Reinventing Reality

The Wines of Tuscany

Greetings, 

It's been a while since we were in Italy and I can hardly remember what Italian wines taste like any more so I'll give this my best shot. 

There is so much wine in Tuscany I don’t know where to begin. Most towns have at least 3 wine shops on each street and every store that sells any kind of food in Tuscany inevitably has bottles for sale on display. Tuscans literally have red wine coursing through their veins. Unfortunately, the quality of these wines varies tremendously with the majority being nothing to write home about. In any case, the vineyards sure are a nice sight. 

First a bit about the geography and land. Tuscany has a mediterrannean climate with dry hot summers and cool wet winters.  As we move further form the Mediterranean coast and closer to the Appenine Alps the influence of the ocean diminishes quickly leaving most of the region exposed to sweltering 90 degree and even 100 + degree days in the middle of summer. Soils in this region aren't suitable for most crops (see below) but the native Sangiovese grape thrives in these conditions. 

  

We visited an interesting winery just outside of Lucca which makes a very decent Tuscan wine. In order to add concentration to the wine the vintner adds a must to the first fermentation of the wine called Governo Toscano. This must is made from a second fermentation of grapes that have remained on the vine until shriveled into sugar saturated raisins. The resulting wine is so black and viscous that it makes your mouth look like you’ve been eating smurfs. Below is a picture of the creator of the this Tuscan Teeth Stainer boxing up some wine to send out (probably by donkey or vespa). 

Tuscany is most famous for its red Chianti Classico wine. Chianti and Chianti Classico have such a mixed reputation in the U.S. that it’s difficult and controversial to make any generalizations. In my opinon, Chiantis are a soft and supple fruity wine offering medium structure at best. They can be very enjoyable with a wide variety of foods but the don't offer much in terms of complexity and structure. We visited a beautiful Castle in Chianti whch produces wines of high pedigree. We sampled the wines pictured below and brought a few home to accompany pasta dishes.

I was delightfully surprised by Morellino di Scansano, a wine from the Southern Tuscany region. This is still primarily Sangiovese with generally about 10% Cabernet Sauvingon. 2007 vintages of this wine is very rich considering the minimal time spent in oak. 

Currently, all the rave in the world of Italian Red Wines is the Brunello di Montalcino DOCG. We tried a couple of these and I was disappointed. They were tasty wines but they do not in my opinion compare to a Cabernet from Napa or Bordeaux as many critics claim. Who knows, maybe we didn’t have the really great Brunellos but my advice is to focus on Northern Italy for high quality wines and keep Chianti where it belongs at the lunch table next to cheap pastas.  

Unfortunately I didn't to try any of the much-hyped "Super Tuscan" red wines of the region. For those of you who don't care much about wine just think Super Expensive when you hear Super Tuscan. These are wines aren't made from the traditional and government controlled Sangiovese dominated formula. Instead, they make use of Cabernet, Merlot and other non-native grapes to make concentrated wines which are still too expensive for me to casually sample. 

That's all for Italy. Much more content for the wines of France.

Cheers, 

Red

Florence Apartment Scenes

Brian came to see us in Florence and we had a super time.  The following images would suggest we did not do much and resorted to idiot behavior but I promise we did cultural things (Galileo exhibit, Uffizi gallery, etc).  We also cooked quite a bit (practicing recipes from cooking class of course), and the boys made clean up time fun.  

I am calling the series "My Favorite Potheads".  Enjoy.

Cooking in Lucca Part 3

To finish up the Italian cooking class, I am going to combine the last two cooking days of recipes and eating into one post.  Shorter, less work and I'll be honest, I totally forgot to take pics the last day so it would be boring.  But the recipes will be listed at the end if you are interested.

To start off the third day, we made biscotti.  Below you see the beginning of the cookie dough, which is on a table.  After this picture, we slowly combined the flour/sugar/nut mixture with the eggs, and once mixed rolled it into long "snakes" which we dusted with sugar and baked.

  

Annnnnd I don't have an "after" pic, so you will just have to trust me that they came out of the oven nice and golden and then we cut them into little biscotti wedges.  They were softer than we typically think of biscotti, but really the texture is up to the baker - if you want them crunchier, you bake them twice, if not, you can enjoy them a tad soft (or dry them out on a baking sheet).  

Then we moved on to the really fun stuff - making pasta!  Paolo whipped up a filling for ravioli (swiss chard - spinach would make a yummy substitute, pine nuts, parm cheese, etc) and then we made up the pasta dough.  We each took turns rolling out sheets for ravioli:

And then putting the filling down and actually making the individual ravioli:

And then we ate it.  Red and I have decided that we may have to change the name of the blog...because we are becoming Blobs Who Blog.  Sigh.

The last dish from that day was an amazing pork roast.  Paolo showed us an interesting rub that could easily go on many other cuts of meat.  You chop up lemon rind, rosemary, sage and garlic and add a bit of salt and pepper.  The cut of pork he used was pork loin and it had the ribs still on - I think you could probably do it with tenderloin as well with a few adjustments.  Anyway, he sliced the meat along the ribs and then sliced small holes on top and stuffed the rub into the slices.  Then he wrapped the loin with pancetta (the Italian bacon).  After roasting the meat for 1 1/2 hours or so, he made a gravy with the drippings and, again, we ate it (oh, and we roasted potatoes in the same seasoning as the meat, as you see on the plate).  

FANTASTIC.  Of course it was, there was bacon in it.  Sigh.

Now, the details on the last day get a little...not detailed.  First we learned how to make carpaccio, a wonderful raw beef dish.  The one below is actually cooked (for those who can't stand the idea), but the raw versions were delicious and very fresh tasting.

So this is where things go downhill a bit.  We also learned how to make pate, and discovered we aren't fans, so no pictures of that.  Then Paolo taught us 4 different risotto recipes, and yup, you guessed it, Red and I are not major lovers of risotto, so we didn't document that section too well either.  To be fair, they were very good risottos, so if you like risotto, we do have recipes.  We also made 4 different kinds of veal scaloppine and unfortunately those were REALLY GOOD, but everyone ate everything up before I could get a quality photo.  Excuses, excuses, I know, I know.

Below are the recipes worth sharing, feel free to ask, we'd be happy to email the ones that stand out to you!  MIss you guys!

Day 3:

• Panzanella (a Tuscan bread/veggie salad) 
• Crostini with eggplant topping (really yummy - another kind of bruscetta)  
• Ravioli  
• Ragu alla Luccese (a fabulous spiced meat sauce from Lucca) 
• Roast Rack of Pork with Sage, Rosemary and Pancetta  
• Biscotti  

Day 4:

• Beef Carpaccio (2 different raw versions, one cooked) 
• Fresh Mozzarella with raw tomato sauce 
• Scaloppine: sage and prosciutto (maybe my favorite scaloppine) 
• Scaloppine: tomato sauce (really delicious too)  
• Scaloppine: lemon sauce (fresh and tangy) 
• Risotto: Saffron and Shrimp 
• Risotto: Red wine and Radiccio 
• Risotto: Bacon and mushroom

Florence Apartment

We are taking a short break from all of the food posts to tell you about our first few hours/days in Florence.  The apartment we rented in Florence is just the cutest thing.  It is newly remodeled - hardwood floors, modern kitchen, nice bathrooms - looks nice, doesn't it?  

We are the first tenants it has seen, and everyone keeps saying that as if it is a good thing - to say the least, its a mixed bag.

We got in and were told that the internet was “not here yet”, as if it were a train that might arrive soon.  Then we tried to take a shower and there was no hot water.  We called the offsite manager and he said, “It is not possible, it is a new apartment”.  Well buddy, it sure is possible.  Anyway, they came out and had a look and said that the owner’s son would come the next morning to take a look.  Alrighty, only 24 hours of cold showers and ineffective dishwashing.  Not a huge deal in the scheme of things.  Oh, also the toilets make a diabolical noise when flushed - they groan obscenely for about a minute.  

Anyway, after discovering the hot water problem we turned on the air conditioning and basked in its glory for a full hour before the power went off.  We stomped around for a while (after checking all inside circuit breakers), made some expensive calls from our cell phone, and the manager said, “What do you want me to do about it?  I am in Lucca - I cannot help you.”  What we want you to do, pal, is give a crap about us - it's only your job!   Our dinner was cooking on the electric stove when all power ceased, so obviously eating was out of the question.  Needless to say, we had a drink.  Then we played some cards because we figured we should soak up the daylight before the apartment dark for the night.

So eventually we heard voices speaking English outside our door (hallelujah) and we practically pounced on them to see if they had power (of course they did, just our special apartment was off).  One of the guys actually owned his apartment and walked Red down to show him the main circuit breaker for the whole building which was hidden in some wooden cabinets on the first floor.  

So once again all most was right with the world, and we went back to making dinner (although the power went off 2 more times while we were cooking).  

The next day we had to fix our bank accounts (also having problems in Italy) and when we came back they were fixing the water heater.  YAY!

But don’t hold your breath because then two hours later when we fired up the AC, the stove and the hot water all at the same time, the circuits had a meltdown.  But why would we expect to be able to cook, use the AC and maybe run the dishwasher all at the same time?  Are we too American?  Is this too much to expect?  Oh, and you can’t use multiple water sources at the same time either...as in when you are in the shower, if someone turns on the kitchen sink the pressure drops to zero and there are drips coming out of the shower head.  Red and I are constantly screaming from the shower, “What are you doing????  Whatever you are doing STOP, JUST STOP”.  Good thing this amuses us...hahahaha...hmm.

But really, sometimes we just don't care about all of that because the apartment is a 5 minute walk from this:

The Duomo.  

Parma, Langhirano, and Modena Food Field Trips

Hello, 

Today we hopped in the Chef Paulo’s small SUV and headed to Parma, a town infamous for its Parmaggiano Reggiano cheese. The journey brought us out of Tuscany and over the summit of the Appenine Alps which create the spine of central Italy. After summiting mountain passes, the landscape gave way to a broad flat Po Valley which bears similar resemblance to California’s Central Valley. Not surprisingly, the area is known for its cows and its pigs. 

In order to bear the name Parmigiano-Reggiano, the cheese must come from specific type of cow which eats only a certain type of grass. Parmagiano-Reggiano takes a whole day to make in one of these buckets below whereas other cheese, such as Buffalo Mozzarella, can be made almost instantly. 

Each one of those blocks behind us in the picture below is worth 400 Euro. Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese is certified with a special encoded pattern to guarantee it’s the real thing - much like currency.

Our next stop was a Prosciutto facility and farm in the hills near Langhirano. Prosciutto from the Parma area is considered the best by Italians and is typically differentiated form other Prosciutto by its sweeter and slightly less salty flavor. Chef Paulo took us right in the facility and grabbed a piggie poker (narrow piece of horse bone) to show us how to inspect pork legs. The piggie poker is inserted into the pig leg and removed to check for any funny smells.

Since olive trees don’t grow well in the harsher climate of the Po Valley, the dishes tend to rely more on butter and cream much like continental Europe. We had the best buttered ravioli we’ve ever tasted along with this refreshing sparkling Rose made from the local red Lambruzzo grape. Very tasty complex for a Rose and for 5 Euros the price is right. 

Our final stop was the town of Modena which is known as the birthplace of Ferrari and the world’s best Balsamic Vinegar. The Balsamic Vienegar is made from 100% Lambruzzo grapes grown locally with absolutely no other ingredients. White wine vinegar is made from the local Trebbiano grape. Below is a picture of the wooden casks the vinegar ages in. 

These can be made from several types of wood. Many of the casks you see below date back 25, 50, 75, and even 100 years. The room was soooo hot because that’s part of the aging process for the vinegar - hot in the summer, cool in the winter. It was 100 degrees outside so I had a sweat attack and had to leave the premises. 

That's all for now. Cheers,

Red

Day Two of Eat Until You Pop (Aka Cooking Class)

So the first day was great, but we were just getting started.  We began the day with a trip to a market in La Spezia (Paolo is one crazy driver but more on that later).  Paolo mainly wanted to show us the fish market and how to pick out fresh seafood but we got to take a tour of the whole place to see the produce, cheeses and meats as well.  

As we were walking through the fruit/veggie stands admiring the goods, Red and I decide to buy some fruit.  So, like any normal person, I start picking up peaches to smell and see if they are ripe.  WELL, that triggered something - women started giving me the death-stare and male shop keepers looked at me like I was smearing something nasty all over their produce.  I started thinking, "What the hell, I'm looking at fruit, not porn, give me a break."  But then Paolo saw me "doing it" and he was like, "No no, you touch it you buy it".  WELL, now who looked stupid?  Apparently there is too much bacteria and fruit bruising for all of the touching.  Whatever, I'm still going to do it when no one is looking - touch and smell still count.

Moving on, below is one of the the meat stands - yummy salami, prosciutto, pancetta, etc.  Apparently Italian meats appeal to more than just people!

But the main attraction of the morning was the fish market.  Paolo walked us through and explained that when buying fish, always try and buy the whole fish - you can usually see how fresh it is by looking at the skin (and eyes) and most often when you see fillets, the fish is older (practically a guarantee that it has been frozen) and may have been dyed to make it look better.  Paolo said to look at the fish skin to determine freshness - most fish should have iridescent scales and quite a bit of slippery looking mucus on the skin (mmm, mucus, doesn't the word just make your mouth water?).  We went around comparing fish, calamari, shrimp, octopus, etc.

After the market it was back to the kitchen to prepare mountains of seafood.  All of the recipes were quite fantastic, but strangely enough my favorite was the Spaghetti alla Vongole (with clams).  The dish was so simple to prepare and is a regional favorite along the Italian coast.  You can really taste each flavor in the dish and the clams are not overwhelming.  Here is Red making the dish and below is the finished product.

The rest is the Vongole recipe and a list of others we made - if anyone is interested in a recipe let us know and we can email it.

Red is doing the next post about our day trip away from Lucca, so I won't spoil it - miss you guys!

Spaghetti alla Vongole

2 lbs clams

olive oil

fresh parsley, finely chopped

red pepper flakes

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 teaspoons (each) of butter and flour mixed

butter

white wine

chicken stock

spaghetti - 4-6 ounces

Soak the fresh clams overnight in salty cold water to purge them.

Place the clams in a large pan with heated extra virgin olive oil (enough to coat the bottom of the pan) and immediately add the garlic and a pinch of red pepper flakes (or more if you like spicy).  Cook on medium heat until the clams start to open and then add a healthy splash of white (dry) wine.  After a minute, add the stock and let simmer for a minute or two and then add butter/flour mixture (vigorously stir to mix that into the sauce).  Sprinkle in the parsley and add additional butter or salt if the sauce needs it.  Add the cooked spaghetti to the pan and mix in with the sauce before serving.

The following are recipes we made that we think are worth sharing - if you want any please tell us and we can email them!

• Orange and Shrimp Salad (delicious and tangy)
• Mussels saute with garlic, lemon and wine 
• Mussels saute with celery, cream and Sambuca (or Pernod)
• Pasta with pistachio and shrimp sauce
• Grilled Tuna with lettuce sauce (surprisingly good) 
• Panna Cotta 

 

Cooking in Lucca Part 1

We have been in Lucca for over 4 days.  In that time we have cooked up a storm (translation: eaten A LOT) and learned a bunch of new things.  There will be a few posts from this week.

Below is the kitchen that we have become familiar with - Chef Paolo's staff wheels in an electric stove every morning after the hotel guests have finished breakfast and we have our lessons.

One of the first things Paolo taught was was the importance of olive oil.  Yes yes, we use olive oil in America - its healthy, tastes good, etc etc etc.  But Paolo is in a whole other world with olive oil.  He had us taste many oils from around Italy and surprisingly they all tasted different with varying levels of flavor, complexity, and depth.  Generally, the milder the climate of the region, the milder the flavor of the oil.

As our first lesson progressed we also realized his relationship with olive oil was a bit...well lets just say he is infatuated with olive oil (I would say "saturated" but that seems to imply something bad about the oil).  He uses a healthy generous amount for sauces and sauteing vegetables, and then, almost without fail, at the end of a dish he sort of splashes an additional "dash" (read 1/4 - 1/2 cup) of oil into the dish "just in case".  We have two other people in class with us and the first day we all stared at each other and out of nowhere Paolo read our minds, "OH MY GOD what is he doing with the oil?"  Although the oil sometimes seems a bit much sometimes, I will concede that we have probably been using a bit too little in our cooking at home - it adds a richness that can sort of be associated with cream and a delicate flavor that is Italian in every way.  We think Paolo has olive oil pumping through his veins.  

One of the first things we made was a simple tomato sauce that we used in just about every dish.  We added it to two meat sauces, chicken cacciatore, and a tomato-cream sauce (made with mozzarella, not cream!).  

Quite simply, the ingredients are a 2-pounds of canned (Italian) peeled tomatoes (whole, not diced), one onion (diced finely), extra-virgin olive oil (4+ tbsp) and 1 small bunch of fresh basil.  You saute the onions in the oil until transparent, add the tomatoes and let them bubble on the stove for 30-45 minutes.  As the tomatoes heat, they start to break down, so as you stir it becomes more of a sauce versus whole tomatoes in juice.  Make sure to stir so that the tomatoes do not carmelize on the bottom of the pan.  At the end, add the basil on the stems and let them sit in the sauce to add flavor (take them out before using/serving sauce).  Paolo used this sauce as the base of a spicy pancetta spaghetti and in many other dishes (let me know if you are interested further so I won't bore anyone!).

This is Paolo with one of the spaghetti dishes (a bolognese sauce) - I'd give you the recipe but there is any even better ragu sauce from Lucca that will appear in the future.  He is so cute and speaks excellent English - and boy does he know jokes.  "Have you heard the one about the Italian who visits New York on his vacation?  Knowing little English, he is forced to use the phone book to seek out his dinner.  He sees listings for laundry mats, cars, lawyers, pharmacies, hardware stores, but no food.  Finally he sees a listing for "hotdogs".  He thinks, "Geez, how disgusting, these people eat dogs!"  He searches further but can't find anything that he understands, so he decides to go to the hotdog place.  He tells the waiter that he will have a "hot dog", and shortly he is presented with a hotdog in a bun.  He takes one look and says, "Waiter, I will eat any part of the dog except this one! Mamma Mia!" 

Anyway, he is great and consistently teaches us excellent recipes with a sense of humor.  

Next you see Red preparing the plates (even focusing on presentation!) for a dish that was surprising but delicious: pork tenderloin with a lemon-cream sauce.  Totally unexpected and amazing.

Ok, pretty much done with...day one.  In case anyone is interested, we have recipes for the following dishes that we feel are worth sharing: 

• Fresh tomato sauce with garlic and basil (a summer dish)
• Mushroom Bruschetta 
• Crispy prosciutto salad with sage vinegar dressing (absolutely amazing - served warm) 
• Spaghetti all' amatriciana (tomato and italian bacon sauce) - he nicknamed the dish "midnight pasta" because many people eat this dish after drinking
• Pork tenderloin with lemon-cream sauce 
• Tiramisu - so easy and delicious!  

Talk to you soon - we can't wait to have people up to Tahoe and make some of these dishes together! 

Italian Riviera

After thoroughly enjoying the Piedmont region, we started making our way to Lucca for our first cooking class.  Since we had an extra day we decided to check out Sanremo, a beach town on the Italian riviera.  A guidebook had said that the town used to be similar to Monaco many years ago but that its image and prestige had waned - we expected a sleepy beach town.  We rolled off the highway and immediately started driving in circles (sometimes in multiple circles around the roundabouts too - what the hell, when you are lost it buys time!).  We saw a random hotel and decided to check it out.  It shall remain nameless.  We went into the lobby and immediately smelled like lifelong smokers.  A woman showed us a room (supposedly “large bed, good views, balcony”) and later we laughed at how we both starting feeling depressed immediately...as in the room was so bad it felt like a dungeon - a dingy, depressing, dilapidated dungeon.  We said we would think about it and started to the car to make our escape, but the lady followed, hounding us for passport info to reserve the room.  Thankfully, as I was about to cave and say yes to staying in the torture chamber, Red the Hero took a stand and said no.  The clouds parted, angels wept and we left.  We drove along the coast and found this beauty - an apartment-style hotel room in a small town.  We shopped at a local grocery store for dinner (that was comical), made a caprese salad and toasted our good fortune that we were not chained in the room at Hotel Cry-Yourself-To-Sleep.

The other thing we don’t have pictures of is our experience on the train (Genova to Lucca).  God if someone had been filming.  We somehow got good tickets but didn’t really know what we were doing, so we got on the last car possible...the furthest car from our seats.  For those who don’t know about trains in Italy, the aisles in the economy cars are not wide enough for a cat to squeeze through and people sit/stand in empty areas - you sort of throw yourself and your suitcase along and hope you don’t kill anyone.  We proceeded to “scuzi” our way around and over people through 9 cars with our massive luggage.  We were sweaty (shocker there) and exhausted when we found our seats...everyone else looked peaceful and rested (and a bit disgusted by our arrival into their pristine environment).  Then we got to our next destination and long (boring) story short, our next train was cancelled (strikes) but we waved our train tickets at a bus driver and he took pity and let us on.  FYI, we don’t take pictures when we look like road kill, so just picture us hot and bothered throughout all of that. 

The Wines of Piemonte

Buongiorno!

This is Red here and I'm finally getting around to posting about all things wine. My goal is to post about the unique wines from each region we visit in Europe.

We recently finished our tour of the Piedmont region, home to some of Italy's most prestigious wines. Looking at a map this region is somewhere between Turin and the Mediterranean Sea in Northwestern italy. The towns of Alba and Asti nestled in the Langhe Hills form the heart of the Piedmont wine region. Vines absolutely dominate the landscape here. There is no comparison in the U.S. -- all the hillsides around Alba, Asti, Barbaresco, and Barolo are covered by vines. The vines are neatly tended creating a manicured and dramatically beautiful landscape. On clear days you can see the Alps looming over the vineyards of Piedmont. 

The cream of the Italian red wine crop includes two distinct appellations right outside of Alba: Barolo and Barbaresco. Nowhere else in the world does the finicky and difficult Nebbiolo grape achieve the greatness it does in these two small areas. Barolo and Barbersco wines are each made from 100% Nebbiolo and are subject to strict quality controls making them a luxury item compared with the other red wines of the region, Barbera and Dolcetto. Some have described a good Barolo as “tar and roses” due it’s delicate floral smell with hints of tobacco and leather. These wines have great aging potential due to their high tannins (dry mouth feel). They tend to go well with hearty beef dishes (or the local veal carpaccio) much like a good Napa Cab or Bordeaux, however the color is much lighter than cabernet. Think Pinot Noir with and old school Italian gangster crustiness that pairs well with dried meats.

At their best, Barbera and Dolcetto are both fruity but inky dark wines which are seriously underrated in the U.S. They go well with almost any pizza, pasta or Italian dish and are a stable dinner companion for locals around Alba. Barbera has the same acidity as a tomato making it a natural choice for Italian cooking. The grape is supposedly similar to the Mourvedre/Mataro grape used widely in Southern France and Spain, which helps explain why we are so found of it. 

Becuase Nebbiolo grapes fetch the highest price, especially in the cases of Barolo and Barberseco, the best land around Alba is allocated to Nebbiolo. Most locals don’t drink Barolo and Barbersco beucase they are too pricey. Instead you tend to see Italians drinking generic Nebbiolo D’Alba or Dolcetto which has spent little to no time in “barriques” or oak barrels. You can purchase a delicious and fruity Dolcetto or Nebbiolo for about 5 Euro at a restaurant or 2.50 Euro at a grocery store while low end Barolo and Barbersco fetch about 16 and 12 Euro, respectively.

The name Dolcetto means “little sweet one” in Italian which is an unfortunate misnomer for this fruity but undeniably dry red wine.  Dolcetto seems to be the go-to grape for fast turn around table wine in this region. I’ve seen a lot of 2008 Dolcetto in the grocery stores and we did try one at a pizzeria and were very satisfied. Kind of a shame though. I think Dolcetto deserves at least a little time in oak to mature it’s earthy mushroom and dark fruit flavors before it hits the public. 

We were told by our Innkeeper to avoid Barolo becuase the people there don't like the recent influx of wine tourism and that they were a “frustrated town.” He advised us instead to focus on tasting in Barberseco where people where more friendly. We in fact found the exact opposite to be true. Warm reception at vineyards in Barolo and no reception/no service at the producers guild in Barberesco. Plus, the hillsides of Barolo are steeper and more picturesque.

We enjoyed almost all the wines we tried in Piedmont. We want to advocate Nebbiolo back in the states beucase we are convinced it deserves a seat at the table with the other "noble" red grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir. Interestingly the best wine we had here and still the best I’ve tasted in Italy so far (we are now in the Chianti area) was this Barbera d’Asti from Ca' Di Pian. 

Pencil shavings, prune juice, black cherry and velvety mouthfeel...perfect companion to Gnocchi and White Truffle Sauce.  Asti has long been known for it's white sparkling wine, Asti Spumante, but the Barberas we tasted from Asti were truly top notch and better than those from Alba. Could this have something to do with the fact that the best land in Alba is all planted with Nebbiolo grapes?

Cheers, 

Red

Alba, Italy

To begin this post, a hysterical story from Red re: starting out in Italy.

Below is a picture of our silly little Italian rental car that we lovingly call "the egg”.  The rental agent in Milan sternly informed us that the car was DIESEL so we were only to use DIESEL FUEL.  After a few hours of driving on the Italian Autobahn we had a moment of panic when we realized we were on a toll road with no Euro for the toll booths. As soon as we pulled off to get some Euro we found out you have to pay right at the exits. Fortunately, we found a lane that accepted carte so we headed there while fumbling around for our credit cards. After we stuck the ticket in a voice blared some incomprehensible Italian and we jammed our credit card in only to hear more instructions in Italian and no automatic gate lifting to let us through. Finally we got the machine to accept our damn card and we were on our way. After some painful wrong exits and general misdirection we made it to a highway gas station near Asti to fill up. We were very careful to pick the diesel pump which as it turns out is labeled black instead of green as in the U.S (very confusing). A moment of sheer frustration ensued when we could not fit the diesel gas hose into the car - it was just too small so diesel shot up in our face like a shitty drinking fountain. We cleaned up in the bathroom and asked the gas station attendant to help us using ridiculous hand gestures and pointing to the gas tank and yelling DIESEL NO FITTA IN OUR TANKA. He quickly noticed that the gas tank was labeled green and had a small green “unleaded only” label on it (again opposite of U.S.). Our car was a #^&@%& UNLEADED ONLY CAR!! Props to the competent rental car agents at the Milan airport. 

The car is actually smaller than it looks...definitely not even mini-pooper cooper size.  

So despite car issues we actually arrived in Alba, a cute town that we used as home base to visit Neive, Barolo, Barbaresco, the Alps, etc.  In fact, the hotel we found was booked for the night (we are winging some of the hotel reservations to make life “more interesting”) and the amazingly nice hotel owner Nico referred us to his friend’s inn in Neive (see gorgeous views from the balcony).  Both hotels and their owners were so welcoming we thought we had died and gone to heaven we were treated so nicely.

 

Ok, so learning-wise, we now have been to several Enotecas (wine shops), a few wineries and I have to say, the northern Italian wine is simply incredible.  Some cheap, some expensive, all tasty.  But Red has a bit more to say on that, and he will say it better than I, so you will just have to check back again.  That said, the food and wine in Italy does not disappoint.  My favorite thus far was a meal of homemade ravioli of meat and vegetables with a traditional zucchini sauce (think tiny grated zucchini with olive oil and other miniscule veggies).  The waiter kept implying it was a good local dish so I (reluctantly) went with it.  But it turned out to be so fresh tasting and delicious - even Red said it was the best dish of the night!  I suppose it is usually good to follow recommendations of locals, but sometimes you have to get over preconceived (aka weird sounding - meat ravioli and zucchini flower "sauce"?) notions, yes?  Following the pasta was the most delicate, creamy panna cotta I’ve ever had - it was the smoothest custard in the world.  

In a closing moment, Red and I also visited the Alps.  We drove on some windy roads, hiked around for a bit and had a nice picnic.  All in all, spectacular.  

Okkkk...enough talk.  Tomorrow Red plans on uploading his amazing wine entry - lots of good info coming.  Miss everyone - leave a comment or email!