Piedmont tourette, 28-30 April, 2024

Chris Davies said:
A couple more from il centro, their hotel is very nice too.
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Loved our dinner at Il Centro back in 2014, particularly some wonderfully uncomplicated and flavorsome primi and secondi, more in keeping with the dining room’s old-fashioned feel: tajarin with slivers of onion and zucchini in a slightly tomatoey sauce; very thick slices of fried porcini, simply served on a piece of brown paper; boiled tongue, perfectly cooked, served with a soffrito-like relish incorporating red and yellow peppers.
 
Gianluca Colombo is a bit of a star. Opinionated, passionate, charming and a very good winemaker. We spent a very entertaining and interesting few hours with him and his wines. We discussed wine prices, winemaker’s egos, Giacosa red label being the gold standard and I think I touched a nerve when I asked about diam corks after one of the bottles we had was corked. He doesn’t like them! The winery is biodynamic and he doesn’t want anything unnatural involved in his wines. The little piece of bark with the corks punched out was something I’d not seen before and I hadn’t realised this is how the corks were punched out.

The range of wines is brilliant and much as liked the 22 pinot noir (30% whole bunch which reduced the alcohol from a potential 13% to 12%, Claire Naudin gave him advice on whole bunch fermentation) and 23 Pelaverga, the 20 Barolo and 22 single vineyard Meretta Langhe Nebbiolo were my favourites.

He has rented vines in Roche Castiglione which he says is his dream cru and the first vintage will be 2023. I’ll be looking out for it!

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I think others have said with natural cork you can get mature wines that are 10 out 10. Unfortunately, they can also be 1/10 and everything in between. Diam gives 7/10 consistently, you don’t get the highs and lows.
Corks are so frustrating. I think I’d rather have diam and the consistency and would sacrifice the odd perfect bottle as an acceptable cost of not having any undrinkable ones.
 
Also visited Marcarini, Fratelli Alessandria, Trediberri and Marchesi di Gresy.

I think Marcarini are a bit overlooked and underrated. Their wines are maybe not in the absolute top flight but they’re well made and well priced. The 2020 Commune della Morra is a lovely entry level Barolo, generous fruit, some exotic spices and a touch of tangerine.
It was good to compare the 20 La Serra and 19 Brunate. The Serra was more elegant and a bit leaner than the Brunate which was fuller, more concentrated and mineral. I preferred the Brunate.
I thought the tannin more noticeable on the La Serra and felt it as a bit drying on the finish. The sweeter fruit on the Brunate meant I didn’t feel the tannins so much but they were there, fine and upfront. Our host found the Brunate much more tannic and said people’s perception of tannin varied widely, with some in line with me and others with her.

Fratelli Alessandria was a highlight and Vittore an excellent host. We were there with wine legend Roy Richards of Richards Walford fame!
The wines here strike a nice balance and have enough generous fruit to make them approachable in their youth but are elegant with a firm structure for successful ageing. Highlights for me were the 2020 Verduno Barolos: Commune, San Lorenzo and Monvigliero. Preferred these to the Gramolere. They bought a new destalker (the dream machine!) for the 2019 vintage and apparently this has moved things up a level.
Many thanks to DBG Italia for making this visit possible.

Trediberri are a bit more towards the fruity and approachable side of the balance spectrum but still retain a lightness of touch and elegance. The Rocche del Annunziata is special.
They prefer cement for the fermentation and only use steel if they have run out of room in the cement tanks. They are starting to experiment with whole bunch, up to 30% depending on vintage, to add freshness. Submerged cap experiments too, again depending on vintage. Aging for the Barolos is typically 2 years in big old barrels and then is few months in concrete prior to bottling.

It was good to see Jeff at Marchesi after a 10 year gap. The wines were plusher, glossier and riper than I remember, especially the Camp Gros and Gaiun 2018s. I think I preferred the regular Martignegna but maybe time will change things as the single vineyard wines mellow and mature.
 
Finally and hopefully better late than never, restaurants! Mainly in or close to La Morra.

More e Maccine has a brilliant wine list (very well priced) but I was disappointed with the food. Pasta a bit heavy and stodgy and main course meats not great quality. Risotto was a bit better but after a couple of visits we’d had enough, despite the quality of the wine list.

A much better option was La Fontanazza. The wine list isn’t as long but there are plenty of interesting bottles, the prices are as good as More e Maccine and the food is a good few levels up in terms of quality of ingredients and skill in the kitchen. Potato ravioli and a dish of pigeon with fried polenta were delicious. A 2018 Marghertia Otto from Alan Manley was a bit too soft and lacked freshness but a Bruna Grimaldi 2018 Bandera was just the job. Not grand but very well made and with good balance.

Trattoria della Posta is a serene and cosy little bubble where nothing bad can ever happen. Huge but slightly predictable wine list of the big hitters and very well done traditional Piemonte dishes. As mentioned elsewhere a 2018 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo was an elegant treat to accompany the ravioli del plin.

L’erema della Gaspari (recommended by Gianluca Colombo) was one of the few restaurants with a different menu! Chef prepares dishes based on whatever local seasonal produce arrives in the morning and there is just one set menu. No wine list so you choose after a tour of the very good cellar. 2015 Giacosa Asili was good but a bit tight and closed. A decant or a few extra years in cellar would've helped.

A day trip to Bra and lunch at Boccondivino. A slow food restaurant in the town centre. Starting to sound repetitive but this was another killer wine list (anlthough our 2011 Marcarini Brunate was a bit stewed) and good Piemonte food. The traditional raw (not cured) sausages were a highlight.

Centro Storico in Serra Lunga is as good as everyone says. Super collection of grower champagnes to complement the mega selection of Barolo and Barbaresco. The rabbit dish was pretty much the whole rabbit, head, tail, lungs, heart and all the other insides.

Other notable mentions are Osteria Vignaiolo and Belbo de Bardon.

On the way back through France and Belgium we had a good time in Chablis and Chablis Wine Not was in the top 3 restaurants of the trip. Wins the prize for the best French wine list and the simple food, which changes daily was perfect to show off the wines. The Simmental rib of beef was beautifully cooked and aged. 2014 Raveneau
Le Foret was possibly wine of the trip and it was good to try a 19 Ben Leroux Savigny Haut Jarrons and a 2021 Droin Chablis Vaulorent. Worth noting is that most bottles are available as take away at keen prices but with some restrictions on the grander bottles. I would be quite happy to spend a week here!

In between meals we managed a 2020 horizontal tasting at Fevre. I used to buy the wines but stopped after the premox issues but will need to start buying again. These were really good and it was fascinating to taste the differences between vineyards. All good but I think the Valorent and Les Preuses were my favourites.
Biodynamic since 2010 in the grand crus and since ‘19 in the 1er crus.
Frost is a big concern and they have fitted electric heating wires along the vines. Initial investment is expensive but over the long run cheaper than lighting the torches that others have as frost protection. Saw a few big heated fans in the vineyards too. It’s tough being a wine maker here.

Au Fil du Zinc was good but all a bit fine dining and my first try of Dom Lafon (2020 Clos de la Barre) a bit of a let down. I think it was just too young as it was very full on and bit too assertive.

Also had a night in Meursault with a good dinner at Soufflot. 18 Roulot Meursault was excellent, showing good freshness for a warm year.

Final stop before the ferry hone was in buzzing Antwerp. Due to the restraint we’d shown during the rest of trip we could indulge here in chips (Frites Atelier as Fritur Falcon was too far away!), chocolate (Pierre Marcolini) and beer (Rodenbach Grand Cru). Zaha Hadid’s port building is amazing as are the huge cathedral and Dries Van Noten shop!
Fiskebar for dinner was a bit of a let down but lunch the next day at In der Balans got us back on track. Italian food as good as almost anything we had in Italy with a nice lightness of touch and a perfect Conterno Nervi rosé to go with the sunshine.

Getting home was a shock to the system and 4 weeks later I’m still struggling!

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