Petersontravels

While we were in Piemonte I reached out to our upcoming hotel in Turin to assist us with getting a Covid test.  I don’t think they really even tried, as I quickly got a return email saying “sorry, all places are fully booked, good luck!”.  Hell, at least Leslie from Travel Langhe called about 15 places and even took us to the “Legion of Doom” Hospital in Alba to try to get a test.  I think all the nurses there are German, or have the last name Ratched.

I checked the Turin airport, and found they have a testing site there, just for travellers.  A few minutes later, we had tests booked for the next day, the day before our flight.  Getting the test was quick and easy, and only cost 20 euros each.  Some places quoted MUCH higher prices on their website…taking advantage of people in need!  We were there maybe 20 minutes, and out the door with our negative tests.

If you travel abroad in the near future, I would focus on the airports if you need a negative test to come home.  Hopefully this stupid policy changes soon, at least for those of us who took the effort to get vaccinated.  Just like masks on a plane, this is an effort in creating obstacles to travel, and not based on science in the least.  We are all vaccinated, we are all just tested, so what is the mask for?

After the test we had to drive back into Turin….gulp.  I thought it would be easier the second time….damn was I wrong!  Those left hand lanes with no cars in them?  That’s because you can only turn left there….even though there is zero indication of that until you are at the head of the lane (the left turn indicator is actually the traffic light, which you can’t see from more than 50 meters away).  One little mistake took about 20 minutes to rectify…because I was then caught in a huge backup for a traffic circle.  God I hate this city!

Trying to find a gas station was next to impossible.  How do these people drive without gas stations?  Once we found one…we had no idea how it worked, and there is nobody there to help you.  Grrr….this short drive from the airport to our hotel turned into stress central!  At least a very nice young lady waiting to get gas got out and helped us.  I highly suggest you get gas OUT of town, before you enter Hell (aka Turin).  BTW, the gas stations appear to just be one pump on a street corner with no attendant.  It was bizzare!

After we checked into our hotel we had a few hours to check out Turin, and walked down to the Po river.  I’m not sure if it’s related to the Teletubbies or not.  You all watched the Teletubbies, right?

Adjacent to the river is a huge park, and with this being a Saturday afternoon it was jam packed with people.  No social distancing…no masks.  Things felt pretty normal.  One odd thing we noted was how much trash was left behind by people who were picnicking on the grass…it was everywhere, and pretty gross.  What is wrong with these people?

Our final sunset in Italy.

Our hotel, The Turin Palace Hotel, was pretty nice, and I can highly recommend it, despite their lack of effort to assist with the Covid test.  We spent extra for a balcony, and it was nice, but there is a really nice terrace on the top floor, so the balcony isn’t really necessary.  Still, it was a good sized balcony.

A sunrise view of the Swiss Alps from the plane.

On the flight with Air Dolomiti (owned by Lufthansa) the mask rules were pretty strict.  On the leg from Frankfurt to San Francisco with United, I think I wore my mask for about an hour of the 11+ hours on the flight, and nobody said a thing.

One more post to come covering the highlights of the trip, and things we learned about Italy.

We had a major travel day today…a ferry to Varenna, a train to Turino, and then a rental car to Serralunga D’Alba, in the Piemonte region of Italy.  This is the home of Barolo and Barbaresco, some of the most sought after wines in the world.  By the way, the train hit 174 mph today.  Smokin!  Also BTW, do NOT drive in Turin!  This is the worst city for driving I’ve ever been in, with people turning left from a far right lane, and vice versa.  I’d rather drive the wrong way in New Zealand for a month than drive here again!

The Piemonte region is incredibly beautiful!  I’m going to be using that word “beautiful” a lot again!

This is my kind of beauty!

We took a walk around nearby Serralunga D’Alba, which is a really small city with a 14th century castle in the middle.

This is the view from one side of our hotel room at Antico Podere Tota Virginia in Baudana, very close to Serralunga D’Alba.

This is from the balcony on the other side of our room.  It’s going to be a very difficult 3 days staying here with views like this.

The next day we were picked up by our super knowledgeable Piemonte guide for the next two days, Robert Alexander, from Travel Langhe.  Robert and his wife Leslie are US citizens who have been living in Piemonte for the last 15 years, and they are the perfect couple to plan your trip here.  Very easy to work with, not crazy expensive, and just super nice people!

Robert took us to our first stop of the day in Monforte d’Alba, Conterno-Fantino.

This is a top notch winery in the Barolo region, and the tasting was excellent, with a total of 6 wines.  The standouts to me were the Mon Pra, which is a 50-50 blend of Nebbiolo and Barbera…

…and the Barolo, which is 100% Nebbiolo, as are ALL Barolos.

I ended up picking up two of the Barolos…highly recommended!  While it’s a young 2017, it wasn’t anywhere near as tannic as I expected.  Their barrel room is impressive…no expense spared here!

Robert then took us on a tour of the little town of Monforte D’Alba.  We saw this huge bench, part of the Big Bench Community Project.  These are spread around the Langhe region, and those who wish to contribute to the local community can build one, with all proceeds going to the community where the bench is built.  There are 181 of these built to date.

Our afternoon wine appointment was with Alberto Voerzio at his winery in La Morra, another small city in the region.  First he explained his winemaking philosophy, which is quality over quantity.  Now this is a fairly common theme amongst winemakers, but Alberto is taking it to a whole new level.

For several years he has been dropping fruit during the summer like many high-end growers do, as this concentrates the flavors in the remaining fruit.  The downside is you have less fruit, and therefore less wine.  Where Alberto changes things up is he actually cuts the clusters in half, dropping the bottoms of the clusters, so that the top half is also more concentrated.

He opened 4 wines for us, and they were all truly excellent!

Starting this year, for the 2021 harvest, he has decided he is not going to press any of his wine, and will only use free run juice.  This is highly unusual, as he is leaving a lot of potential money on the table.  He’s even doing this for his least expensive wine (10 euros).  I can’t wait to try the 2021 wines!

In the meantime, I’ll have to settle for this 2017 Barolo.  Wow is it good!  I had to pick up two bottles to try on a few friends back home.  He said he imports to Petaluma, so I’ll look into that for future bottles.  In the meantime, these were only 45 euros each.

That night we had dinner in Alba, at the Three Michelin Star restaurant Piazza Duomo.  This restaurant is listed at #18 on the Top 50 Restaurants in the World.

It’s definitely in the Top 50 “most expensive” restaurants in the world!  Good thing Fletcher doesn’t want to go back to college!  It’s also got some pretty odd decor, including the weirdly pink walls and bizzare artwork.  Their special salad was gorgeous though!  You actually eat the salad with the provided tongs, like you are playing “Operation”.

Our overall impression was this is a good restaurant, and the service was impeccable, but we don’t get the rationale for three stars.  We’ve been to one star places that were better…hell, Le Cupole in Rapallo, Italy, which only has a Michelin Plate, was better…by quite a bit.  However, it was a worthwhile experience, so no regrets.  “Ocean” restaurant in Villa Vita Parc in the Algarve, Portugal and “Arpege” in Paris remain our two best meals…so far!

The next morning Robert and Leslie picked us up and took us to a nearby hospital where we were hoping to get our Covid test.  It just so happens that the day we wanted our Covid test was the first day that unvaccinated employees had to be tested in Italy or they couldn’t go to work…so every Pharmacy that previously had dozens of available tests were sold out for months!  The hospital treated us like we had the bubonic plague, so that was a no go!  More on that with my final post of the trip.

With the test unavailable in Piemonte, Leslie took us to a tasting at a Cooperative Winery in Barbaresco.  All of the local growers grouped together to create one winery, and their tasting room, right next door to the famous producer Gaja, is free to taste.  Gaja charges 300 euros/person.  Yikes!  The wines were good, but nowhere near as good as Alberto’s.

I ended up picking up a bottle of Barbaresco, as I felt it was the best wine of the tasting.

We then went to lunch in the little town of Castagnito, Trattoria Bric.  The link will take you to their Trip Advisor page.  This was the best meal we’ve had in the Piemonte region.  If you are going to visit this area, make sure you stop and have lunch here!  Their Plin, a type of pasta, is to die for!  Sorry, no photos, I was too busy gulping it down!  Here is the exterior.

They served some excellent wines.  Really loved this white wine.  Why can’t every label be this simple?

The red was even better!!  Got the thumbs up treatment!

Next we visited the little town of Barolo.  At a wine bar there he showed us the lay of the land on this cool color-coded map.  Each color is a specific region of Barolo.

Here we are looking down on the town of Barolo.  Beautiful little spot!  It kind of reminds me of the little villages in Alsace.

We then visited one final winery, a small family run spot.  The best wine of the bunch was one that ended up being corked, but Robert pulled us a new one and I had to buy one after trying it (without the TCA!).

A last shot of Neive.  I think that’s Neive.  Robert, correct me if I’m wrong.  Man is this region gorgeous!  Am I allowed to start that sentence with “Man”?  Don’t want to get canceled!

One more post to come, wrapping up the trip.  Hope this one wasn’t too long…or too wine geeky!