Italy
Alba

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    • Day 4–8

      Lago di Orta to Barbaresco

      August 28, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F

      We enjoyed a beautiful breakfast on the terrace of our hotel, overlooking the lake. We drove windy mountainous roads that made us thankful we didn’t have any passengers in the back seat (cough, Davis and Dawson:) Explored a castle, took a few wrong turns, picked up some groceries and made it to our gorgeous place in the middle of Nebbiolo grapes. Our hosts own and run a winery. We will have a tour and tasting tomorrow with Marco the winemaker. We spent the afternoon swimming in the infinity pool overlooking dramatic castle topped hills filled with vines and hazelnut trees. JD is currently sitting on our terrace drawing, using the kit Dawson bought him for Christmas. We all know what a miracle that is. I’m finishing a book and then we are headed into Alba for dinner and to look into renting E-bikes in the next few days.Read more

    • Day 3

      Asti & Alba

      June 12, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

      Alle guten Dinge sind drei? Heute nicht ganz.🙈
      Der Tag hat bei milden Temperaturen um 8 Uhr beim Frühstück gestartet, wodurch auch die Windjacke zum Einsatz kam. Nach wenigen Fahrmetern konnten wir diese aber bereits wieder verstauen, da sich die ersten piemontesischen Hügel bemerkbar machten. Es ging auf und ab und auf und ab und über Felder und Wiesen. Nach rund 50 km fuhren wir dann hungrig in Asti ein und gönnten uns neben einem Teller Pasta auch noch ein lokales Gläsli Moscato d‘Asti.🍸

      Bis nach Alba standen noch 40 km an. Der Himmel verdunkelte sich langsam und die Strecke wurde immer schwieriger findbar auf dem Navi, so gabs auch ein paar ungewollte Meter über einen Acker…🤪 Nach der Kehrtwende holte uns dann das Wetter leider ein und für einmal kam die Nässe nicht nur von innen sondern geradewegs von oben herab. Die letzten 13 km waren dann mehr Pflicht als Wunsch, denn sie führten bei ströme dem Regen pfeifengerade aus - wenigstens konnten wir unsere Rennvelo-Fähigkeiten so einsetzen - Grend abe ond Vollgas!
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    • Day 7

      Barbaresco Day 4

      August 31, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F

      An early morning walk through La Vedetta’s vines and hazelnut groves. Breakfast on the terrace then off to the mountains. We needed some wild nature and cooler air and we found it. An hour and a half west we discovered waterfalls, hiking trails, cows with bells, and jagged mountain peaks. It was beautiful. Mountain villages with slate roofs, stone exteriors and bright flowers in window boxes. It was a perfect day! Back to our place for appertivos on the terrace, a swim, and headed to Neive for dinner at an ivy covered hotel near a beautiful church. Dinner was wonderful. As we were leaving we got word that the leak had been found. Turns out a 31 year old toilet might have issues:) thanking God that it wasn’t a main line or in the sprinkler system which would have been much harder to find. Off to see the Matterhorn from the Italian side tomorrow!Read more

    • Day 14

      Lago di Como

      June 20, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

      Auf geht’s zum Lago Di Como. Dieser liegt in der Lombardei und die Berge umschließen ihn sehr schön. Mit dem Öffi bin ich vom Hotel in das Zentrum gefahren. Sozusagen eine Hopp on, Hopp off Tour für kleines Geld 💰. Die Stadt ist sehr schön und lädt zum Schlendern und Shoppen ein. Leider sind meine Koffer 🧳 am Motorrad 🏍️ voll.
      Natürlich habe ich auch vorzüglich beim Italiener gegessen. Eine leckere Lasagne 😋.
      Nachdem ich heute morgen im Piemont bei zwei guten Freunden vorbeikommen bin, habe ich natürlich das passende Getränk 🥤 gewählt. Vorbeigefahren bin ich bei Campari und Aperol.
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    • Day 82–83

      Von Antibes nach Asti

      March 5, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

      Oh je das war eine lange Fahrt, über die Küstenstraße hat das Navi ein völlig wirr geschickt, über Nizza nach Monaco ging es gefühlt 4 Std. Eigentlich war Alba geplant, da es die Stadt ist, wo die Ferrero Fabrik ist. Mir wurde es empfohlen das man dort einkaufen kann. Leider nicht! Enttäuscht dann zum Stellplatz gefahren, der war zu 🥲 dann ein anderen rausgesucht, der war nicht auffindbar, da das Navi wieder irgendwie ein hin und her geschickt hat. Es wurde dunkel, in Asti auf einem großen Stadt Parkplatz standen WoMos, erst dazu gestellt. Nein da wollte ich nicht übernachten, zu laut, komische Menschen liefen dort rum. Da hätte ich kein Auge zu bekommen zum schlafen 😴 Es waren nur noch 5 km zu dem Stellplatz eines angeblichen Bauernhofes, aber die waren gefühlt 1 Std. Da das Navi dann mal wieder versagt hatte, in die falsche Straße gefahren, Berg hoch und runter ging es, dann waren die Häuser zu Ende. Dort stand jemand am Haus und er sagte, hier No Camping 🙃 dann sagte ich ihm das dass Navi hier den Standort beendet hat, somit hat er verstanden wo der Platz ist, holte sein Motorroller 🛵 raus und sagte, mir folgen. Oh Mann war ich froh, das dass Ziel nach 8 Std endlich erreicht war 🤪 der Tag war nicht meiner, denn anfangs an der Küstenstraße hab ich mir durch ein parkendes Auto 🚗 einer Französin, den Spiegel kaputt gefahren, da sie die Autotür aufgemacht hatte und ich in den Moment genau dran vorbei fuhr und mich mehr ausweichen konnte. 🥲Read more

    • Day 70

      Study gets serious!

      September 22, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

      Sunday, it was time to hit the vines . . . er, books. We we went to the Province of Cuneo and took a wine tour to wineries in Barbaresco (a town in, of course, the Barbaresco comune) and Verduno, in the Barolo comune. Our sommelier picked us up in a Tesla, and off we went.

      We were struck by the steepness and beauty on the hills. We’re very familiar with the wine country in Tuscany, famous for its hills, but these were much steeper. The vines were meticulously tended. It was a beautiful drive.

      The winery in Barbaresco was Piercarlo Culasso, a small winery (6 hectares, about 15 acres) owned by a family which had grown grapes there for three generations but only began producing their own wine in 2017. As a result, everything is clean and state of the art modern. The current operation consists of the father and three siblings. By themselves, with no employees, they produce 20,000 bottles of wine!

      After touring the pristine facilities, we studied their wine, tasting six wines, a 2020 Langhe Nebbiolo, a 2020 Barbera d’Alba and 2017, 2019, and 2020 vintages of their Barbaresco. We loved them all. The vertical tasting of Barbarescos was particularly interesting as we could study the different vintages and the effect of aging on the wine. Interesting, we felt that the 2020s, although very young, were more ready to drink than the older ones. The owner explained that the 2020 weather was extraordinarily good, just the right amount warmth, rain and sun, at just the right times. The vines had no hardships to overcome, which made for wines are ready to drink earlier, but less complex, perhaps less interesting.

      After our visit, we had lunch at a nearby restaurant where we had an outside table looking out at the vines on the hills, and studied some more, examining a Barbara d’Alba with our delicious meal.

      We then went to Castello di Verduno, a winery in Verduno. This was the opposite of the winery in Barbaresco; it has been in operation for over 100 years. Deep, dark, dusty cellars, a very traditional operation. They produce 200,000 bottles a year. We tasted a 2023 Verduno, 2021 Barbera d’Alba, 2020 Babaresco, and a 2020 Barolo. Once again, we felt that the 2020s were more ready to drink than the older ones. We lack detailed notes about these wines, by now we were getting a little, er, tired!

      We returned to Alba, to find that we weren’t the only students! It was the Alba wine fest. All over the city center the streets were closed off and wine tasting booths were set up. There were at least 100 booths, with two wineries to a booth. For €18 (about $20) you got a glass, a pouch to carry it in, and unlimited tasting. The crowds were huge, but with so many booths it didn’t look like there was much of a wait anywhere.

      The crowds were also very well behaved. Aside from some animated conversations (which you get in Italy anyway) it was fairly quiet. The next day we noted that the high school students going to school were much rowdier than the wine fest crowds.

      After wandering around the fest for an hour or so (studying the crowds, but not the wine) we were ready to return to the Roberto Sarotto wine bar to conclude our studies in Alba. We tasted the pure Chardonnay as well as the impure one to see how they compared, and a local rosé. We then got serious and tasted four more Barolos ranging from 2016 to 2020 and confirmed our earlier observation that the just released 2020 vintage had matured faster than the earlier vintages and was drinking very nicely already.

      The food served made this an apericena and we needed no dinner. We returned to our hotel satisfied that we had studied well!
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    • Day 13

      Barbaresco

      June 19, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

      Was für eine unglaublich schöne Gegend 🤩! Ich würde hier jeden Tag versumpfen. So leckeres Essen und eine unendliche Auswahl an Wein 🍷…auch Weißwein 😍
      Ein Betriebsausflug hierher wäre denkbar 🤔

    • Day 5

      Barbaresco Day 2

      August 29, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 84 °F

      Only vacation JD…I was awake at 6 quietly read. He slept til 7:30:) We went for a walk through the vineyards then back and made breakfast. Off to explore local villages-Barbaresco, Neive (our fave), Alba, La Morra, Barolo where we had a glass of local white-Arneis. Very nice. Back to our place to wine taste with Marco the winemaker. We were in their tasting room for an hour and a half learning all about the area, the grapes, the process. It was incredible. Headed to the pool just outside of the cellar and swam, talking to Marco’s mom Anna and sister Marta. They made reservations for us for dinner tonight and helped plan our next few days:) Love those two! FaceTimed Hannah and got to see the boys, though Burkey was sick:(😢Fun to see Stetson figure out who we were and respond to us. ❤️We just walked four houses down the road and had the most amazing meal. Hot days make for the best evenings to eat outside and walk. Thankful .Read more

    • Day 69

      We move to serious wine country

      September 21, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

      After Aosta, we bussed and trained to Alba, in the heart of the Piemonte, to study that area’s wines.

      Like any Italian city, Alba has a beautiful cathedral which we visited until it was time to begin our studies.

      Piemonte has many wonderful wines, some we were familiar with, others not. We focused our studies on the two main red varietals, Nebbiolo and Barbera but examined some whites as well.

      We started our studies at a highly recommended wine bar at a major square in Alba owned and run by Roberto Sarotto, a wine producer and promoter. A tasting of three wines, with food, was €12 ($13.33). Two wines was only €10 (10.33) but, as serious students, Karl and Leslie sprang for the three wine tasting. Each.

      We got to choose from a long list of local wines and started with whites: two wines made from the Gavi grape and a Chardonnay blend. We drink a Gavi at home, but these were somewhat different, with a lot more minerality; you could really taste the minerals from the soil it was grown in. Both were very interesting and we really liked them. We also tasted a Chardonnay. They offered two; a “puro” and an “impuro”. After we confirmed that the adjective “impuro” (impure) did not reflect negatively the wine’s morals or quality (impure just seemed to us to imply something negative!) but only meant it was a blend, we tried it.

      The blend was 75% Chardonnay 25% Sauvignon Blanc, which worked very well. The richness of Chardonnay, the crispness of Sauvignon Blanc. Not a blend we remember seeing before.

      We then moved on to the red grape varietals, Barbera and Nebbiolo. We had a Barbera d’Alba, a wine we drink at home, and three Nebiolos: a Barbaresco and two Barolos (our generous waiter brought us a seventh wine to try). All three were wonderful!

      Together with the food which accompanied our tasting, these studies made a great apericena!
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    • Day 8

      Von Barolo über Alba nach Asti

      June 7, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

      Nach dem Zmorge müssen wir uns leider von Kisslings verabschieden. Sie fahren nach Hause, da sie morgen einen Termin wahrnehmen müssen 🙋‍♂️🙋🏼‍♀️
      Also geht’s wieder alleine weiter, vorerst ins Dorf Barolo zum Weineinkauf und dann nach Alba. Per pedes erkunden wir die Stadt der Türme mit den zahlreichen Palazzi, den schönen Plätzen und den vielen Kirchen. Kurz nach zwölf meldet sich ein Hüngerchen, das wir in einer kleinen Osteria stillen. es gibt ein perfektes Menü mit Antipasti aus der Region und Teigwaren für 15 Euro 😋
      Da wir genug von Alba gesehen haben, machen wir uns nach dem Essen auf nach Asti, wo wir nach einer kleinen Einkaufstour kurz vor 16:00 auf dem Campeggio Cagni einchecken.
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    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Alba, ألبا, Горад Альба, Алба, البا، پیدمانت, Ալբա, アルバ, 알바, Alba Pompeia, Alba i Italia, Альба, 阿尔巴

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