Passione In Piemonte

Details: Parent Category: Travel Info; Category: Travel Feature; Published on Friday, 24 May 2013 14:31; Written by Barney Lehrer & Jesse Nash

Passione is a word used constantly in the wineries and restaurants of Italy. It is the passion to produce the best wines and meals imaginable, sparing no effort in achieving this lofty goal. We heard the word everywhere on our recent food and wine visit of discovery in Piemonte (Piedmont), as the people we met were eager to share that passione with us.

Alba The wine and food of Piedmont in northern Italy are products of a very long tradition. On our recent visit we were honored to be guests of some of the regions top winemakers and restaurateurs. Piedmont's Langhe district, a two hour trip from Milan's Malpensa airport, is famous for its complex Nebbiolo-based Barolo and Barbaresco wines and its fruity Barbera and Dolcetto wines as well as what many believe is the best cuisine in Italy. The LangheHills also have some of the most stunning countryside anywhere, with sweeping hills topped by medieval castles and villages as well as some of the most passionate winemakers and chefs on the planet.

We arrived at La Cascina del Monastero a winery and “agriturismo” (farm B&B) owned by Giuseppe and Velda Grasso in the small picturesque wine village of La Morra. Indeed, Pope Pius VII, (who crowned Napoleon Bonaparte as Emperor in 1803) declared after a stop at the Cascina Luciani (now La Cascina del Monastero), "Oh La Morra! A place with a beautiful sky and good wine." Giuseppe and Velda have transformed the property into a rustic (yet modern) small hotel with what is probably the best breakfast in Italy. Velda spares no effort in her passionate desire to make each guest feel at home with her passione for baking and finding the best cheeses and meats to serve her guests. And, of course, Giuseppe's wines are made with passione (4 stars in Decanter for the 2005 Barolo and 90 points from Robert Parker for the 2003 Barolo).

The town of Barolo itself is a beautiful medieval village crowned by a spectacular castle, which is now the Barolo Wine Museum (aka WIMU). The Museum is also a work of passione, created by architect François Confino, whose life passions are wine, food, art, movies, fast cars and religion. The resulting museum presents an engaging panorama of the impact of wine on Confino's passions, including a projection of Bela Lugosi’s famous scene in Dracula as he pours his guest a glass of wine and says, “I don’t drrrrink…….wine,” a “Divine Room” where the visitor walks in as if he or she is the bartender in a bar whose guests are Indian, Chinese and ancient Greek gods in addition to Jesus, who stands by the bar near a half-finished glass of wine and a dice game, and a “talking kitchen,” where a traditional and a modern chef have a passionate dialogue about their diverse approaches to cooking.

Barolo WIMU’s building used to be the home of Juliette Colbert (aka La Marchesa di Barolo), a French aristocrat (great grand-daughter of Louis XIV’s finance minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert), whose family managed to escape the French Revolution by migrating to Italy when she was an infant. She married Marquis Carlo Tancredi Falletti di Barolo, whose family had lived in the palace since the 13th century. Among her passions was the wine of the Barolo region. When she first lived in Barolo the wines were not up to the standard she considered to be their potential. She learned that a neighboring castle owner, Camillo Benso di Cavour, hired a French oenologist, Louis Oudart, to modernize the production of wine so it would age long in the bottle and develop tremendous depth of flavor. The Marchesa adopted Oudart's techniques and became the first large producer of Barolo wines. Indeed, it is said that the name for the wine did not come from the village but rather from the Marchesa. Because of this and the Marchesa's network of royal friends, Barolo became the favorite wine of Italian royalty, earning the nickname "King of wine, wine of Kings."

Wine tasting in the Langhe Hills is, of course, one of the area’s main attractions. You can indulge your passione for wine for hours in the cellars of the region. Each winemaker insists their passione is reflected in their winemaking. It is their passion about the region, passion about the Nebbiolo grape, passion about the traditions of winemakers in Langhe. The star (and most expensive) wine of Piedmont (and some would say in all of Italy) is Barolo. Made exclusively from the region's Nebbiolo grapes, a classic Barolo is a rich, highly-structured wine that is also a bit difficult to appreciate at first. The Nebbiolo grape is sweet, tannic and rich. One has to wait at least three or four hours after opening a bottle so that the tannins recede and the richness fully appears.

langhe countryside We had the privilege of visiting five wineries, set up by the Strada del Barolo, each of whom makes fantastic wines. This gave us a way of contrasting the larger producers (Ceretto, Salvano) with the smaller ones (Borgogno Francesco, Le Strette, Anselma Giacomo, Castello di Verduno, and Dosio). Our impressions were that the smaller houses produce more personal and subtle wines. The larger ones produce sturdy and still magnificent wines. We were very aware that the smaller winemakers consider themselves to be simple farmers. Many also raise olives, hazelnuts and other crops and make olive oils and foods, oils and drinks using hazelnuts and fruits.

After wine, of course, the most sought-after product of this region is the white truffle. Claudio Borgogno, the winemaker at Borgogno Francesco, is also a truffle hunter along with his two white dogs. We were lucky to taste his wonderful wine the morning after he and his dogs brought back a haul of white truffles from the nearby woods. And what an amazing aroma they had!!

Since we were in Piedmont during mushroom season many of the restaurants we visited offered an amazing display of a mushroom varieties supplied by local mushroom hunters. We ate in four outstanding restaurants in the region:
La Cantinetta in Barolo (Via Roma, 33, Barolo, Italy) has been serving the same formula since 1995. A series of antipasti followed by their signature pasta, raviolone wrapped around an egg yolk and topped with a few truffle flakes. The pasta is then followed by meat dishes such as beef and rabbit in a Barolo sauce. Everything is fresh and tasty. As for the wines (from the website Barolo di Barolo), it’s obvious as soon as one enters that La Cantinetta is a temple to Bacchus & Co., with shelves filled with a magnificent array of large bottles of Barolo, Barbera and Dolcetto d’Alba.

Osteria La Libera (Via Elvio Pertinace, 24/A, Alba, Italy ) is a modern. stylish restaurant in the center of Alba, the “White Truffle Capital of the World!”. Owned by the charming Flavia Boffa, a prize-winning sommelier who is also the first woman to be appointed as a truffle judge in the annual White Truffle Competition in Alba, the restaurant has become a centerpiece for anybody visiting Alba, especially in Truffle season! Chef Massimo Corso (whose waitress wife is the only English speaker in the place) is passionate about his menu of traditional and delicious Piemonte dishes in a sleek, modern style that complements the restaurant’s décor. Don’t miss the Carne cruda battuta al coltello (veal tatare –a local staple of the freshest veal meat served raw), the handmade raviolis, and the pigeon and, of course (assuming you have a bank balance to pay fore it) white truffles.

Italian families are renowned for clannishly sticking together and conquering their worlds. In 1998 the three brothers, Alessandro, Massimo, and Tiziano Della Ferrera, fulfilled their (and their mother’s) dream of working together in a restaurant close to their birthplace. After restaurant careers overseas, they returned to their home in Barolo wine country to open Trattorria La Coccinella (Via Provinciale 5, Serravalle Langhe, Italy ). They wanted to devote themselves to their passions, the wines and dishes of their native Langhe region. The three brothers are a remarkable team. Alessandro and Tiziano work the front of the house, warmly welcoming guests and taking orders. Massimo is the genius of the family. He has mastered and then added his unique innovations to traditional recipes from the Langhe area. Every season there is a new menu created around the best local products. During the mushroom season, of course, most dishes have some kind of mushroom component. But what mushrooms! Massimo is in love with his mushrooms.At the lunch he served us (among other things) Giardiniera with Chicken and Black Truffles,Carne Cru with Ovuli Mushrooms, Mille-Feuille with porcini mushrooms, Onions stuffed with Capocollo, Butter Pumpkin Ravioli and many more surprises.

La Ciau del Tornavento (Piazza Baracco, Treiso, Italy) is one of the culinary wonders of the world. Located in Treiso, a mountaintop village in the midst of Barolo Nebbiolo vineyards, the dining room offers spectacular views of the scenery from every table in addition to a large terrace. But the food and wine are the stars here.

The chef, Maurillo Garola participates in all parts of service, from cooking (rare in many Michelin star restaurants such as this!) to greeting each guest and even serving the dishes and the cheeses. There is an ongoing dialogue throughout the meal with him and the waiters about the preparation and ingredients on each dish. One sees the love and passione that goes into creating dishes based on local traditional Piemonte recipes but amplified by a vivid imagination and elegant presentation. The dining room was dominated by a spectacular display of the local mushrooms. Among other delicious items, our mushroom dishes included porcini mushroom soup with the blanc de blanc wine and sweetbreads with marsala wine porcini mushrooms and peaches. Other dishes included Risotto and fois gras chocolate and cow cheeks braised in Barolo wine cooked for 5 hours with vegetables and grilled semolina and sugar. And since it was the start of the famous white truffle season, the chef was offering a special truffle dish served in a wooden box (to preserve the aromas).

And the wine cellar! More than 60,000 bottles from more than 450 producers are displayed in racks on tables and even in “wine arches” on the ceiling. The selection includes, of course, the best Barolos and other Piemonte wines, as well as some of the top French labels.

Our time in Piedmont confirmed beyond any doubt that this is truly a region of wonderful wine, delicious food and spectacular surroundings, indeed, filled with passione.