Italy: Part 2

[I’m currently cramming in the last of my school work. I know, I can feel your sympathy from here.]

We were on the bus by 9:30am the next morning to truly start off the tour. We were off to Romagna Sesia to visit Cantina Ca’ de Santi and Il Rubino. Why wouldn’t you start wine tasting by 10:30am? If that wasn’t a sign of things to come this trip, I don’t know what would be. In the super small town, we took a quick tour of the old cantina dating back to 1008 in the middle of a residential neighborhood. There are some really, really old frescos still remaining inside. From there, we went back to visit the cellar at Cantina Il Rubino and taste their wines. We feasted on an unending supply of foccacia, a large meat and cheese platter, some of the best risotto I’ve ever had, and a custard like dessert. Add in tasting 5-6 types of wine, and they don’t really taste. It was full on pours. We were able to purchase anything that we tasted for wholesale, too! This winery blew my mind with their prices. They started at 2.50 Euros. That’s an absolute steal. We picked up a couple bottles of moscato. It was hard to say no.

We transferred to Asti after lunch to check into Hotel Palio for a couple nights. There happened to be a huge market spanning several blocks on the day we arrived, and we were able to take in the city a little bit before dinner. There is a huge horse race in the square in September. It’s incredible to think that they ran these horses in such tight quarters all for the sake of bragging rights. We took the bus into the countryside to visit Cascina Castlet. Now the only way I can describe this place and the surrounding scenery is that it feels fake. It’s just that beautiful. Hillside after hillside of beautiful vineyards. We met the winery owner and one of the winemakers. We toured the facilities again, but at this point, we kept being drawn outside to the views. They were spectacular. We eventually started tasting, and they laid out a beautiful spread of meats and cheeses. What you need to understand is that most wineries like this in Italy don’t do public tastings, and they certainly don’t have wine clubs. Our interactions with them were purely the result of long standing relationships. To say the red carpet was rolled out for us was an understatement. We ate and drank and ate some more. The owner came around to our group, so excited that were were there, and pouring happily. At one point, she even deviated from her original list of things we were going to try, running into the back to pull out a bottle or three of Reserve that no one had tried yet. To top that off, we’re likely going to be the only Americans who were going to get to taste it. It’s never going stateside. It’s these kinds of special touches that peppered every single day of the tour. Words don’t even describe how awesome it was.

Thankfully, you can get some of their wines in the States. It meant we didn’t have to buy any to bring home. While we could have been content to go back to the hotel room, there was more to be had. I told you we were eating and drinking just to eat and drink! We headed back into town to go to dinner with the winery owner and winemaker at Ristorante Tacabanda, where a special menu had been prepared to pair with Cascina Castlet’s wines. This happened. A lot. This restaurant was special in that it employes mentally handicapped people. If I hadn’t been told that, I probably would have never noticed. We were seated and treated to a wonderfully cooked four-course meal that I didn’t have my camera for [it was way too dark anyway], but I do remember the most melt-in-your-mouth gnocchi and some lovely roasted duck breast among other things. I kept getting weird looks from my tour-mates for cleaning every single one of my plates, but when was I ever going to eat things like this again? I could workout when I got home.

The following morning gave us a few free hours to do as we pleased. We did the responsible thing and sought out a laundromat. It was a self-serve affair, and for 7 euros or so we had some clean clothes. The nice thing about Asti being such a small town, it meant little to no tourists. We talked to the other guy doing his laundry, and Andrew got to exercise his Italian hanging out on the sidewalk with some older guys. An old man from the shop next door came over to talk, and then several others who clearly knew the shop owner came up, too. In traditional fashion, they really didn’t want to converse when women were around, so I mostly stayed in the laundromat. We ended up back on the bus in the early afternoon, so we made sure to hit up a random bar in the square for some food. We let the server put together a mixed plate of food. A heaping plate of grilled veggies, pastas, and sausages appeared before me. De-licious. I washed it down with a campari and soda because I can. We took the bus up to two quiet little towns, Alba and Barolo. Both were virtually dead upon arrival. That’s what happens when you go anywhere between 2pm and 6pm in this country. It’s novel and annoying at the same time. There was an amazing wine museum in a church that we couldn’t see, but the views from the town’s walls were neat all the same.

We eventually arrived in Neive, another lovely walled town in the heart of Piedmont region. We trekked up the hill to the castle. Yes, the castle. That’s where the winery was. Why wouldn’t you put a winery in Castello di Neive? It seems like the most logical thing to do. The tour of the castle itself would have been cool enough on its own. The family of winemakers purchased the castle in 1964 and have been making wine in it ever since. They even utilize the old school machine-less technology to harvest a lot of the grapes for production. It was incredible to see. We took to the courtyard after seeing a few of the 18th century rooms, the in-house chapel where there was originally a hired priest, and the cellars. There, they let us taste a couple of their wines, and snack on some truly impressive appetizers–steak tartare with hazelnut oil, a couple fancy cheeses that I don’t remember the name but one had truffles in it, and some celery wrapped in lard, topped with crushed hazelnuts and honey. Every bite was absolutely decadent and over the top. A lot of people turned their nose up at the idea of raw meat and lard, but Andrew and I were the first to dive in. The crazier it sounds, the more I want to try it.

Again, after being sufficiently stuffed, we headed to a restaurant in Neive with one of the winemakers to eat another four [or was it five?] course meal with the wines. It was a beautiful restaurant, Ristorante La Contea, that was a originally a 15th century stronghold. Now it’s a restaurant with rooms to stay in. They decorated one of the elegant dining room with lots of white linens and roses. Things from the meal that I remember—a spinach-quiche like dish covered in a luscious white cheese sauce, a plate of meats, cheeses, and fruit, more duck, and a mousse topped with hazelnuts in a fried crust of some kind. The barbaresco wines of Castello di Neive were probably some of my favorite. The bus ride back to Asti was a quiet one. Everyone was stuffed and happy.

The following day we headed to Cinque Terre. The drive was a good two hours with beautiful scenery. How people slept on the drive, I’ll never know. The hills were the home of sporadic small towns. They cultivated grapes on what looks to be too steep terrain. They make it happen. It’s clear that the surrounding area is a few steps behind the modern world. It’s lovely. After a crazy van ride down to the bottom of the hill since a few parts of the road had been washed out from storms, we had the whole day free. Cinque Terre literally means five lands, or in this case towns. They’re connected by footpath, train, or boat—no cars. We were most excited to take to the water. What better way to see five really old towns in 80°+ weather, than by boat? After getting settled into our hotel, and grabbing a meal [foccacia, caprese, fried anchovies, pesto bruschetta, wine], we wandered through Monterosso [the first town, where we were staying] to get to one of the boat launch areas. We had made it in time for the last boat of the day. The ride was quick, probably 25-30 minutes, and took us to the last city in the stretch, Riomaggiore. All of the cities look similar—their old, boxy, bright colored exteriors perched on the rocks that jut out to the sea. Some had a beach. Others had only rocks. All were surrounded by beautiful blue water. The bottom parts of the buildings were hotel lobbys, shops, and restaurants. The upper levels were living spaces. The cobblestone walkways, bright colored flowers, and open patios and terraces were everything I thought they would be. We spent a lot of time in Riomaggiore just sitting around and taking it in. Because it was a weekday, things thinned out quickly. The last trains don’t run very often. We waited nearly 40 minutes for one to take us back. We had dinner at Ristorante Miky. It was a seafood centered restaurant that displayed its daily catch in the front as you walked in. The menu was small, focusing primarily on traditions of the area. The service was really, really, really slow. Hooray for good company and two bottles of wine. I fell in love with a lobster and shellfish salad. The bowl was easily 12″ in diameter, loaded with fresh greens, celery, fennel, carrots, peppers, and celery. The top had a lobster tail surrounded by a heap of shellfish. I have never had that many shellfish in my life. It was a messy experience, but each was steamed, juicy, and delicious. Cinque Terre wines were probably the least memorable of the trip. We followed it up with more gelato. Naturally.

[And I’ll leave it at that! We’re currently going through Euro withdrawals. We’ve gone for cappucinos every morning this weekend, eaten caprese twice, a half pound of prosciutto, osso buco and gnocci, went wine tasting, and polished off two other bottles. I’m ready to go back. Oh wait, I wasn’t ready to leave.]