Day 2 – Slept in a bit later and then slowly got out of bed and made tea and coffee to get us going. The day was very overcast and foggy but even through the fog we could see we were surrounded by vineyards. The town is incredibly small and quiet, except for the dogs barking and the church bells ringing every hour. We decided to go have a drive around and check out the local area and vineyard sites. The town of Sessame is located high up and surrounded by hills. As we were driving we were absolutely shocked at some of the vineyard sties that appeared to be straight up and down. Even Marcus hasn’t seen anything like this. These sites must be incredibly difficult to maintain and I doubt there would be any tractors capable of working on them. It truly is a sight to see.  After driving around for a while we headed into Acqui Terme to find a grocery store to get some food.  

 

 

After much research we decided a good place to start was the Enoteca Regionale in Acqui Terme to get some further recommendations. We went in for a tasting and asked the knowledgeable staff to assist us in suggesting some of the best wines from the area.  We purchased 12 wines, 9 red and 3 white to taste blind and see if we agree on the recommendations. The area is so large and incredibly difficult to understand (well for me, Marcus seems to understand okay) with all the D.O.C. and D.O.C.G classifications. Marcus knows he wants a fantastic Barolo but beyond that he doesn’t have any expectations of what he wants to buy, just the most incredible wines that best represent the region, which is why he tastes the wines blind. We went through and made a short list, the red that stood out the most was the Cantina de Nizza and the white was a Gavi. Unfortunately the short list on these 12 was very short which left us feeling overwhelmed and as though this trip wasn't going to be as easy as our last. 

 

Day 3 - Today is another cold dreary day, we are going to Cantina De Nizza for a tasting. After a half hour drive we arrived at a large modern looking facility. We walked through the warehouse to their tasting room where two cellar door workers met us. Marcus lived and worked in Tuscany back in his flying winemaker days and so speaks fluent Italian…thankfully. However I must admit I feel a bit dumb at times not understanding a thing going one. The only good thing is that Italians speak very animatedly and use there hands a lot, so reading some body language I can follow along to the general gist of the conversations. We tried all their wines…all the reds are Barbera, the Ceppi Vecchi (which means old variety) which is a Barbera D’Alba which was made a DOCG last year (for all you wine aficionados) and the Bacchebianche (which is a monferatto bianco DOC) which is a blend of Cortessi, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc all barrel fermented. Both of these wines are outstanding! Unfortunately the export manager wasn’t in and since it is Friday we will have to wait until Monday to continue the conversation. Feeling very hungry we asked where to find a good local restaurant to have lunch. We stopped at the “Two lanterns” for a delicious bite to eat and off we went to more tastings. 

 

 

After visiting a couple more wineries, which were not particularly exciting, we headed to Acqui Terme to look for a truffle. This is truffle territory and there are truffle festivals going on and truffle signs all over….just taunting us. We asked locals where to get the best truffles and there was only one place that was still selling them in Acqui Terme. We went in and purchased a black truffle that was not “fresh” according to their standards but fresh enough for us. We went back and Marcus (my personal chef) cooked us up fantastic fresh pasta with bit of local olive oil, finely grated truffle and reggiano. The thing I love about Italian food is the simplicity and delicate flavours, the thing I don’t like is the expanding waist line ☺

 

Day 4 – Marcus was up first thing doing some research and finding more details on some wineries that were recommended to us. With a list of addresses and GPS locations we headed off. The frustrating thing about doing business in Europe is that business shut down from 12:30 – 3:00 every afternoon for lunch and naps. So we have from 9:00 – 12:30 and then from 3:00- 6:00 to get the tastings done. We stopped off at 6 different wineries and not ONE was exciting enough to consider. I am tired, my mouth is raw from overly tannic wines and it is time to call it a day.

 

 

Day 5 – It is Sunday today and since we are in Italy (which is predominately Catholic) businesses are closed. We wake up to pouring rain and I mean torrential pouring rain, which didn’t let up all day. We decided to have a couch potato day, which we don’t’ do very often - which is a good thing. By the end of the day we were all grumpy, bored and stir crazy from sitting around. It is good that all three of us are very active and like to be busy. Later in the afternoon when Jasper literally started crawling the walls, we sent him outside in his wellies to splash and roll around in the mud and puddles. He thought this was the best thing ever. I have had enough sitting around today to last me a couple months and I am looking forward to going to Barolo tomorrow!

 

 

Day 6 – Today we are heading to the famous region Barolo – this region is one of the main reasons Marcus chose to come to Piemonte in the first place. The vines are all so old as well as the estates. The town is very beautiful and just how you would imagine it 500 years ago. We stopped in the Barolo regional wine store to get some recommendations and taste through some wines. After an informative tasting we left with a map and are on our way to taste more of these world famous wines.

 

 

Some of the wineries have tasting rooms right in the main town so we decided to start there. We stopped into a couple of the tasting rooms and the wines were okay – not great. We decided to do one more tasting before heading out in the car. By this time it was lunchtime and businesses were closing down for their afternoon naps.  We stumbled upon Virna tasting room and decided to check and see if we could still get a tasting. We unfortunately disturbed an older Gentleman, the owner Lodovico Borgogno, who was having his afternoon glass of wine and rest. He gave us a bit of background on his winery and showed us some pictures of him as a young boy with his father, who was also a winemaker on the property.  He then sent us over to the winery that his daughters’ currently operate. We arrived at the winery and were greeted by his daughter who spoke English very well. We were in shock at what we had found – absolutely incredible wines! This is what Marcus’s was waiting for! We asked to meet the winemaker, who was the other daughter Virna, this is a woman her knows her way around the winery!  

She continued the tasting and then took us through her winery and operation.  Marcus got straight to business and started talking about buying this wine and they too were excited to work with us. The Borgogno family have been running vineyards in the area since 1720 and are one of the oldest families in the area.  Today has been a great day, and we have found one of the best wines out there!

 

 

Day 7 – It will be hard to follow up yesterday’s wine and experience but we still have some more work yet to be done. Marcus has lined up several appointments so we have a busy day ahead of us. We headed out early again GPS and maps all set to go. Most of the appointments we had were disappointing – although everyone is very nice, the wines have been average at best. We headed to our last appointment at Noceto Micholotti expecting the same – luckily we were wrong!

 

The property is beautiful rolling vineyards and spectacular views.  The winery is very modern and situated to enjoy the surrounding scenery. The winemaker greeted us and gave us a full tour of the winery and cellar letting us sample current vintage wines still fermenting as well as barrel samples of previous vintage reds not yet released. We were really impressed by his immaculate winery and incredible wines. We were excited to try his current vintages hoping they would live up to what we just sampled – and they did! This winery was a Barbera and Moscato specialist, and made incredible examples of both styles. We stayed long after the sun went down and left very excited about yet another great find. All is well that ends well! 

 

Day 8 - Today we are going back over to Cantina De Nizza (CDN) to meet with the manager. Fortunately it was a beautiful day and the sun was shining and we could actually see the Alps in all directions from the house we are staying at in Sessame. It really is a spectacular sight.  We arrived at CDN first thing and spoke with Arturo about the wines we were interested in, and about the possibility of exporting them to Canada. They were very excited to work with us as well. We tasted all the wines again, which confirmed the two that we love and then went through and had a full tour of their impressive winemaking facility.  

 

 

After a successful morning we headed to lunch. We ended up in a very traditional Italian restaurant with a set menu. The food was amazing – roasted meat cart, fresh pastas and bread, incredible old (and smelly) cheeses, delicious wine, what more can you ask for? To top it off the bill was cheap – nice change for Europe! We asked our waitress where a good local spot to buy a fresh white truffle is and she pointed across the street to a tiny little store. We walked over and asked about the truffles. The owner nodded conspiratorially and went out the back.  A couple of minutes later he came in with a few Tupperware containers filled with truffles of all shapes & sizes.  It turned out that he was a truffle hunter and had found the little gems with the help of his dogs. We decided on a medium sized one that cost approximately 50 Euros. It smelled amazing – however Jasper did not agree. The smell was so potent, that the entire rest of the day whenever we opened the car door the smell of truffle wafted out and Jasper said the smell made him feel sick. Next, we decided to use the beautiful day to take pictures and ventured off to Barolo to a beautiful old castle, surrounded by vineyards and the most spectacular view of the valley below.  We stayed until sunset, which was beautiful – today has been a fantastic day!

 

 

Day 9 – Last night we decided to sample each of the wines we were interested in before confirming orders. Marcus is very picky and doesn’t make any exceptions when it comes to the wines. It might seem like an easy process tasting tons of wine and touring around – although we love our jobs it is very difficult. Sometimes finding the wines that meet Marcus’s high standards is like finding a needle in a haystack. When he does find a wine he loves, he has to think hard about each wine, taste them several times, make his notes and scores before he can get truly excited about them. Every once in a while he finds one that is so impressive he knows right away he must have that wine – that was the case with the Virna Barolo. Marcus is extremely excited about all the wines he has selected and today we spent the day on the phone confirming orders and getting the 3-4 month long process moving to get the wines to Canada.  We haven’t seen the sun much since arriving in Piemonte so I am hoping for a sunny day before we head home to finish up taking pictures.

 

Day 10 - Well surprisingly I got my wish and we woke up to a bright and sunny day. We are off to meet with all of our producers one last time and finish up taking pictures and finalizing orders and paperwork. We are again working with amazing, passionate winemakers whose hard work is apparent in every glass of wine! We hope you all enjoy this incredible offering! Cheers! Rachel