Bike races have been in Italy and all over people have been anticipating their arrival. We also prepared as they came through Rapallo. Afterward we head to Piedmont which is an hour drive from Rapallo. The countryside was just beautiful or shall I say breath taking. I now have a better understanding of where Barolo comes from. Made from Nebbiolo grapes you get Barolo only from Barolo and Barberesco only from Barberesco. Raffaele said that Barolo and Barberesco used to have a contest in years past to see who made the best wines. We traveled through Asti where only Asti Spumante comes from. Finally we arrive at Tenute Carrutte a very large operation where they make Gavi, Rorero Arnese, Barbereeco, Barolo, Barbera Superiore,and Muscato. The proprty houses a small textile business, a restaurant, rooms for rent for the night, they also do weddings on the property.
From the top of the hill all you see are vineyards and vineyards of grapes. We tour the wine cellar, and learn how they store the grapes on the side to the bottling of the wines. Next is the aging room. I have never in my life seen an oak barrel these sizes. Of course as I am curious, I asked how many bottles that barrel will produce and his answer to me was 7,000 bottles!
We enjoy some wines paired with lunch. First we start of with the Gavi wine then we go into the Arneses served with vitello tunato, then we get a Barbera Superior served with a taglioni in a spicyy sausage sauce. Dessert was a chocolate bundino paired with the Muscat wine.
We travelled to a small mid evil town in Barolo, where an old castle was turned into a restaurant and an enoteca where they sold artisan food products and of course more wine. Down the road we travelled to a little town, Oscar Farenettis Barolo Borgogono. What a beautiful little place with a spectacular view. And our final stop of the day was a town called La Modenna. Again another climb to the top of the hill and oh what a view! There are no words to put this all in perspective. The gods smiled down on this country. Back to Rapallo for dinner.
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