Barolo

Yesterday morning, we awoke to clear blue skies after a week of dark, cloudy days with occasional bouts of sunshine. For the first time since arriving here, I saw the Alps in the distance, which drew closer as we headed to Barolo for a master class at Mauro Molino winery in La Morra.

The winery's patio area offered almost 270-degree views of the Barolo denomination.

The village of La Morra

The Cedar of Lebanon that is an iconic symbol of the Barolo appellation.

Our master class was presented by Matteo Molino, son of Mauro. His passion for Barolo was evident as he told us about the history of his family's vineyards and winery. It was a special treat to be able to walk down the road from their home and winery to see their Conca vineyard, then taste a series of made from grapes from this vineyard from vintages spanning almost twenty years.

Matteo Molino

Me in the Conca vineyard.

Matteo led us through a tasting of five vintages from the same Barolo vineyard.

After our tasting, we drove to the tiny village of Santa Maria La Morra, where Matteo joined us for a long lunch before we moved on to the town of Barolo for a bit of shopping and sightseeing.

French Tarte Tatin a la Piemontese. When I saw this on the menu, I had to order it.
I first had Tarte Tatin when I was a Mormon missionary in Tours, France in 1985.

In Barolo with the castle in the background.

We are now up to around 85-90 different wines we have tasted/imbibed this week, and all of us were feeling a bit "wine-logged" (not to mention food-logged) by the end of the afternoon yesterday when we got back to our lodgings at Marchesi Alfieri. But we weren't done yet: we enjoyed a light supper on the estate last night with two more local vignerons:  Daniela Rocca of Albino Rocca in Barbaresco and Alessandro Boido of Ca'D'Gal in Santo Stefano Belbo in the Cuneo area.

Daniela Rocca

Daniela, Suzanne Hoffman and Alessandro Boido