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Switzerland/Italy Trip
Wednesday, Sep 10
Last night we got the message that there was trouble at CRG. A strike in the commercial sector may seriously impact the next few months. Pat spent this morning emailing and talking with senior folks on Skype. It was very stressful. We stayed at the castle after breakfast, reading by the pool and checking email occasionally. Gregg and Deb went for a walk and then picked up some items from the nearby store for lunch.
Flowers in the courtyard of Castello di Sinio
At 3:00 we had an appointment to tour a vineyard called Cavallotto. They showed us the vineyards and explained that the southwest facing ones were for Nebbiolo for Barolo. We toured the wine cellar, which was beautiful and full of huge barrels.
Nebbiolo grapes ripening on the vine. Red wine grapes
will be harvested in October.
Some of the Barolo vineyards at Cavallotto
We learned why often there are roses planted at the ends of the rows of vines. It was a French custom. Supposedly the roses would give the viticulturists a heads up to prevent a fungus attack because the flowers are sensitive to fungal infestation and would show indications first. But it turns out this is a myth. Once the flowers show signs of fungal attack, the vineyard itself is already under attack as well. Now it's just a tradition to plant the roses.
Touring the wine cellar with Guiseppe, one of the owners
A row of huge wine barrels
Then we did a tasting. Our host, Roberto, was in the process of learning English, so we spent a lot of time trying to communicate. It was fun after a while. He'd stumble across a new English phrase, such as "right now" instead of "in this moment," and he'd repeat it to himself several times. We also picked up a little more Italian in the process, such as the difference between piccolo (an adjective meaning "small" or "little") and poco (used more as an adverb meaning "a little" as in "he was a little drunk"). Also the difference between "presto and pronto. Presto means "soon" or "quickly," while pronto means "hurry up" or "go ahead," and Italians say "pronto" when they answer the phone.
The wine tasting room at Cavallotto
Roberto attempting to improve his English
After the vineyard tour, we went to Alba to do some shopping. We bought hazelnuts and also some extra duffle bags to haul our wine and other purchases back on the plane.
A street in the shopping district in Alba
A little snack we ate in Alba
Later we ate dinner at Trattoria del Bivio. Bivio means "intersection." I had an appetizer that was some kind of light, creamy egg tortino (pie) and then ravioli plin for my meal. The ravioli plin was my culinary discovery for this trip. Delicioso! Pat did the menu degustazzione, which is the full 4-courses of the day, and he had rabbit ("conigliore"). We have discovered that Italian sorbetto is very good! Deb had a chicken salad for her appetizer that had pomegranates, also wonderful.