- Location
- London
Some years ago (2009ish?), two of us visited a pretty well known Barolo producer. We had obtained an appointment but we were relative plebs. I couldn’t recall buying their wines though I’d tried them at events from time to time. After being given a fairly extensive tour and having been ushered into the tasting room, the lady of the house informed us that regrettably because of unidentified constraints there wasn’t any Barolo for us to taste, though we could try the dolcetto and barbera.There was then an impromptu extension to the tour, where they got to taste the rarer Cru proseccos, the traditional method sparklers and the still wines, none of which are normally shown. It shows that you can kind of accommodate both the day tripper, paying for an experience, and the more genuine wine enthusiasts keen to discover more for whom you are happy to open some bottles.
More or less at that moment, a black Audi estate with German plates rolled up outside. Initially confused as to who they were, the lady of the house greeted the three guys who issued from within it very warmly. They must have said words to the effect that they didn’t need a tour, and just wanted to proceed to tasting. So - lo and behold - we all sat down in a room with the new German arrivals and numerous bottles appeared which we tasted, including Barolo…