Day 4

Today is another Slow Tour this time to the Barolo Hills – no more early starts! Took breakfast at the Hotel and caught the bus at the station. Although it was Sunday the buses still seemed to come just as frequently. Today it did not seem so difficult as I was half aware of the form. I found a bus just outside the Salone although it wasn't a very grand bus and there were the ladies with the register- so all aboard. Again there were about 15 or sixteen of us and the last ones to arrive were the Australian gentleman and his lady. Apparently they had driven into the city and taken the wrong turning on the motorway so had to go 10Km before they could turn around to correct their mistake. Today there is a second bus for another tour and the Japanese party are boarding that one. Our guide introduced herself, Louisa, she was quite a good English speaker and was a cheery sort of person. Off we went down the foggy motorways again but this time the journey took little more than an hour and we arrived at a small cafe on the edge of the car park in Barolo.

From the cafe we took a short walk through the village/town to the museum which was situated at the top of a small hill in an old castle. Most of the fog lifted leaving a nearly sunny day.

The Museum was in a castle opposite this church or should it be these churches. We were early so there was a wait until the staff arrived.

The museum housed the artefacts and remains of an old local dynasty and here you see one of the dining rooms.

The museum guide spoke English and she took us round showing the points of interest and the milestones in the rise and fall of the fortunes of the family. The bit that I found interesting were all of the ancient wine making tools and the bits and pieces that they had developed over the years in order to perfect the production of their local wines.

After the tour we were directed to the shop!

As we walked up towards the museum we passed this house and garden.

Obviously the roof garden has a canopy during the hot weather and you may enjoy whatever breezes that are about as you lie in the sun.

Meanwhile down below they have a very productive vegetable patch which even in its shaded position still appears to produce bountiful crops.

The early mist had largely dissipated and here you can see the rolling hills all covered with vines. Here the vines are laid out along the contours of the hills whereas in other parts of the continent the practice is to plant the vines up and down the slopes.

Apparently the autumn fogs are part of the ripening process of the grapes and when the fogs come picking time will not be far away.

Here you see another church and the cluster of the houses to the hill sides with the roads winding tortuously between them.

I did not notice any significant development of housing estates either here or in the Ossala mountains.

Our next port of call was to the cantinas of Marchesi di Barolo where the internal car park was full of very fancy cars -Ferraris etc. Here we were supposed to get a tour of the cantina and a wine tasting. In theory we got both but in practice the cantina guide was trying to do too many things at once and the wine tasting did not amount to much. Most of it was served far too cold.

The cantina used old and new methods and here you see some of the normal wooden barrels in which they make the wine.

Here in another section you see where they are using stainless steel vats.

The little blackboard is the record of the contents of the barrel.

I am surprised that the end of the barrel is varnished as their must be some risk of the varnish tainting the wine.

Apparently the insides of the barrels are scraped periodically to remove residues. In order to do this a man enters the barrel through the little trap at the foot of the picture.

At the end of this visit we were exposed to the shop and then bused away for lunch.

The Osteria della Rosa Rossa in Cherasco. We were ushered into a back room where we took up two large tables and a third even larger table was taken up by another party. The front of the premises had smaller tables accommodating 4 to six people.

This was a significant lunch and my report may be a little disjointed. First a list of the wines in the sequence in which they were served – I did not record what went with what and there is no hope of remembering!

A 'Cesarino Brezzo', a 'Roero Arneus', a 'Brezzo St Stefans Roero' which is marked as a very nice white, and a 'Dolcetto d Alba Verduno 2002'. All of these wines were very nice even the first one and the last one. The hardier members of the party went on to liqueurs and things but I am afraid that I do not have the capacity.

The first course was a slice of Rabbit Terrine with lots of salad vegetables. The vegetables seduced me – so did the taste – so I had two. I later established at the Salone that rearing rabbits to eat was a local industry in the Barolo district. These could well have been the progeny of the rabbits that the Romans and The Monasteries brought to this country. The carcases were quite large and meaty.

The next course was a sausage that had been boiled or poached in a thick sausage skin similar in some respects to a haggis. The sausage was about 1½ inches in diameter and the meat was a bright pink colour. This was served in a creamy sauce with cauliflower floret particles running through the sauce. A loud large American lady who claimed to have Sicilian ancestry rattled of the ingredients but when I pointed out that she had forgotten to mention the cauliflower she became more civilised. The sauce contained cream and potato with other herbs and seasoning as well as the cauliflower. At great personal sacrifice I restricted my intake to one portion even though it was delicious.

The next course was a – here I must describe its construction because I do not know what to call it. It was a Crême Caramel without the Caramel but made with a mixture of cooked Sweet Peppers and spices mixed in with the Crême. Again I made an heroic effort and restricted myself to one portion only.

The next course, now remember that it is rude to count, was an Arborio Rice with a Tomato sauce and Snails it to was exceedingly good and I think that this is the first time that I have had garlic free Snails.

The next course was a Tagiatelle with a tomato sauce and pieces of Sausage running through it. Here I was served a portion by one of my travelling companions and I did have a little more than I would have chosen. It was nice and mother always said if you don't eat it up you will get it for your breakfast.

Now it was the chance for the diners to choose. There was Veal casserole, Veal tails, or cheese. Two ladies asked for cheese and they were each served with a twelve inch plate around which were eight different cheeses and each piece must have weighed 3 to 4 ounces.

The gentleman next to me, the Australian Beef Farmer, had chosen Veal tails and these looked quite nice but judging by the size of the sections they were pretty big calves. I chose veal casserole and this was served with sprouts and a cauliflower sauce. It was very tasty but again as in the Ossala restaurant it appear to have been flavoured with 'gravy salt'.

There was no significant waiting between courses and the whole room was cared for by only two waitresses who also coped with the wine which flowed generously.

The last course, and here I must confess I could not eat it all, was a whole pear coated in a thick tasty syrup accompanied by two squares of a sort of fudge. The first was a chocolate fudge with an almond flavoured sauce and the second was a chestnut fudge with a persimmon sauce. I tasted each and that was it. I could not touch my toes until bedtime.

The hardier members of the party continued with the digestifs of 'Cascino Ca Rossa' and 'Langhe Nebbolis'.

A short walk through the town bought us to an emporium called Pasticcera Barbero. Here they made chocolates but they started with the beans. I could only gaze in wonder. It was a lovely old shop with all of what must have been the original wooden panelling and fittings. While we were there they certainly did a brisk trade not only from us but also from a continuous stream coming into the shop.

From there it was back on the bus to Turin. The end of day 4.