Back from Japan

Finally back from Japan after an amazing trip. Definitely a foodie destination! My taste buds were incredibly stimulated for the entire duration of the trip. I missed my wines, but sake did his job pretty well. More will come soon, but for the moment a few pictures of the trip!

Dumplings soup at local izakaya

Amazing pasta with uni (sea urchin, ricci) 

Bento box in the shinkansen

Best crab dish of my life at Asaba

Unagi dish (eel, anguilla) 

Lovely little appetizer with a special mention to the wild boar (cinghiale) pancetta

Some very jelly dessert (did not like it much)

Little fishes for breakfast

Breakfast Japanese style

Sake luxury serving at Hoshinoya

The smallest tomatos I have ever seen 

Cappuccino bear at TVB in Kyoto

Overall quality of dessert was to die for .....

Sushi counter at random supermarket ....

Shabu Shabu

Fresh wasabi 

Okonomiyaki, so yuuuummmyyyy!!!!!

Kuwai - small delicious potato

Dodgy street food

Dinner with our Japanese family....

King crab

Gyoza

Sake tasting with the amazing Yukari Sakamoto

Tonkatsu at Tonki .. tonkalicious!!!

FUGU ... but I survived ....

Market in Divonne Les Bains

Even on a freezing cold December day it is always a nice experience to come to this fantastic Sunday market in the border town of Divonne Les Bains. Despite blue skies and a nice sun, the sun's rays were not warm enough to heat the snowy ground and make the temperature rise a bit.

And it is great to come to the seafood stand and enjoy a platter of amazingly fresh seafood. On this occasion we had oysters of two different kinds, crab legs, prawns and crevette grises with a lovely aioli sauce on the side. The quality of the seafood is amazing and despite the frozen fingers it is still a great pleasure to be here and enjoy the atmosphere of this hidden secret. We took with us a nice bottle of Alsatian Sylvaner from Seppi Landmann - a charismatic vigneron of Alsace very famous for his incredibly age-worthy Gewurztraminer - that paired perfectly with our platter.

It was a lovely way to spend a Sunday morning. Especially if you arrive a bit earlier than lunch time it is so nice to have a stroll around the market looking at all the amazing food the different stalls are presenting: cheeses of all kinds, fresh vegetables, roasted chicken, all kind of salami, foie gras…if you are a foodie spending a morning at the Divonne market immersed in this typical French-village atmosphere is like being in heaven.   

Back to my first love....

Yes....finally after so much time I was back to my first love, the place that more than any other place made my wine and food passion start...the Langhe region in Piedmont.

Every time I am back here I have a feeling of peace and happiness that is difficult to compare with any other place, maybe also because to this area I connect very happy moment back in the years and as I said it is where I moved my very first steps in the world of wine and fine food back in 2004.

We arrived from Milano in the afternoon of Saturday and we left Sunday afternoon, less than 24 hours but enough to switch on once again my passion for this region.
These 24 hours were in fact very intense...we arrived in the village of Barolo in a grey but not very cold afternoon of November directed to one of the most expected cellar visit I did...Giuseppe Rinaldi. It is from some years that the beautiful wines from Rinaldi (Barbera, Dolcetto, Freisa, Nebbiolo and Barolo) are irreplaceable in my cellar and also the fame that accompany Mister Rinaldi was a reason to make the excitement and the expectation of this visit really high.

And I must say, expectation were never so respected in full and even completely outdated. I think spending a couple of hours with Mister Rinaldi it is an experience that every wine lover should have at least once on his life. Don't expect to drink lots of wine here, this is not the main reason you are coming (even if we did that and we enjoyed a lot, especially a sample from the barrel of the Barolo Brunate 2009 already in amazing shape). The magic of this couple of hours is all in hearing all what this fantastic story-teller has to say, going from his love for Lambretta (an old kind of italian motorcycle for who does not know it) to his passion for music, arts and of course wine. What an amazing experience. Together with the recent visit to Mr. Selosse I can consider this as one of my top moment on my wine travel experiences. The pictures that I posted does not do justice to the fantastic atmosphere of this cellar. As you can see no barrique in the cellar, only big barrels. Mr. Rinaldi is a very traditionalist Barolo producer and does not want to hear the word barrique.

After these two hours of pleasure with our hands full of cartons we moved to next stage of our mini-trip with before an intermediate stop in La Morra, beautiful village perched on a hills where you can enjoy one of the best view of the entire region in a clear day, and we had a nice bottle of Dolcetto from Cordero di Montezemolo in an enoteca in the main street of the village.

But dinner time is almost there, so we drove to the place where we will have dinner and where we will pass our night, L'Osteria del Vignaiolo . This place was originally a very nice and simple osteria that now has as well a few rooms upstairs, ideal for people that wants to have a nice meal with some good wine  without worrying to much about the driving afterwards.
After taking possession of our rooms with a big appetite after all the excitement of the afternoon we are the first to sit at the restaurant that will be anyway full shortly after. I strongly suggest booking much in advance before coming here both for restaurant and the hotel, it is becoming a very popular destination. You can understand that from the amazing quality of the food proposed together with a very interesting wine list focused on barolo and the rest of the langhe wines with lots of amazing producers.  There is a formula at 32 Euro (a steal!!!)  that includes two appetizers, one primo, one secondo and one dessert and this is what we will all choose. I picked very classic dishes of the region, Carne Cruda battuta al coltello (a sort of tartare typical of the area with an AMAZING quality of the meat), Vitello Tonnato as starter, Ravioli del Plin sage and butter as primo and a Stracotto di vitello al Nebbiolo as a main. Every dish was pure delight, I think this place is one the restaurant with the best quality-price relation I have ever been. Not happy with what we had we decided to share as well a cheese plate before the dessert. We choose two different wines for our dinner. For starters and primo we had two bottle of a lovely Barbera d'Alba from Renato Ratti a producer that has his cellar a few kilometers away from the restaurant and for our secondo we had a bottle of Barbaresco Riserva Moccagatta from Produttori del Barbaresco. A truly amazing culinary experience that I really strongly recommend. We went to bed after more than 4 hours at our dinner table exhausted but very happy.

Few hours later we were up again for a de-intoxicating run in the vineyards taking advantage of the unusual mild weather (more than 10 degrees already early in the morning), what a lovely start of the day! After that a short breakfast (included in the room rate) and on the road again to our new destination, Castiglione Tinella to visit the cellar of Paolo Saracco. Saracco is known to be one of the best Moscato producer and especially is Moscato d'Autunno has always a place in my cellar. After driving for more than half an hour up and down the hills of the region we arrived in the lovely village of Castiglione Tinella, surrounded by vineyards and with very nice view. The cellar of Saracco is in the middle of the village and it definitely has a very different feeling compared to our visit of the day before. First of all Mr. Saracco was not there, so we were not able to have a full visit with the "creator" of these wines but it is clear that in this case we are more in an industrial reality that produce thousands of bottles compared to the "artisan" Rinaldi the day before. Despite this we had a nice visit of the cellar accompanied by one of the employee of the company and a lovely tasting in a very nice tasting room with beautiful view on the hills. At the end the mother of Mister Saracco, a nice old lady that was busy cooking her Sunday meal (the whole family lives there) offered us as a gift a nice bottle of their grappa, a very nice gesture that we really appreciate. On a note it is right to say that visit are normally not accepted and it is not possible to buy directly from the producer, for us it was an exception.

After all these sweet wines our stomachs were ready to get filled again...so another half an hour drive and here we are in another of my very favorite place that I already mentioned in an old post: Cascina Abate. It is from years now that I come here but every time the enjoyment and the pleasure to have a meal in this magic place is always the same. As it is the same the passion and the enthusiasm that Giorgio (the owner) and his family put on making you feel at home and cook amazing dishes. It is difficult to say what is my favorite dish of the menu but the slow cooked (26 hours!!!)  Cosciotto di Maiale (pork leg) that you can see in the picture has always a special place in my all time favorite dish. And after another 4 hours lunch was already time to drive back home with the mind (and the stomach) full of great memories, great people and amazing food and wine.

Champagne

I let far too much time pass by before coming back to write on these pages. Lots of lovely things happened during these months and it was certainly a busy time. Many great wines have been tasted together with some lovely meals. But what pushed me to find the time and start writing again was our trip to Champagne a few days ago.

Such an amazing experience and such an incredible discovery of a world that was completely unknown for me until now. For me, Champagne was not even considered a real wine. It was simply a nice companion for some small apero before passing to his bigger red or white brothers with the meal. Of course, until now I just drank the most commercial Champagne, correct products but not really able to transmit big emotions. What opened my mind for the first time on Champagne was a Champagne Vintage from Pierre Peters from 1999 that I drank during the Christmas holiday in Canada last year (it is mentioned in one of my previous posts). That bottle pushed me to deepen my knowledge of the region and, Oh My God, what a new universe has been opened to me.

But let’s go in order. First of all the place we stayed during our short trip in Champagne certainly had a big role in my illumination on this new world. In fact, we stayed in the boutique hotel of one of the most prized and sought after Champagne producers, Mr. Anselme Selosse of the Champagne Jacques Selosse in Avize. It was never so true that we start from the best. The hotel is an enchanting nest where every detail is taken care at the utmost level of perfection. With only twelve rooms, the small size helps make you feel as though you are at home with friends.  The restaurant is amazing and we immensely enjoyed every lunch and dinner we had there. The menu is fixed, but on all three occasions we ate there we would not have changed any of the plate, even if there would have been the choice to do so. The staff were all amazing and the young chef working there was also passing by the tables to make sure that the guests were happy. The wine list is amazing with very reasonable recharge on the wines and with an amazing choice of small producers who are generally not easy to find on most wine lists. And if you just want to have a snack go for the Sardines Ramon Pena, which at first glance seems not a noble food, but I can assure you that these incredible sardines paired with a Champagne Brut Nature from Agrapart were one of the highlights of the trip. Eating at Les Avises is an unforgettable experience.

But as unforgettable as the food, also unforgettable were the tastings and wines we tried from Mr. Selosse. First of all you will be completely enchanted by the personality and the passion of Mr. Selosse. Anselme Selosse is considered to be one of the “guru” of the new generation of Champagne producers. This is particularly true due to his revolutionary ideas by which he has created a completely new perspective on how to produce Champagne. His basic principles are that to make a great Champagne you must start with a great wine for the base. Also his intervention are limited as much as possible because he believes that man should not have too much influence on the product of nature. His theory is that one of the most important thing on the production of the is the relationship between a healthy soil and the wines that comes from them. In the winery he minimises the use of sulphur and only uses indigenous yeasts for fermentation. Even with our poor French it was a pleasure to listen to his stories and his unique ways of explaining his wines. We had the chance to try his Version Original, one of his lieux dits (Ay) and the Brut Rose’. I will certainly remember this Champagne tasting as an incredible experience. We set a bar that will be difficult to surpass. Unfortunately the availability to purchase wines at the Domaine is very limited, and at the end I was able to leave with only three bottles, when in my desire I would have had at least three cases.

During our days in the region we also spent time also wandering around the beautiful vineyards. Champagne is a “strange” region, the scenery is not as dramatic as other wine regions (I can think of Chianti, Langhe, Rhone, Valais) but it has as well a certain beauty. We were a bit disappointed about the villages, Epernay is not what I would define as a beautiful village. Avize is nice but not as charming as many other little French villages. We also went for some other wine tasting in the area. However, I would say that while there are plenty of opportunities, you really need to have your ideas clear before leaving. Also, it is important to take appointments in advance and ask the vigneron if wines are still available to purchase at their domaine. For many of them (especially the most famous) rupture of the stocks are frequent and you will be disappointed if your target of the trip was to stock up with wines and you find yourself left without a single bottle. We had a very good tasting at a small vigneron, Laherte Frères, very generous with the quantity to taste and with a large selection. We were less lucky with Agrapart & Fils, also in Avize. Fortunately I found a fantastic boutique in Epernay (LE 520) where I was able to find a wide selection of the main Champagne producers and was able to stock up well before our return home.

Another great experience, and something I would suggest to everybody visiting the Champagne region, is a visit to Ruinart, one of the biggest and most well-known Champagne houses in Reims. In this case my interest was not only on the wines (that I anyway like and drink with extreme pleasure) but also on the visit of the Crayeres, the incredible underground world lying underneath Reims. It was an incredible and fascinating visit in this different dimension, full of thousands of bottles of amazing wines aging in their bottles and waiting their moment to hit the mark. It was a magical experience as well and I will let the pictures speak for themselves as it is difficult to describe with words.

Two Winter Lovely Weekends - Part 2

It was really a lovely weekend we spent in Cogne. This little hidden gem on a side valley of Valle d'Aosta in the national park of Gran Paradiso that does not know yet the mass ski tourism that a lot of other villages in the area does. Cogne in fact is renowned more for his natural beauty and for his cross-country skiing than for being a big alpine ski resort. In fact, downhill skiing is limited and that contributes to keeping the area calmer and more untouched. In fact it was one of the most relaxing places we have been recently.

This beautiful village has also some eno-gastronomic treasures to discover. We tried a few different places, but two of them has to definitely be reported. First of all, the restaurant where we had dinner on the Saturday evening, Lou Bequet, is an exceptional place to taste the delightful dishes of this valley.  I had as a starter a Beef Tartare (amazing quality of the meat) with a foam of Lardo and Thyme, really delicate and very pleasant. The real hit for me was my primo, Ravioli filled with Castelmagno (typical cheese from Piedmont) in a cream of purple potatoes and truffles. One of the best primi I have had in a long time; the combination of the flavors was just amazing and it was the perfect plate for the cold winter night outside (-18 from the car thermometer when we headed back to the hotel). I closed my feast with an exceptionally tender veal cheek braised in red wine, also here words will not give justice to the amazing taste. There was also a nice wine list with a lot of the local choice that normally paired well with a so earthy and tasteful food.

Another lovely nice place we found in the middle of the village the day after is La Cave de Cogne. This is not really a restaurant but more a wine shop with some seats in the back where they normally serve 3 or 4 different dishes each day. We had a lovely lunch especially considering that the couple that owns the place, Sabrina and Jun are lovely hosts. He is Japanese and is the chef. It was fascinating as well to hear their story and how a young Japanese chef ended up living in this small Italian village.  Wine selection is great especially considering the wide range of the local wines. To be considered also a nice selection of Genepy, the local liquor based on this mountain herb.

A bit about Valle d'Aosta wines now. Certainly Valle d'Aosta is not known to be one of the most famous Italian wine region but there are certainly some distinctive producers that are able to offer lovely mountain wines that pair fantastically with the local cuisine.  We tried a Fumin 2007 from a producer called L'Atoueyo that was really impressive for his complexity and drinkability. Fumin is a local grape that generates wine that could be really good to age for a long time and that will pair really well with game and aged cheese. Not easy to find considering also the limited production but definitely worth to look for.

I also have another very interesting wine, Picotendro 2009 from La Kiuva.  Picotendro is the name that locals are using to call the very famous Italian grape Nebbiolo. In fact this is the northern area of Italy where Nebbiolo grapes are grown. The result in this case was an extremely elegant wine that will pair fantastically with dishes not too structured and on my case it worked perfectly as a Sunday lunch treat.

I left the region knowing that I will be back soon; there is plenty to discover in this area and his beauty will be a certain excuse to be back. 

Two Winter Lovely Weekends - Part 1

Winter has definitely arrived in full strength here in Europe with temperatures that I do not remember experiencing since I was a little kid. So what better excuse to stay inside and enjoy a warm fireplace and  some fantastic wine and food with good friends?
Last weekend actually was not that cold yet, but the visit of some Italian friends in Lausanne gave me the excuse to take out from the cellar some good bottles to pair with some fine homemade food. It was a very "meaty" weekend with Beef en Croute on Saturday night and charcoal grilled BBQ burgers on Sunday as a main dish. So, we needed some powerful red wines to go together with all these meats and these are the great bottles we opened:

The first red was a curiosity that was sitting in my cellar from a while already. A Merlot del Ticino Vintage 1986 from an unknown producer that was given to me as a present from a friend, that I must admit likes good wine too. What to say, this wine left everybody speechless for his incredible integrity and amazing color; and after 26 years he was still not only drinkable but incredibly pleasant and the bottle was finished in an heartbeat. What a gem, would love to find many more surprises like this in my cellar. And definitely not expected from such an under-rated region as Ticino.

After that we opened a bottle of one of the producer that I loved when I started getting close to the world of wine, Tenuta delle Terre Nere. I still remember when we first visited this producer in the amazing surrounding where they are based on the slopes of the Etna, one of the few active volcano left in Europe. I always loved these wines for their warmth and elegance. I must say also this Etna Rosso Calderara Sottana 2005 was a fine wine but he did not give me the same emotion I had in the past, maybe also because this bottle was in the middle of two absolutely fantastic ones.

And here we are with the third wine of the night and for me the best as well: Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2000, Emidio Pepe.  Emidio is renowned to be one of the "sacred monster" of Montepulciano and this bottle confirmed that this is not only a legend but it is most likely the truth. Emidio is also famous for his extreme byodinamic and natural production approach with great respect of the "terroir" and maniacal attention to the quality of the grape (hand picking during the harvest and still pressing by feet) with minimal addiction of sulfur. And if this is the result I would love that all the wine will be produced like this one. Extremely complex with an amazing nose of cacao, cherries, and red fruit. In the mouth it is a bomb and paired fantastically with the beef. CHE BUONO.

But in the evening we have also some space for sweetness. To go with some lovely French cheeses we opened a Merlino, from Pojer e Sandri, so we passed from the center of Italy to the extreme north, close to the Dolomites. It is a "muted" wine, so a wine that has some alcohol added to stop the process of fermentation. The wine is originally from Lagrein, a local grape and it has some brandy added during the fermentation. The result is an amazing sweet wine that paired great with the cheese and could have still a long life ahead. Probably it could be an amazing wine to go with some dark chocolate as well.

As a closure of the Saturday night feast we had with a pear and apple crumble the Moscato d'Asti d'Autunno from Saracco. What I can say about this? I have had many Moscato in the past but never a wine that invites you to drink it as much as this one. The perfumes and the aromas are fantastic, typical from the Moscato grape but brought to a maximum expression from this producer that really know how to treat this grape creating such a magical wine.

After all these wines nobody was thinking that we could have performed well also the day after, but we actually did. With the burgers we needed some powerful and full body wines so we opened:

Ribera del Duero Reserva 2004 - Bodegas Carmelo Rodero
I bought this bottle couple of years ago in Madrid, and the first thing that struck me on it was how big and heavy the bottle was for a standard format. But after having tried the wine I am sure what I will remember will be the content and not the shape of the bottle anymore. What an amazing and complex wine and how well went with the burgers. The smell was amazing with coffee and toasted notes and in the mouth was round and fleshy with elegant and smooth tannins. I loved wines from this area of Spain and this one was one of the top I have ever tried.

After that it was not easy to keep up but I think that also the Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee' Exceptionelle 2003 from Domaine du Vieux Lazaret did his duty very well. This was a bottle that I bought at the Domaine when I was in the area and that was resting in the cellar from a few years. Also in this case really round and smooth and opened at a perfect maturity point. Exceptionelle as the name says.

The last wine was a bit of a disappointment, probably we should have opened it as a first considering that after two bombs like the first two for any wine could have been a problem to keep up. Frappato 2008 from Arianna Occhipinti. I had big expectations from this young lady vigneron in a difficult place like Sicily. She produces in total respect of nature and with minimum intervention on her wine; I was really curious to try this wine from a local and quite obscure grape called Frappato. It was well done but probably it turned out to be a bit weak compared to the two monsters that arrived before him. I definitely would like to give another chance to Arianna and I would do it at the first occasion.

We closed the drinking extravaganza with a beer from Baladin, a small beer producer from north of Italy,  the Noel.  This is a special beer produced for Christmas festivities that paired well with a fantastic chocolate. The proper end of a fantastic weekend of lovely food and wines.

A different kind of pizza

This short post is dedicated to a super pizza idea of V that delighted our Friday night. At the beginning I would not have bet a penny on it but at the end I think the result was fabulous.

The topping was roasted pumpkin, caramelized onion, rocket salad, goat cheese and prosciutto crudo. A combination of flavors that worked really well. Very good. We accompany it with a Slovenia wine, Rebula 2010 from Muzic, nothing really to be remember but an honest white.  In front of a roaring fire was a lovely friday night.