Fortunately my experience at Profumo was much better than Tim's! We had a very nice meal there.

The saga continues....

Day 5 – Truffle Hunting

We left for Monchiero Alta at 9:30 to participate in a truffle hunt. Roberta joined us and about 10 other guests from La Favorita. Monchiero is south of Barolo. But first – breakfast. The usual treats plus asparagus rolled in prosciutto and baked with a dab of béchamel and parmigiano.

At Tra Arte e Querce we met up with famed trifalau Ezio Costa. He has asked his good friend Mario – who speaks no English - to take us out on the hunt. We caravaned to a wooded area interspersed with meadows, apparently prime truffle area. Mario’s dog Linda was small, black and white, looking like a border collie-spaniel mix. She had light blue eyes that are fixed on Mario constantly; she was totally attuned to his voice and to where he points his stick, and was obviously very intelligent.

We walked in the woods for about 2 hours, up and down the hills. Linda found truffles four times, three white and one black. When she found something, she got very excited, wriggling, digging and wagging her tail. Mario rushed over each time so that she didn’t get the truffle in her mouth.

We went back to Tra Arte e Querce for lunch where Ezio’s wife Clelia had prepared a salad of celery with parmigiano and black truffle, tajarin with butter and shaved white truffle, tacchino (turkey) with chardonnay sauce, and the classic Piemontese dessert bunet with gelato. We drank a 2007 Barbera made by Ezio’s son Filippo. (25 euros each for the truffle hunt, and 50 euros each for the lunch complete with water, wine, and white truffles.)

We did a little walking in Monchiero after lunch. There was a quaint town square and a gorgeous church from the 1700s decorated with frescoes and lots of gilt. Then back to La Favorita for some napping and then some shopping.

That night we decided to have a casual pizza dinner, and Roberta recommended La Duchessa. We ordered barbera, insalata caprese, a Quattro stagioni for me, and a La Duchessa supreme for Mike. We finished off with glasses of ice-cold limoncello. 37 euros total.

Day 6 – To Barolo

We had a 9:30 appointment at Luciano Sandrone’s winery near Barolo. We were greeted by Sara who took us through the cellars. There were the usual very large barrels and the smaller barriques. The storage room which held bottled wines for again was huge. There were giant racks of 2008 Barolo. Since the winery was built into a hill, there were separate floors for vinification, bottling, and aging. A part of the cellars had the “library” of wines dating back to 1999. We then went to a lovely tasting room to taste the famous Cannubis Boschis Barolo and the Le Vigne Barolo. While we were there, Barbara Sandrone – Luciano’s daughter – came in to greet us. We talked with her awhile about the wines and her frequent visits to New York.

From Sandrone, we went into Barolo. There was an Enoteca Regionale there but we did not taste. We saw a large ramp with public scales that weighs grapes while they’re still on the truck. There was a huge cooperative where grapes were being loaded into a de-stemming machine. Pools of grape juice were in the streets. We stopped at the Musei dei Cavatappi. Besides the corkscrews, there was a great gift shop there.

Lunch was next on our agenda, and we headed for Monforte d’Alba and the Trattoria della Posta. It was very pretty inside – light green walls, frescoes, heavy linens and old silver. We ordered a mezzo of Barolo – Rocche Costamagna 2004 Roccvhe dell’Annunziata. We had un piccolo assagio of soup – tomato, onion and mint in a thick savory puree. Then we both had the famous stuffed onion – filled with Murrazano cheese and salsiccia di Bra, baked in the oven. It was very good, and we were tempted to lick our plates.

Then –
Ravioli verde di caprino con ragu di salsiccia di Bra
Stinco di vitello braised in Barolo with sautéed fennel, carrots, and potatoes
This was a fantastic meal. 84 euros, wine included.

Our next stop was the winery of Elio Grasso outside of Monforte. Elio’s wife Marina greeted us, and we went on a tour with Enrico. The cantina was very large, fairly new, but built into a hillside in a traditional style. The cellars were huge gray tunnels carved out of the hill. We also saw the vinification and bottling rooms. Grapes that were in a stainless tank macerating on the stems and skins were being shoveled into a de-stemmer. Like most of the wineries that we have seen, most of the labor is manual, and there were few employees. We went into the tasting room and saw the ever present copy of the Wine Atlas of the Langhe (actually we have a copy of this book at home.) Enrico points out that the cover photo is of the Elio Grasso estate. We tasted my favorite Barbera – Vigna Martina – and two 2005 Barolos. They were all excellent.

We leave, driving south along a route that Roberta recommended. Through Dogliani then towards Bossolasco. Then north for about 40 minutes through steep wooded hills, reaching an elevation of 2000 feet. No vineyards here. Then back to La Favorita.

When it was time for dinner, we walked through Alba and window-shopped. Then we headed for La Bottega del Vicoletto. We ordered two glasses of Guido Porro 2004 Barolo Serralunga. We had –

Antipasti platter of salame and melon – lardo, culatello, salami crudo, salami cotto, prosciutto
Tajarin with burro fuso
Guanciale braised in wine with cipolle agrodolce
Cheese platter from the chariot – caprino, murrazano, raschera, fresh toma, aged toma, fontina, toma pecora, testun di nebbiolo, castelmagno, gorgonzola piccante – with cugna and honey
Panna cotta with stewed apricots and raspberries drizzled with caramel sauce.

This was OK food, but not a highlight. 62 euros.

Next I’ll report on our day trip to Barbaresco.

my mouth is watering...keep it coming.

2 Barolo wineries and 2 restaurants in one day!!

Truly a luscious report, BB--the truffle hunt sounds like a wonderful experience! I want to be there right now!!!!

Tim: Stu Tower mentions Risorgimento in his post of Nov 9, above.

annhig - some of the best is yet to come - Antine and Ciau! Not to mention a return trip to Osteria del Vignaiolo.

ekscrunchy - the truffle hunt was great fun and very interesting. Something I'd recommend for anyone going to the Piemonte in the Fall. The close relationship between the trifalau and his dog is amazing. They almost look and act like they can read each other's minds. Tim, do you also arrange such hunts for your guests?

>>2 Barolo wineries and 2 restaurants in one day!!<<
We consider it our international duty to consume vast quantities of the local food and drink, thus doing our part for the global economy! : - )

Bookmarking to read later - looks like a great source for future trip planning. Thanks for taking the time to write this report, drbb!

Our dinner at Osteria del Unione was quintessential Piemonte fare. They served only one menu to all guests. At 30 euros it was an incredible bargain. They served the antipasto in 4 waves--starting with a plate of salami, proscuitto and some wonderful thin sausage of what seemed like raw meat with truffles (about the circumference of a cheap beef jerky stick and terrific tasting.) Next came vitello tonata with the veal slices forming a flower on the plate and slathered in creamy yellow tuna/mayo sauce from the center to about 2 inches from the edges, carrying out the flower look. This was my first ever exposure to vitello tonnata since I've never thought I'd like the flavor combination. I was wrong. Then they (she cooks, he waits tables) brought out a sort of thin, 3" round egg omelet with spinach and finally a vegetable tureen with stinky gruyere-like cheese sauce. We were off to a good start. The pasta was the ubiquitous tajarin with a tomato sauce--a very good example. The secondi was rabbit in a red pepper and clove studded braising sauce, good but by this point we were pretty full.

All payment was cash only. The place was small, seating probably less than 25 total at about 6 or seven tables, some, like ours for only 2 people. The bathroom facilities could only be reached by going outside and around the corner of the restaurant seating area. By the time we had finished our several antipasta plates, the place was full and they were turning folks away. It was a good, down to earth meal, and it sounds like we were lucky to have eaten there rather than at our intended selection-- dell Arco.

drbb, I don't know why I'm having so much trouble getting going on my trip report (could it be because I know that it will take a long, long time, given that my simple answer to your question about our meal at del Unione has now reached novella proportions?) anyway, I'm still hoping to break through my writers' block and get going on it soon. You're certainly doing well with this one. I'm enjoying it a lot. Julie

Hi Eks, truffle hunts are a big part of our September to November activities, we use a trifalau friend near Costigliole. I have a truffle hunting album on our Facebook page if you want to check it out. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?ai...d=196228155536

Also for Piedmont lovers, check out this weekend's Truffle fair album in Asti, see if you can smell the truffles and cheese!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?ai...d=196228155536

Thanks Julie for the great description of del Unione. Where is it located in Treiso? We did see Risorgimento on the main street, down from Profumo.

Thanks again Stu for the links to your pictures. I looked at them today during my lunch break. What camera do you use? You have great resolution in your shots.

Sorry it's taking me so long to finish. Been out of town for a few days. I'll try to get back to this and finish my report soon!

drbb: we use a simple Canon 520..four years old, but easy to handle...and thanks to the superb Picasa editing functions to improve the rank amateurish shots.
stu

drbb, if you are standing with your back to Profumo, with La Ciau de Tornavento to your right, you would be looking at another road/street out of the largish square area. The first place on the right facing that street (and actually also on the "square") is Osteria del Unione. Treiso is an incredibly restaurant rich place for such a small town.

Thanks, Julie. We walked most of Treiso at least twice when we went to Profumo but somehow missed seeing del Unione.

On to Day 7 -- Barbaresco

Breakfast at La Favorita was good as usual - today's treat was a spinach flan with fonduta. And panna cotta!

We headed off for Barbaresco on a leisurely drive. The hills seem a lttle steeper here and we saw the Rabaja and Tre Stelle vineyards. The town itself was quiet and quaint. There was a fascinating sundial painted on the side of a building. Featured 12 scenes (taken from old woodcuts) of grape gathering and wine making. It was surprisingly accurate at telling time.

We climbed the tower and saw the Tanaro River. We walked through town - old doors, old windows, red tile roofs. Mike passed by Gaja but it's closed up tighter than a fort. No ingresso here. Many cantinas in house basements.

We stopped at a vineria for a little glass of Barbaresco - Piero Busso. Then we headed back to Alba and La Favorita for a second picnic lunch.

At 2:00, Mike, I and four others joined Rita in the Villa's kitchen for our cooking lesson. Rita only knows one word in English - STOP! She is very exacting in how things should be done. We donned La Favorita aprons and Rita put us to work.

The menu -
--eggplant rolls, stuffed with mozzerella and basil and cooked in tomato sauce
--agnolotti filled with ground rabbit, pork, & cheese
--pork roast, bathed in rosemary and garlic, and covered with pancetta, served with sauteed erbette (greens)
-- hazelnut cake

We started first on the agnolotti filling, the tomato sauce and the cleaning of the erbette. Rita demonstrates each step. You know you are doing it right if she doesn't yell STOP!

Then the eggplant. Sauteed, laid out, stuffed, and rolled. The pasta dough comes next. Rita had an Imperia machine just like ours at home, so Mike rolled out all the pasta sheets. Rita was impressed! I filled agnolotti, learning how to make the little fold and the cut so that the finished pasta looks like little paper-wrapped candies.

Hazelnut cake required us to grind the nuts, add cocoa powder, sugar, and just a few spoons of flour. The batter went into a round cake pan to bake for about an hour.

While we were marinating and wrapping the roast, a friend of Roberta's brought in a basket of beautiful fresh porcinis. Rita decided we must fry them and eat them immediately. She made a batter for this.

We finally finished cooking at 8 PM. The food was great, accompanied by Roberta's wines. We sat at Roberta's dining table and ate and talked for over 3 hours. Rita capped off the evening with little cold glasses of her homemade limoncello. This was great fun!

Day 8 -- To Mango and Canelli

Drove to Mango and the Enoteca Regionale for moscato wines. The scenery on the way was very pretty - very steep vineyard hills that were just beginning to show autumn colors. There were quite a few places where the roadways had crumbled down the steep hills. Mango was very pretty and quiet, Several small piazzas, big vegetable gardens by every house. There's not much at the Enoteca - no tasting going on. But we found several jars of interesting cugna to take home. And moscato vinegar.

We then drove to Canelli via Santo Stefano Belbo. We stopped at the enoteca there but again not much was going on. No tasting. We hunted for a good spot to have a snack. Panini and Coca Cola Light hit the spot.

Then we saw it - a Mailboxes Etc.! With boxes to ship wine! Mike had been fretting that we'd have too many bottles to fit into suitcases. I think we were already up to a good dozen by then. We bought a box with a foam insert. I pantomined taping the box -"per chiuso." Ahh, the word in Italian is "Scotch."

Now that Mike had a box, he figured he could buy at least 8 more bottles! I just rolled my eyes. We went back to Alba and toured the wine stores - Fraccia, Grand I Vini, and Piaceri dei Gusto. All great stores by the way. While roaming the stores, I stopped to climb the 124 steps of the campanile of San Giuseppe. And somewhere in there we stopped at Vin Cafe for an afternoon spumante break.

Dinner that night at Antine. We drove back to Barbaresco. Antine was a smallish restaurant, very quiet. There was one large table - 12 German tourists. One woman in black serves all the tables. She was the only employee we would see all night.

We had --
La Spinetta 2004 Barbera Ca' di Pian.
Un assagio of fried porcini mushrooms, dredged in a very crispy coating and very different from Rita's the night before
Soup of porcini with ravioli
Ravioli quadrati with butter and herbs

Then Mike has what was the standout dish of the entire trip - roasted quail, stuffed with speck and served with a sublime sauce that seems to be part moscato passito, part grapes and part cabbage. A heavenly combo of sweet and savory. I had fried calamari with an agrodolce sauce. Very good also but not as good as the quail.

Panna cotta for Mike for desssert, and my dessert is a glass of moscato passito. A tray of little dolce came out at the end. Included on the tray was a little fruit that looked almost like a tomatillo - red and small but with a papery covering that has been twisted back to make a handle. They have been dipped in chocolate. (Tim, when I asked the Italian name, I was told something that sounded like "alcancangi." Is that the correct word?) Mike said that these fruits are part of the Solanacae or nightshade family; there are similar plants in the US. This family also includes peppers, tomatoes and eggplants as well as belladonna.

Total cost at Antine with wine - 113 euros.

I'll be out of town for Turkey Day but I'll post again soon after. Only one more day to go and then we're back to the USA. Happy Thanksgiving. Ciao!

We will look forward to the rest!

On a related note, we are now pricing truffles for a possible truffle dinner at the home of friends. The prices are all over the map! I can't figure out the vast difference from one vendor to the other. I would appear that it is less costly to order them in a restaurant than to buy and shave over a dish at home!

Hi Drbb, I was scratching my head about your dolce fruit until I asked Rina who knows everything about food! Rina reminded me that "alchechengi del Peru" is the Italian name for what the English call "physalis peruviana" or what I call "Cape Gooseberry". I grew up in Africa and we had these growing all over our garden, a shrubby plant, little yellowish orangey fruit, quite delicious when fully ripe and makes wonderful jam. In Europe they are a delicacy and they serve them dipped in chocolate along with the after-dinner biscuits. We have a bush in our vegetable garden.

I pantomined taping the box -"per chiuso." Ahh, the word in Italian is "Scotch.">>

adding that to my italian vocab list now. I'm not sure I'll be able to remember "alchechengi del Peru" though!

the meal at Antine sounds wonderful.

keep it coming!

eks - Yes I just saw some white truffles in Charlotte NC at a Dean & DeLuca store - something like $6000/lb. I can't imagine that they are nearly as good as what can be had in Alba and thus worth the money. I've heard that the shelf life for full flavor is only a few days.

Tim - thanks for the info and the correct name! Yes they are delicious little fruits and very pretty on the dessert tray.

annhig - the meal at Antine was exceptional and surprisingly inexpensive given the Michelin rating.

Drbb:

I am also SURE that the truffles will not be as good as those that you enjoyed! We have found a source here that gets delivery twice a week so will time our dinner for just after delivery day. But the servings will be very skimpy, I am afraid! We can't manage much more than one ounce ($155 to $200) and that has to stretch for 6! I wonder how much that amount would cost in Piedmont...

Eagerly awaiting more!!

Day 9 --

My itinerary was already shot to hell before the day even started. I had planned to drive to Canale and Neive, stopping at Cascina Cornale for lunch. But Mike wanted to return to La Morra to the Gallo store to look for an older vintage Barolo. And I decided we should go to Grinzane Cavour. So after a breakfast featuring hot tomato and cheese pizza - my all time favorite breakfast food - we set off for Grinzane Cavour.

The castle has a great little museum and of particular fascination for us was a huge wine press dating back to 1704. The main cross piece is actually an intact tree. Two oxen turned the screw mechanism, up to 2 tons of pressure to press the grapes. This press was used by an entire village.

There were recreations of typical Piemontese rooms including kitchens from the 17th and 18th centuries. Artifacts on exhibit included household items, furniture, clothing, religious vestments, old books on wine production. Most items were decorated with more of an alpine Swiss-German flair, definitely not what we think of as Italian. We saw the Hall of Masks where the annual truffle auction takes place. There’s also a really interesting display of wine-related tools including an entire room to show how wine barrels were made. There was a “walk-in” display that projected a film of a truffle hunter with his dog. Much of the footage had the camera at dog-height, showing the dog’s perspective as he runs through the meadows and woods. Really made me quite dizzy.

We decided that our last lunch should be a repeat of Osteria del Vignaiolo in Santa Maria. We first got a mezzo of wine – 2007 Oddero Nebbiolo Langhe. Quite local as this winery was only a hundred yards down the road. Then we had

Flan of porcini with fonduta (assagio)
Tortino of topinambour (like a sunchoke)
Insalata tiepida of root vegetables and rabbit (this was outstanding)
Brasato of veal in nebbiolo
Agnolotti with butter and sage (stuffed with rabbit, pork, veal, cheese, spinach)
Due macchiati

Total price – 45 euros.

We drove to La Morra, and there was some sort of little ceremony to lay a wreath on a memorial to La Morra’s war dead. There were a number of older women and men wearing neckerchiefs in Italian colors. The men all wore tyrolean style hats with big feather cockades. We then walked to Gallo and Mike found several wines that interested him – La Spinetta Nebbiolo Pin, a 1999 Giacomo Conterno Barolo (the proprietor tells us to age it for another 10 years), and a moscato passito. That made 20 bottles total – 12 for the box and 4 each in 2 suitcases. We headed back to La Favorita to pack and then relax.

Mike and I saw Roberta downstairs at 7 PM and we said goodbye since we were leaving at an indecent early hour. Then we drove to Treiso and Ciau del Tornavento, also one Michelin star. The dining room was beautiful with floor to ceiling windows looking out over the hills and wide plank oak floors. Candles on every table. Heavy crystal, linens, old silver. There was a 200 euro truffle menu here, but truffles on each of 8 courses seemed a bit much to me. The wine list was 50 pages with at least 50 wines on each page. There were three pages of Gaja. For some wines, there were verticals going back to 1998 or 1999. The first list with major French wines.

The wine sommelier ran down a flight of stone steps every now and then, coming back with a bottle. Since Mike decided on duck and I opted for fish, we asked his advice. He immediately responded that we must get wine by the glass.

We have –
An assagio of roasted yellow pepper stuffed with tonnato
Cheese puffs – like gougeres
Tiny squares of foccacia with rabbit liver pate
With complimentary glasses of Valentino spumante

Then –
Stuffed onion with fonduta
“Zuppa in tazza” – a poached orange yolk egg on the bottom topped with a parmesan foam, sautéed porcini, and scales of parmigiano that looked like white truffles
We both drank glasses of Costa Olmo 2005 Barbera.

Next –
Germano Reale duck – roasted with a rich brown sauce, served with polenta and veggies
Branzino, roasted and served with a sauté of fennel, carrots, and squash and topped with a preserved lemon confit
Mike drank Pellisero 2004 Barbaresco. I had a Conterno Fantino Chardonnay 2005.

I commented to the sommelier on the buttery complex taste of this wine, obviously oaked. He stopped to chat several times as I asked questions about the wines. He then brought me a sip of a Planeta chardonnay blend (unoaked, tropical fruit) to contrast the taste with the Conterno Fantino. He was incredibly patient when I asked him to write down the names of the wines.

To clear our palates, we are served a “minestrone” of small bits of firm fruit cooked in moscato, and topped with a sorbet of melon. Then Mike ordered sorbet for dessert – five flavors of lemon, basil, pineapple, peach, strawberry-peach, and fig. For my dessert I had a brachetto passito. We were stuffed, but of course then came the tray of sweets. And the sommelier who is now my new best friend brought us little glasses of a digestif he called “limoneria.” It is a light chartreuse color, made with lemon and herbs. Then he invited us to see the wine cellar after dinner.

Over 50,000 bottles in this cellar alone. And Ciau has 2 other cellars in Treiso. There was no computer, no index or log. Just racks and racks with labels on the top – Burgundy, Bordeaux, Barolo. And boxes of bottles filled each aisle. Then we were shown a huge metal vault at the back of the cellar – just like in a bank. Packed to the top with bottles, cool and humidity controlled.

Though the food and the ambience were great, seeing the cellar was the highlight of the evening. A fantastic experience for any wine lover. Total bill with wine – 138 euros. We drove very slowly back to Alba.


Day 10 – Back to the States

Alarm at 4:30 AM and we were on the road by 6:00. Almost two hours back to Malpensa and the Garmin kept us right on track. We checked our suitcases and the box, which I now noticed has the word “WINE” printed on two sides. Uh oh. No problem at check-in, they even put a Fragile sticker on the box at our request. We headed for Il Pergolesi (Delta Crown Room) and got cappuccino, fruit, cheese and pastry. We caught up on the news we missed – the Dow up to 9800+ and Obama won the Nobel Prize.

Uneventful flight. At Customs, we gathered the box and the very heavy suitcases. We had filled out our Customs form to say "food etc" and put the correct value in of the wine as well as food items we had purchased. We moved right on through (as opposed to a previous trip where we actually wrote "wine" on the form. That time we only had eight bottles. But we got stopped, and after a lot of questions, they let us through.) Customs was very crowded – three or four big planes had landed at the same time, so that probably helped. There was no interest in looking at our box, and no suitcases were being opened. Luckily the dog that sniffs luggage was not trained to smell wine!

We re-checked everything to go to Baton Rouge and all 20 bottles came through without any mishap.

In summary – a great trip, especially for a wine lover. Villa La Favorita was a great place to explore the Alba area. I heartily recommend the fall season – October is a perfect time to see the Langhe, and there is much to see and do. The Palio was great fun, as was the truffle hunt. This is a corner of Italy that is very different from other regions, one definitely worth exploring for at least 10 days. Two weeks would be even better.

Can't comment on how much an ounce would be. I only had white truffles once - at the lunch after the truffle hunt. Ezio used his slicer to grate the truffle right over the plate. No weighing. But it was a generous handful portion for $25. I think it was a bargain!