Ginestra to Serralunga as seen from le Coste de Monforte
Well, dinner was a hit last night. We grilled up two kilos of gorgeous, tender, and lean Piedmontese beef and paired them with grilled peppers, baby zucchini, and eggplant, along with a few billed potatoes, and those 1980 Giacosas I had mentioned.
| The 1980 Giacosa Barbaresco Santo Stefano had seen better days. Still enjoyable, the nose was a touch volatile and sweetly oxidative, though that blew off fairly well with air, though in the mouth the wines was fraying at the edges, revealing its acid and modest tannins through a sheer layer of aged amarena cherry fruit. The 1980 Giacosa Barolo Rocche del Falletto on the other hand was in prime, if mature form. A little funk on the nose did not detract and the wine was full and velvety in the mouth with some nice tannins still present. Rich with sweet cherry fruit, it lacked a bit of complexity perhaps but was delicious none the less. Call the Barbaresco 87pts and the Barolo 91pts if you're into that sort of thing.  |  Dinner started quite late, given that we were lunching until 4pm that should come as little surprise so we were off to bed quite soon after dinner so the three of us were limited tot he two bottles. A totally satisfactory second night in the Langhe! Today, Sunday morning, we were lead to believe that we might be able to catch an organic market in Dogliani, which sadly is on Saturday as opposed to Sunday as we were to find out. Not all was lost though as there was a big festival in Dogliani celebrating the media, TV in particular, and as part of the celebration there were the requisite table of produtti tipici, some organic, but all vendors that we had seen the previous morning in Alba. |
Truth be known we were not hugely interested in more shopping, or even food at that point so after a brief stroll through Dogliani, an attractive town worth a visit, we were of on a walk, or at least a drive to a walk.
We ended up driving to roughly the southern reaches of Monforte as it abuts Serralunga. After parking the car in Le Coste di Monforte we made our way along the marked walking trail down through Ravera,where one can find terrific views of Serralunga and Castiglione, Ginestra, Colina Rionda, and Cascina Francia among other notable sites.
We ended up driving to roughly the southern reaches of Monforte as it abuts Serralunga. After parking the car in Le Coste di Monforte we made our way along the marked walking trail down through Ravera,where one can find terrific views of Serralunga and Castiglione, Ginestra, Colina Rionda, and Cascina Francia among other notable sites.
Monforte, Castiglione Falletto, and Serralunga as seen from Ravera.
| On our way down to the bottom of the valley that separates Monforte from Serralunga we paid a visit to the dogs of Ferdinando Principiano and his vines in Ravera. There has been a fairly important landslide here, just as one approaches the Principiano property, and while that in and of itself is not terribly important, except of course to the Principianos, the same rains and flows of water have exposed this terrific tableaux of the striated soil of Ravera. It's a fascinating view where you can see the layers of sand and clay, as well as roots sticking out meters below the top of the profile here. Really a remarkable site. |  |
The valley floor here is but a few meters below the level of the wash, and afforded us a mild stroll until we came to the bottom of Principiano's vines in Boscaretto, which abut this of Giacomo Conterno's famous Cascina Francia cru. We marched right up through the vines in Boscaretto and then traipsed across Cascina Francia heading for the border with Arione, taking advantage of this great day to discover for ourselves this new acquired jewel in the Conterno portfolio. chronically underperforming while in the hands of Gigi Rosso, I expect that well see great things from Arione in the future. As you can see it's virtually an extension of Cascina Francia, though with a more southern exposure and as it forms a side of a little vale, with less movement of the wind so one might expect a hotter and perhaps more humid microclimate.
Cascina Francia in red, Arione in Green, and Boscaretto in blue
The day was warm, and as we started off on our walk around 11am, we were now in the hottest part of the day, perhaps pushing 80 degrees at times. We also foolishly started off at the top of the route, enjoying the descent and the light climb through Cascina Francia, but leaving as the final leg of journey a 300m return up to the car. Not a hugely enjoyable task, except in hindsight!
Monforte from Cascina Francia. The car is by the house on the upper left!
Then it was back to Montanello for a light lunch, and plenty of water, a bit of wine, 2001 Sancerre Mont Damnes Francois Cotat, with asparagus, and time enough to type up these few brief words. As the hour passes 5pm, I believe we shall begin to consider our options for dinner!
Our path in yellow, Cascina Francia in red, Arione in green, and Boscaretto in blue.
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