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April, 2012
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We had a week which included a few vacation days for me, so we decided to go to our favorite area of Italy - the lakes and Piemonte (Piedmont in English). For those not familiar with Piemonte, it is a large province stretching from just north of Genoa north to the Swiss border, and includes some of the best wine areas in Italy. Piemonte is home to Barolo, Barbera and Barbaresca. We have been to Piemonte 3 times in the past, but this time, the visit was intended to complete an undone visit. Three Years ago, we had intended to visit Asti to take part in the Palio d"Asti, but unfortunately my Mother fell ill, and we had to cancel the trip. This time, we didn't go for the Palio (a traditional urban horse race, older than the better known one in Siena), but we did go to the B&B we had intended to visit back then - Villa Sampaguita. More about that later. |
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We started the visit in Varese, a small city located between Lake Maggiore and Lake Como. Varese is also a lake - the smallest among the region's lakes. We visited Luino, which is a small town on Lake Maggiore and whish is the host of the largest market on lake Maggiore. Unfortunately, we didn't get much of a chance to visit the market, because our rented car broke down, we spent most of the first day dealing with the car. |
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Our day was saved by the delightful tow truck driver who came to take the car. He took us in his tow truck straight ot his home town, where he took us on a tour of his business (towing and classic car renovation). After that, he found us a taxi driver among his friends who took us back to Malpensa in order to get another car. He called himself Gigi. To the left is a picture of our car after towing and to the right is a picture of Gigi and Alisa in front of his pride and joy, an English Austin from the 50's. |
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We stayed at the Art Hotel Varese, which is located just a few minutes walk from downtown Varese, and was a very nice hotel. It's set in a private park, the staff was very helpful and it has an excellent restaurant. We ate at the restaurant on our first night. It serves excellent wine by the glass and has a wonderful menu. To the right is a picture of the very original antipasti - meats on the plate and various condiments in the jars. |
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While in Varese, we visited the Sacro Monte di Varese, which is one of 9 such "holy mountains" in Piedmont and Lombardy. It is a series of chapels depicting various biblical scenes along a walking trail up a steep mountain. At the top is a village called Santa Maria del Monte The views are stupendous, but the walk up on a hot day (this was the hottest day of the trip) is challenging. We went about a third of the way up, to the 6th station, took a few pictures and went back down. Picture to the left of station 1 or 2. and to the right is the top of the mountain village. Here is the official web site of Sacro Monte di Varese, although it is only in Italian, and here is a site about all 9 sacred mountains. |
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We ate at another nice restaurant in Varese called Osteria Litta (no web site). I really think this restaurant is excellent, and we had a nice chat with the owner and the chef at the end of the meal (picture to the right). It was also only a 5 minute walk from the hotel. Unfortunately I got sick after eating here. I do not blame the restaurant. I ordered carpaccio, which I unfortunately forgot means RAW MEAT in northern Italy. It was quite raw, but it was also absolutely fresh and tasty, so I ate it and I enjoyed it (until the following morning. |
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My stomach rebelled the next morning and I was absolutely out of commission. On this day, we had planned to visit the baroque synagogue in Casale Monferrato as well as a winery nearby on our way to Asti. We cancelled these activities, but we did visit Casale Monferrato for a break from the 200 KM drive, and somehow we made it in one piece to Asti. I didn't eat anything all day, and when we got to the B&B, I went to bed for several hours. The winery we didn't visit was Tenuta La Tenaglia, located in a beautiful setting right next to the entrance to another "sacro monte" - this one the Sacro Monte di Crea. Obviously, we didn't visit this Sacro Monte. |
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Back to the restaurant Litta for a moment, I really want to stress that it was very very good, and my unfortunate indigestion in no way took away from the quality of the meal. Along with the carpaccio, Alisa had salmon baked in paper, I had perfectly prepared port tenderloin, and we had a nice bottle of nebbiole langhe. To the left is a picture of Alisa's perrfectly prepared salmon with herbs baked in a paper pouch. |
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In Asti, we stayed at Villa Sampaguita, which is located about 3 KM outside of town on a very difficult to find road. Use your GPS and get the coordinates rather than trying to use the address. The hosts are Tim and Rina. I have been in touch with Tim off and on for several years, and was very happy that we managed to get here. Rina is a wonderful cook, and Tim is a wonderful story teller, and he has plenty of stories to tell. To the right is a picture of Alisa with Rina and Tim. |
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As I explained above, when I arrived at Villa Sampaguita, I was very much under the weather. I spent the next few hours asleep and Rina and Alisa became fast friends while taking care of me - lots of soup and herbal tea. That first evening, Alisa took part in a lavish meal Rina had prepared (with the other 6 house guests) and I had a few spoonfuls of soup. The meal had about 7 or 8 courses, and Tim served 7 or 8 wines, among them Barolos and Barbarescos. We had another fine meal of Rina's on our last night to make up for my missing this one. |
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So what did we do for our 3 full days in the heart of Piemonte? On one day, we visited Nizza Monferatto, a quiet wine growing town just southeast of Asti, and is the center of the Barbera area. In Nizza, we visited the Barbatella winery, a lovely small family owned winery where we were treated royally by Maurizzio. We tasted their best, bought a couple of bottles, and then Maurizzio accompanied us into town to the Pallazo del Gusto, where we visited the Museum del Gusto with guide Sirena, and then had lunch at La Signora in the basement of the same building. Everybody in Nizza was very friendly and accomodating, and several times we heard how they are trying to attract tourists to visit. Here's a very nice description of a visit to Nizza. |
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It was a lovely day, and in the evening, we visited Asti. Asti has a nice medieval old center and is full of restaurants and enotecca. We visited a couple and had a nice stroll around the town. As I mentioned above, the biggest attraction in Asti is the Palio d'Asti held every year on the 3rd Sunday of September. If you do decide to visit this amazing event, I highly recommend you consider the week long package Tim puts together every year for the guests at Villa Sampaguita. We missed it, but the friends we were supposed to meet there had a great time - a full week of great meals, sightseeing, wine tastings, and of course, front row seats for the Palio.. |
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On Sunday, we spent the whole day in Alba at the Piemonte wine exhibition called Vinum Alba. Vinum Alba is a celebration of all the wines of the region and included street markets, tastings at various venues and professionally guided tastings of the premier wines of the region. We attended a tasting of barolo as well as spending most of the day in the general wine tasting. Last year we attended a grand cru weekend in Bordeaux where we were very impressed by the impressive order, and the total package of wonderful events. (Read about it here.) |
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At Vinum Alba we were impressed by the total lack of order as hundreds (probably thousands) of bottles of Barolos, Barbarescos, and Barberas were laid out on tables and poured at your request. Point at a bottle and it was opened and poured into your glass. By the end of the day, it was a sunbathing experience for the local populace. To the left is a display table of barolos (yes, they are all barolos), and to the right is the sunbathing area outside. All in all, an unforgettable experience. |
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For lunch we ate at a restaurant called La Piola, which is the sister restaurant of a Michelin starred restaurant called "The Duomo". Both restaurants were built by the Ceretto winery, one of the leading wineries in the barolo area, and which we visited the following day. La Piola is a bistro style restaurant with a limited menu but which changes every day. The menu is written on a wall mounted blackboard and our lunch was very nice. |
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Monday was Barolo day. In the morning, we visited the Ceretto winery, located on the southern edge of Alba. Ceretto is a real showcase winery, with very modern architecture and nice expensive wines. This particular facility is the headquarters and is called Monsordo Bernadina. It has a beautiful visitor's center which is distinguished by a very unusual structure called "the grape" extending from one of its facades and provided an unhindered view of the spectacular countryside. See the picture to the left. We were escorted by a lovely and helpful guide (whose name I think was Claudia) and you can see her and me inside the grape below and to the left. To the right, you can see one of Cerreto's barrel rooms. |
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After the winery, we drove to see the Cappella del Barolo, an unconsecrated chapel, artfully decorated by artists commissioned by the winery. It's located just outside of la Morra. After the chapel, we tried to find another of the wineries impressive facilities located in Castiglione Falleto where the "cube" can be found. The day was cloudy and rainy and we simply couldn't find it. |
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We had lunch is Serralunga, one of the smaller and lesser known towns of the Barolo towns. The restaurant was Trattoria Cascina Schiavenza , a well known restaurant located right in the middle of the town. It has a great view and great food, and it is also a winery. I had a glass of their 2009 barbera d'alba which I enjoyed so much, we bought a bottle. It's basically a simple country restaurant with excellent food. Even on this Monday afternoon, it was full. |
EATING LUNCH AT THE TRATTORIA CASCINA SCHIAVENZA |
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After lunch, we visited the Rivetto winery, right near Serralunga. This was a most enjoyable visit. We were hosted by a young woman from Macedonia, whose name I have forgotten and we tasted everything they had. In the end we met one of the owners, Enrico, with whom we had a nice chat. Rivetto makes some great wines, and it also has a very impressive view of Serralungo. If you are in the area, it's worth visiting just for the view! |
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ABOVE IS A NICE MAP OF THE BAROLO VILLAGES. |
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This is a page from our site "Travels with Steve & Alisa". It describes one of the many trips we have made together. We've built these pages not just to describe our trips, but to help other travelers if we can. Please use the information we've provided freely, and let us know if you have any questions we might be able to answer about your own planned trip, or just let us know if we have helped you. Or perhaps you have some information we could add to the site. Visit our home page using the link to the right. Enjoy your next trip!! ~Steve & Alisa~ |
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LAST UPDATE -
SEPT 2, 2012
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