‘so long’ and hand me some of the seasoned salt and honey she uses at the hotel. Seriously, I don’t think a hotel can do much better than this.

Ok now switching gears. I wanted to mention a restaurant. Now I’m not going to say it was better food than every other restaurant and certainly not that of the Hotel Castello di Sinio but it was great food and the service was also excellent. The place was the Da Felicin in Monforte D’Alba.

It was a bike tour group I was with that night and there were lots of choices and we weren’t really sure what to order. So here comes what I can only assume was Nino (see web site) to help us. Basically he said ‘just leave it to me’ and we did. He then essentially arranged a prix fixe menu of a set of appetizers and a main course + a nice (but not crazy expensive) Barolo to go along. All were good. Among the choices was a veal tartare. I’m not big on raw food of any kind other than vegetables but this was pretty darn tasty. I didn’t take photos of all the food served but I did of this one so I’m including it below. Sorry it’s half eaten. 😉 Taking food pics gets a bad rap these days but a picture is worth a thousand words so you’ll keep seeing them from me from time to time.

Ultimately I’d like to visit Piedmont again some time. I really enjoyed the small hill towns and the great little hotels and restaurants – not to mention some really great wines. I never ventured too far from home base in the heart of the Langhe so if I were to go again I might consider venturing to other places too. I might check out Asti. I might take a drive down to the coast. I purposely avoided that this time because past experience has suggested to me that trying to take in too much always has you on a timetable with no time to just relax and enjoy a place. The other interest I now have based on seeing just how close the alps are would be to explore the mountains near Turin.

Piedmont: Cycling Day 6 – Last Day and a Short Out and Back

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As with most bike tours, you don’t really get a completely full week. It’s typically 6 days/5 nights and both the first and last days are somewhat abbreviated to account for transfers. This final 6th day of riding was one such day.

There were at least 7 of us that decided to ride the last morning – plus Alessandro, one of the tour leads. The rest were just enjoying the last bit of down time. Unlike previous mornings the ride was to get started at 7:45 instead of the usual 9am so that probably had something to do with it too. We needed to be packed to hit the road by 10:45 and the bus was going to leave at 11am so we didn’t have a lot of time to ride plus get some breakfast, shower up and pay any last minute bills from the night before. So, it was a quick out and back of just over 10 miles.

We were treated again to spectacular weather that morning and it was just cool enough that it felt great to be on the bike. Our turn-around was in a sleepy little town named Mango. We all stopped in a little coffee place there before heading back. Total elapsed time of the ride, even with the coffee stop, was just over an hour. And if you check out the elevation data for the ride you can see it was a lot easier heading back to the hotel than going to Mango, so it was a fast return trip.

After the ride, only time for a quick breakfast, a shower, and last minute packing before we were all loaded up for the bus ride back to Turin.

Everybody on this trip seemed to get along pretty well and mix together well. That’s not always true on these kinds of tours. And even though 6 of the people all came together they didn’t just hang together, and that was cool. In Turin it was handshakes and a few hugs and then like that, we all scattered to the four winds. Below is a good photo of the group right before one of the dinners. You can see everyone is having a good time.

And one last photo below of the vineyard hillsides as seen from the Relais San Maurizio. Couldn’t get enough of the vistas in Piedmont.

Piedmont: Cycling Day 5 – Loop ride and Wine Tasting at Marchesi Alfieri

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This would be the last day there’d be anything like a long option for riding. Typically Backroads gives people a few options and today was no exception and you could opt for a pretty short ride to a wine tour/tasting and picnic lunch (and then shuttle back in a van) or you could bolt on an extra loop in the morning to make it close to 30 miles before hitting the tour/tasting and lunch, and then if you felt like more riding, you could bike back to the hotel too. I took all the options and got in a pretty good ride with plenty of time left to just hang out at the pool for a while before a fantastic last dinner with everyone.

We lucked out again with the weather. At the end of the 4th day, we once again got just a little bit of rain. But by morning it was beautiful again and maybe even just a little chilly. The ride out to the winery/lunch + bolted on loop was a roller. If you look at the Garmin details by clicking thru the map, you can see we had plenty of ups and downs. After those first ~30 miles, I was ready for that picnic lunch despite having the usual bountiful breakfast options (which almost always included mounds of some local cheeses and meats). I shouldn’t have been hungry but the hills were a workout.

The wine tour and tastings at Marchesi Alfieri were pretty good. We did some other tastings during the bike tour but this was the only winery visit we made. After the winery tour they had us tasting three of their wines. 1st was a Barbara D’Asti (La Tota), the 2nd was their Barbara D’Asti Superiore (AlfierA) and the 3rd was a Nebbiolo from the Monferrato region (the Costa Quaglia).

The 1st Barbara was an easy drinking and fruity wine. Lots of dark fruit but not much structure to it. The Barbara Superiore really stepped it up a notch and according to the woman that helped us with the tour and tasting, it was their best wine. Lots more going on. Dark fruit but also notes of oak and spice and some tannins to give it a nice structure though not overly so. My fav of the three. The Nebbiolo was just so so. Too thin and light for my taste.

By the time we finished the tour/tasting and a picnic lunch we were well into the afternoon. These kind of plush events are nice but they do make it a little hard to get back on the bike.

The afternoon option for riding back to the hotel included a long, steep 5K+ climb. It had warmed up at that point and so it was long and winding enough to having me wondering “ok, when’s this uphill going to end?”. But, I was back by 4’ish and out to lounge by the pool for a bit. We had plenty of time till dinner (meeting at 7:30’ish).

The restaurant at the hotel was said to be a Michelin rated though I couldn’t find evidence of that online nor in evidence at the restaurant. But in any case, it was really quite good and I liked the old wine cellar setting. The wine list was a thick as the phone book of a sizable town. They started us with some snacks and then moved to (at least for me) a big green salad. I then moved on to the primi course of risotto and finished with a main of some beef that I’d characterize more like really tender roast beef. I should have taken a snap of the menu to be more exact than that but that’s the quick and dirty.

Piedmont: Cycling Day 4 – On to the Relais San Maurizio

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At the end of day 3 we were treated to a big thunderstorm. It even hailed pretty hard nearby based on the iPhone video of it we saw from one of the women on the bike tour. Thankfully we had finished riding hours earlier and had even managed to squeeze in some hunting for truffles with one of the locals and his dog Jolly. I’ll post some photos of that separately. But the good news was it left a stunningly clear morning sky that let us get a good view of the alps in the distance from our vantage at the top of the hillsides.

The alps are a little hard to make out in the photo here so it doesn’t quite do the view that morning justice. Suffice to say it was hard to take our eyes off the horizon while we headed toward our next stay at the Relais San Maurizio later in the afternoon.

Once again I took the long option that day. (In fact I took them every day.) It took me down to Dogliani and then north to Neive for lunch. It included a sizable climb! I could have optioned to ride into Barbaresco first but I’d gone there the previous week and by the time I got there I was ready for lunch so I just headed directly to Neive. While I’d stopped in Neive the previous week, this time I got a chance to try a great little lunch spot right in the center of town. We were on our own for lunch on this day and it turned out most of us stopped in La Contea. I got a pasta dish with tomatoes and basil. Not chunks of tomatoes, but instead a light tomato sauce. Really good! Lunches here and especially at this restaurant tend to be lengthy. We settled in for a while. I joined Catherine and Jim that day and they were very nice to share some of their fresh fried mushrooms (which were fantastic!) and not only that, they picked up the check. Thanks again Jim and Catherine.

Following a long lunch with a big helping of pasta plus bread plus mushrooms plus a nice glass of Arneis it was a little tough to mount the bike and keep riding but it wasn’t too far at all before we landed at the Relais San Maurizio.

Suffice to say the Relais San Maurizio is a very nice place to stay. All of the places were nice but of the 3 stays we had during the tour this one just nudged the 1st stay at Palazzo Righini out by a nose. Both places were top notch. The 2nd stay at Boscareto Resort & Spa was nice too but by comparison the food and service at the other places were head and shoulders above it.

The end of the 4th day of cycling came with plenty of time to just settle in and enjoy the place. The weather was nice and they had both an indoor and an outdoor pool and it seemed pretty clear most of us decided to opt to head for the outdoor pool to catch some rays, cool off in the water and just enjoy the pretty hillside views. You can see what I mean in the photo below.

Piedmont: Cycling Day 3 – La Morra and Barolo

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Hard to believe we’ve already finished day 3 of our bike tour around Piedmont. As rides go, this one was memorable with beautiful scenery throughout and challenging climbs too despite being relatively short.

You can click on the high level map here to link through to detailed Garmin data on today’s ride. Unlike yesterday, the Garmin seemed to actually capture something useful today. So just about 35 miles and right around 4K of climbing during the ride. Clearly a lot of up and down. If you check the elevation graph there you’ll see I immediately started the morning climbing away from the hotel. Then it was a very nice downhill before winding my way toward La Morra. The road up to La Morra then was a serious climb of 15% grade for a good portion of it. From La Morra an easy descent down into Barolo to meet up with others for lunch. (I was the only one that chose the longer option today.)

I’m really glad I had arrived in this area last week to take in some of these sights before doing the biking. It’s let me enjoy it so much more. I went to Grinzane Cavour last week and had a fantastic tasting in the castle there. Today though it was closed and I biked right by. I’d been to Barolo twice before and spent hours there so today I could just enjoy lunch with other riders – which was substantial and great – and be on my way.

I did stop again and take a photo op while near La Morra (rather than from La Morra). The vantage point up on that hillside is great. Photo below.

Weather this morning and yesterday were good for cycling. Warm enough to not need a lot of gear but overcast enough to not get too hot.

Tonight we’re on our own for dinner so have to figure something out there…

Piedmont: Cycling Day 2

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Day 2 of the cycling tour was significantly more interesting than day 1. 51 miles of pretty countryside and rolling hills, ending at the Boscareto Resort & Spa in Serralunga d’Alba.

The morning was fairly flat and ended at a lunch spot about mid way. My morning ride partners are in the photo below. Dave and MC from Denver.

In the afternoon we quickly transitioned into the Langhe region and things got hillier by far. I chose the long option with only a few others. Lots of up and down and at least one descent that was crazy steep and full of pot holes.

But otherwise, the ride was great and looking forward to more of it tomorrow. At the conclusion of the ride at the hotel you can see from the photo that it is surrounded by vineyards. Fantastic views.

I’ve had a helluva time with my tech on this trip. Wifi routinely doesn’t work and I’ve had trouble last night / today too so now posting this from the wifi in the breakfast room at the hotel. Doesn’t work in the room.

And my Garmin seemed to work yesterday and then when I went to upload the route it wasn’t there. Grrr. Hoping it works better today on Day 3.

Piedmont: Cycling Day 1

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1st day of cycling is done – except for what’s bound to be a pretty nice meal. As expected, the first day was pretty cush. Mostly it’s about shuttling to a start, having some lunch and just things putting things together or adjusting things. There are a lot of intros and the usual route discussions.

The ride was a short one (less than 30 miles). Because we got separated from our luggage at the start, I neglected to have the Garmin onboard so I have no route map for the route. We started at the Racconigi Castle and rode to our stay for the night at Palazzo Righini in Fossano. The place is so far fantastic. I have high expectations on the dinner later that’ll be in their restaurant.

The ride was super easy. That’s ok though. It just felt great to get out on the bike and get in some time in the saddle to spin for a while. I’ve been off the bike for two weeks now and have been eating like a field hand so it felt good to do something more active than running through airports.

As you can see, the lunch spread was plentiful. That’s one of our ride leads, Renee, relating what all we’ve got there. The other photo here is of me pre-ride.

Tommorrow we head into the Langhe hills so it should start to get a lot more interesting.

Piedmont: A Visit to Borgogno in Barolo

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I’ve been fairly surprised by how few people seem to be in some of the places I’ve visited here in Piedmont. There’s no doubt that high season is later in the fall when the big truffle celebration goes on for weeks but I expected to see more people and have to deal with some waits. The weather hasn’t been great and I think that’s a factor. Anyway, it allowed me to have a completely private and personal tasting session at Borgogno in the heart of Barolo.

These wineries may have storied names, but they’re all new to me. But I’ll have to say I’ll be looking these up again. Here I tried a set of reds. From a simple Barbera D’Alba to the beefiest Barolos.

Not knowing much better, I let my tasting guide, Andrea, make some suggestions for me. He’s pictured in the upper right photo pouring one of the wines. The final 3 wines (on the left) were the most interesting wines to me. First, the “No Name”. He had to tell me some of the story there. Apparently it’s a ‘protest’ wine. It can’t be called “Barolo” because of some technicality in the Italian laws so they went out of their way with the name (or rather, no name) to make a point. I didn’t bother to get into the details of the local laws but suffice to say it apparently irritates some of the winemakers.

The No Name was decidedly lighter and fruiter in character than the other two true Barolos I tried. Of those two, my clear favorite was the 2009 Liste. Liste is the name of the vineyard. This one was 4 years on oak, one in bottle. By contrast the 2007 Riserva was said to have been aged 6 years on oak, one in bottle. The Liste seemed ready to drink now, while the other was quite a bit more tannic for my taste.

Really enjoyed the tasting here and Andrea was really helpful. Andrea also let me take the clear glass elevator up to the top terrace roof deck. Very nice birds eye view. I took some photos there of the countryside before heading on to snag lunch.

Piedmont: Don’t Miss La vite Turchese in Barolo

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As you tramp around the small town of Barolo make a point of grabbing a bite to eat at La vite Turchese. More importantly, get some wine advice from Stefano. Trip Advisor led me there or I might have missed it. It’s not on the main walk you’re likely to take down to the regional enoteca and museum so it can be missed.

I pulled in a bit after noon and not really sure what I’d find but Stefano was immediately inviting and friendly. I pulled up a seat at the very small bar there and found the board showing today’s food options. They also have dozens of wines by the glass posted on another board.

I asked for suggestions and Stefano walked me through some choices. I decided on Roero Arneis. You can see Stefano pouring in the pic below. I also chose what they listed as a Panino “Fripancero” to eat. Googling that turned up nothing but it was essentially a sandwich with pancetta and a fried egg on it. It was very good.

I liked the place enough that I returned again on a 2nd day. The Nascetta Novello pictured in the upper right was from that visit. I’ve decided that’s my favorite white wine discovered here. Novello is a small town very near Barolo. The wine had a floral nose, the fuller body of a chardonnay (it seemed to me), and a crisp limeade taste. Wonder if I’ll be able to find this back home?

One final note: There was only one California wine on Stefano’s blackboard so I had to ask about it. It was the “Seven Oaks 2011 Cab”. He said: “I love it”. Googling that appears to come from J. Lohr. Of course I’m going to have to check that out now.

Piedmont: A Visit to the Marchesi di Grésy Winery

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Marchesi di Grésy is a short drive from Alba out to very near Barbaresco. I’d been given tips in advance that it was worth visiting and I’d even had some of their wine before in Austin. Spent easily two hours getting the tour and personal tasting. Excellent!

Getting there from Alba took almost no time. Alba makes a great base from which to explore. Most towns, wineries and enotecha are not too far. But you do need a car. Thankfully I had a GPS though because, while close, it’s not always obvious what little road to turn down. They’re very easy to miss. That includes the little one to get down to Marchesi di Grésy.

The winery is at the base of the hills. Down a steep, winding, one-lane road. Was really hoping nobody else was coming up the hill – and that turned out to be the case. The hills around the winery form a kind of bowl. Look at the map behind Giulia’s head in the photo at the bottom here. You can kinda get a sense of the vineyards that encircle the winery in the center.

Our winery guide for the visit was Giulia and she was very knowledgable about the estate, the wines and the history of the place. You can see her in the photo below. We started outdoors where she pointed out various vineyards and generalities about the winery, vineyards, soils and Barbaresco wines. Then we moved inside. There were the cement tanks, the stainless tanks, the big barrels and the small barrels. We were also lucky enough to see some wine being bottled in this fantastic automated bottling contraption.

The highlight was of course the tasting of the wines themselves. We tasted 5 though I only snagged photos of 4. We started with a 2012 Langhe sauvignon blanc. Crisp, light, a little grassy, nicely structured with just enough acid. €12.50.

Side note: Giulia would use a technique known as “Avvinare” to prepare the glasses before tasting. It was a nice touch. Essentially she simply put a little of the wine to be tasted into the glass, swirled/rinsed the glass with it and dumped it out. Only then did she pour some for tasting.

Next wine up the 2013 Langhe Nebbiolo. This one was a particularly fresh and fruity red wine. It had been bottled only 1 month before. Strawberry, blueberry, rose petals. The Marinenga on the label refers to the vineyard the grapes came from.

I have no other notes on the 2009 Barbera D’asti, which was the next wine, other than it was €22.

Then came the Barbarescos. 1st of them was the 2009 Martinenga. This one was oaky with a note of tobacco and spices. Very nice. €39.

Finally, the 2008 Camp Gros. A wonderful balance of cherries and plums and just the right amount of tannins. Not cheap at €56. One of the very few bottles I actually bought on the trip. We’ll see if it makes it home.