What began with poor seat selection on my trip from NYC this year, damn you Delta, is off to a rousing start. After arrival yesterday we popped in to the new restaurant in Castiglione Falletto. The previous owners of Locanda del Centro have moved down to the former Terroir wine bar location of Fenocchio, a lovely sot with generous outdoor seating and a lovely view of La Morra and Barolo, if looking over the lower parking lot there.
The food was good, a decent but not great carne cruda and well prepared gnocchi with a light fresh tomato sauce accompanied by a lovely bottle of 2013 Bartolo Mascarello Dolcetto, nicely fruited, earthy, fairly complex and well balanced. The bottle was quickly drained between the two of us. After lunch I laid down for a bit of a nap. As I was trying to get to sleep a major storm rolled in, continuous thunder for three or four minutes followed by a deluge of 15 minutes or so, which quickly lead to a 90 minute nap of salvation.
The food was good, a decent but not great carne cruda and well prepared gnocchi with a light fresh tomato sauce accompanied by a lovely bottle of 2013 Bartolo Mascarello Dolcetto, nicely fruited, earthy, fairly complex and well balanced. The bottle was quickly drained between the two of us. After lunch I laid down for a bit of a nap. As I was trying to get to sleep a major storm rolled in, continuous thunder for three or four minutes followed by a deluge of 15 minutes or so, which quickly lead to a 90 minute nap of salvation.
 | Dinner as in Cissone, an agriturismo whose mane a failed to catch. Family style but typical salumi, excellent carne cruda, vitello tonnato and a vegetable flan followed by pin and tajarin before the wild boar and robot course were served. Too much food if overall quite delicious. We shared a table with Francesco Clerico organic winemaker of Bussia in Monforte. We drank through his portfolio, a lovely, lithe 2013 Dolcetto followed by a 2010 Barbera that showed a little volatility around the edges. |
| The real star of the evening followed with a wonderfully aromatic 2013 Nebbiolo that is a smashing by. Just a beautiful small scaled wine not trying to be anything but the all-purpose Nebbiolo is was born to be. This was followed the 2010 Barolo Colonello. A bit sweetly oxidative, and carboy on the nose, its a good representation of old school Barolo, but having been bottled just 15 days ago it is not really in top form tonight. Not bad for a first day. |  |
Day two is in some ways even better. Saturdays always are, when the start off with a visit to the market in Alba!
 | Organic cheese and beef, vegetables, pork shops, fresh fruits, a tables worth of bounty all to be transformed into many of the amazing meals we are to enjoy these weeks. Lunch was a bit of a slapdash affair. Fresh pea risotto with a hurriedly concocted pea pod stock and carnaroli rice that didn't live up to its billing, be shy of starch and very long grained, if toothsome. Paired with fresh tomatoes, green salad, and french bean salad we certainly made due. A few bottles of wine rounding things out made it all go down more easily. As did the wonderful company, Anna Savino and her husband Claudio and little one Nico, and Todd Tucker. |
Now, with little to do except wait for dinner, steaks and grilled vegetables, as well as a pair of Giacosa wines from 1980, I've taken the time to write up these modest thoughts, more to keep the mind active than to record anything in great detail. The weather is beautiful, without he forecast calling for more of the same. It looks as though 2014 is off to a good start here in the Langhe. A wet spring with some snow over the cold winter has laid the groundwork for success. let's see what the rest of the season brings!
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