My first week was spent in the Piemonte region, which is in the northwestern part of Italy. I flew to Nice, France and drove to the place I had arranged to stay, which was just above Santo Stefano Belbo.
The drive along and then away from the Ligurian Sea was very scenic but a bit hazy. Turning into the mountains, the air cleared and the drive was beautiful. Eventually I descended into an enormous valley that defined the Piemonte (the region is surrounded on three sides (south, west and north) by mountains...only the east side going toward Milan is flat). After skirting the edge of the valley I turned into the mountain's foothills. It was those foothills in the southeast that defined the best wine growing area of the region and held the famous villages that I would visit.
The hills were spectacular. They were cover with either dense forests or rows of vineyards and they were topped with either small villages or large villas. There were some open field whose grain crop had been harvested and lay fallow for the upcoming winter but those only added emphasis to the enormous number of vineyards. I stopped along the roadside to look at the grapes. They were ripe and they looked ready for harvest. I assumed from all of the small tractors on the road that the harvest had begun. It was interesting to be cruising down a country road, speed around a corner only to come up to a little tractor slowly pulling a trailer which had very high sides and which was full of newly harvested grapes. I became less aggressive in my driving after a close encounter in one such incident.
I settled into my room, walked the property a bit and had a wonderful dinner, which I discussed in another session. My days here seemed to unfold something like this: a rather large breakfast around 9, a stroll around the gardens, a driving trip into the country, a very light snack, a return to the spa at the hotel, a short nap and a trip away for a late dinner. At the end it was a bit boring and I was ready to move on. During my week's day trips I did spend a small amount of time in Alba, a nice, small city, and Asti, a larger and not so nice city, and Torino, because I had to change some money. However, the vast majority of the week was spent cruising the back country road and enjoying small villages (paese in Italian). On one day I drove to the east through Santo Stefano and on to Canelli and Calamandrana on one day. Calamandrana was a very nice little village.
On another day I drove northwest through Valdivilla and Coazzolo, stopping for a walk in Neive, a rather picturesque village with several nice cafes. In Neive I took a coffee with a pasta and had a grand time watch people. Having a pasta with morning coffee is not eating pasta but it is having a sweet with one's coffee, usually filled with marmalade. I took that same drive on another day but extended the trip to include Barbaresco. That was, by far, my favorite village. It was quaint, pristine and had terrific, panoramic views. There were a few tourists but not too many. This paese might be a terrific place to spend some time, perhaps a perfect place to do some writing because of its quiet, out-of-the-way nature. I spend a fair amount of the day here and had a very nice lunch.
On another day I drove down Strada Statale 592, turned deeper into the forested hills and came out in the very beautiful and quite touristy small city of Barolo. It was an excellent drive along remote roads and arriving in such a beautiful place was perfect. Again, I took a coffee but this time without pasta. I had a grand luncheon scheduled in the nearby village of Annunziata to be followed by a wine tasting in the next village, La Morra. I enjoyed my time strolling about Barolo, making a note to come here on a future trip. Shortly before 1p I drove over to Annunziata. The osteria was a very quaint place with an excellent terrace overlooking the vineyards. The lunch, to be covered in another piece, was excellent and I lounged until my wine tasting at 4p. The tour of the winery was nice but the wine tasting was pretty average. By now I was ready to relax so I began my drive back to the room, this time taking a more direct and faster route.
However, my favorite day trip focused only on a wine tasting at the vineyard, La Spinetta. It was explained to me that the hotel would drive me to the vineyard and that the tour would be in Italian. I agreed with that and I was off for a day of enjoyment. I had taken a late and somewhat larger breakfast in expectation of drinking a bit of wine. I was not disappointed. Upon arrival I was greeted and introduced to three Frenchmen. They were a large part of the nine people in the tasting. There were two Swedes, an American couple and their translator to round out the nine tasters. The Swedes spoke no Italian nor French...the tour leader had agreed to speak both Italian and French...so they just stayed in the back of the tour. The American stayed close to their translator. Me? I stayed with the French. We had a great time. After the tour we were taken to a room where a grand table had been prepared with breads and meats and cheese and many wine glasses. The show, and it was quite a show, began with a tasting of Chardonnay, then Dolcetto, the Barbera D'Asti, then Barbera D'Alba, then Barbaresco, and then Barolo. The flow was to drink a bit, eat a bit and have some water between wines. It worked fine until the tour leader decided that we should try some better wines. So, we had a second and, in some cases, a third round of the Barbera's and Barbaresco's and Barolo's. At the end of the day I believe that we were all, with the exception of the American but including the tour leader, a bit drunk. It was great fun making sentences with a few French words and a few Italian words and a few English words. Who knew who understood what but everyone was smiling and clinking glasses. It was fortunate for me that I had a driver. The tasting had lasted for six hours. I was so happy to get back to my room and stretch out on the bed.
Fortunately, I was scheduled to leave this place after seven days. A longer stay might have done me in. Now I am off for Toscana and my role as a student. That story will, indeed, be different and will begin to unfold soon.
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