We spent the weekend out in the Langhe wine country, about 45 minutes south of Torino, and had a very special insider's tour of the La Spinetta winery from Giorgio Rivetti--owner and winemaker there (www.la-spinetta.com). He is world-renowned for his Barolo wines so Stan chatted him up.
The wine fulfilled its promise.
The girls entertained themselves out in the yard while we sipped and savored.
Giorgio had over 400 french oak barrels in his beautiful winery to age the masterful barolo grape juice. Each one costs over 1,000 Euros ($1400) and is used only once. The Piedmont area is famous in the fall for the truffles. We went to the town of Alba for the Tartufo (or Truffle) festival, my iphone camera battery went dead - so I only managed to get this shot of Claire and the mime on the street and not the truffle exhibition.
Overlooking the valley and river from the tower at Barbaresco in the Langhe wine country.
We managed to catch the tail end of a grape (uva) crush in the town of Barbaresco. We finally bought a car - well a minivan! Julia said she would never be caught dead driving a minivan, but, it is in fact very practical with seven seats, diesel engine and will suit us well for the coming ski season. Being in Italy, we decided to buy Italian - a Fiat Ulysse. We also bought a TomTom GPS to help us figure out where to go! I have downloaded the sexiest voice I could find called Sarah...
This is the entrance to the Relais San Maurizio (and our new minivan). Below is the grounds of the hotel and restaurant. The Hotel site is: http://www.relaissanmaurizio.it/eng/home.htm
RELAIS SAN MAURIZIO - from the Regione Piedmont web site
"Reborn in the Summer of 2002 after three years' work, Relais San Maurizio is now the only
five star resort in the whole region. Built in the 17th century as a Franciscan convent, between
Santo Stefano and Valdivilla, and later the home of Conte Incisa Beccaria, the building has
been painstakingly restored. The monks' cells have been converted into 22 bedrooms and 11
elegant suites, plus four lounges: one for musical entertainment, one as a library, one as a
smoking room and the last, completely frescoed, as the breakfast room.
The building stands in three hectares of botanical garden, which includes an imposing white
poplar, several horse-chestnuts, cedars of Lebanon and age-old olive trees..."
Claire finally lost her right front tooth - and yes, the tooth moose (not a tooth fairy as in the USA) managed to find us here in Italy.
This is the entrance to the Relais San Maurizio (and our new minivan). Below is the grounds of the hotel and restaurant. The Hotel site is: http://www.relaissanmaurizio.it/eng/home.htmRELAIS SAN MAURIZIO - from the Regione Piedmont web site
"Reborn in the Summer of 2002 after three years' work, Relais San Maurizio is now the only
five star resort in the whole region. Built in the 17th century as a Franciscan convent, between
Santo Stefano and Valdivilla, and later the home of Conte Incisa Beccaria, the building has
been painstakingly restored. The monks' cells have been converted into 22 bedrooms and 11
elegant suites, plus four lounges: one for musical entertainment, one as a library, one as a
smoking room and the last, completely frescoed, as the breakfast room.
The building stands in three hectares of botanical garden, which includes an imposing white
poplar, several horse-chestnuts, cedars of Lebanon and age-old olive trees..."
Claire finally lost her right front tooth - and yes, the tooth moose (not a tooth fairy as in the USA) managed to find us here in Italy. 
No comments:
Post a Comment