Excursion: Barolo

Kevin and I just returned from a two week excursion to Italy and France, which included, among many other stops, two days in Barolo, Italy.  Thanks to importer Joe Miretti, we were able to stay at the Hotel Barolo, which is owned by the Brezza family, the family behind that delightful Dolcetto that I wrote about earlier this year.  The Hotel is situated perfectly to overlook the picturesque village of Barolo and the grounds also include a lovely swimming pool (the only one in Barolo, it appears) and the Restaurant Brezza and Brezza tasting room.

Barolo is a small wine village of about 700 inhabitants, surrounded by hills of vineyards - gorgeous and somewhat remote (well, more so than, say, Rome and Venice, where we’d spent the earlier part of our week).  While we mostly relied on trains to take us from place to place during our trip, getting to Barolo required the service of a car.  We arrived in Torino late on a Friday afternoon, secured what seemed to be the only automatic transmission vehicle in all of Italy, and were off in our Mercedes A160.  Despite the merely suggestive nature of maps in Italy, and some precariously winding mountain roads, we managed to make it to the hotel in a little more than an hour, arriving around 5 PM.

What greeted us was a breathtaking view of the hills of the Langhe region, where Barolo is situated within Piedmont, with hill after hill covered in vines and the next two villages visible through the slight haze on hilltops in the distance.  Barolo itself snuggled before us, with its several restaurants, tasting rooms, inns and homes, one castle (now home to the Wine Museum), and a church bell that tolled the hour and every fifteen minutes in between.  Despite it’s very reasonable price, our room was large, with modern amenities and shuttered floor-to-ceiling doors leading out to a lovely balcony.

Though I’ve been told that there are several excellent dining options in Barolo, after dining at the Ristorante Brezza the first night, we just couldn’t resist going back the second night.  The homemade pasta was certainly the highlight, with light and angelic “tajarin” (tagliatelle), topped with meat sauce the first night and olive oil the second, and “agnolotti del plin” (tiny meat-filled ravioli) gracing our plates.  We had Brezza wines with dinner both nights as well, enjoying the deliciously fresh and fruity Langhe Nebbiolo the first night and a more complex Barbera the second.

Though we certainly didn’t have enough time in Barolo overall, we were able to spend Saturday afternoon exploring the Wine Museum, wine shops, and cafes along Barolo’s main street.  The best part of our visit, however, was Friday evening before dinner, when we were lucky enough to taste wine with Enzo Brezza, Brezza’s winemaker.  Our tasting started with a tour of the winery, where we saw the original barrel-vaulted structure, built in the late 1880s when the family first started making wine (Enzo is the fourth generation winemaker in his family).  This room is now used for barrel-aging, and the giant casks dwarfed my 5-foot frame!  After seeing the newer wine cellar, we got down to business tasting wines.

We started with the Dolcetto and Langhe Nebbiolo, which we were happy to have again.  While we tasted, Enzo used his detailed map to show us the vineyards where the grapes for each of the wines had been grown, and we snacked on thin, crunchy breadsticks and some of the best cheese we’d had all trip.  Then it was on to the Barbera bottles, more full and complex wines.  We chatted about Enzo’s winemaking education and the places he has visited around the world to make wine.  We discussed the design of the wine labels, which he has been revising.  Then, on to the even more complex Barolo.  We tasted two more recent vintages before getting to the crown jewel of our tasting - the 2001 Brezza Castellero Barolo.  This was by far one of the best wines I have ever tasted.  I couldn’t resist purchasing a bottle right from the source, even if I had to chance it home in my suitcase!

It was very difficult to leave the Hotel Barolo, and everyone in the Brezza family who had made our stay so memorable.  But on Sunday morning we said goodbye to Enzo’s sister Tiziana and hopped into our A160 to leave...but not before Enzo’s mother Carla gave us a bag of delicious hazelnut cookies to take on our way!