A Tale of Two Wine Tastings

Viva il vino!

I'll drink to that.

I've been talking about the creation of our local wine road featuring the wines of the Provincial of Torino off and on for over a year. It's been an exciting prospect for a variety of reasons, none the least that it will bring greater recognition to this area for it's wine naturally, but the knock on effect is that we continue to meet a lot of interesting people in connection with this project, and discovering much about the wine of our mountains and plains. That is always a bonus.

The Strada Reale dei vini Torinesi (Royal Route of Torino Wines) project kicked off over a year and a half ago and now seems to be chugging along. The Provincia very generously decided to offer, a series of wine tastings in a series of settings around our large province. The goal being to help familiarize our local wines to anyone interested and involved in and around the tourist and wine industry, free of charge, I might add. What a wonderful undertaking.

The first couple of tastings were in our Museo del Gusto in Frossasco (site only in Italian in spite of the English flag) with Marco Di Sabatino, the director of this project and a knowledgeable and passionate sommellier from Torino. He entertained and educated us about our local varietals of grapes and wines some with the more familiar names of Barbera, Dolcetto and Nebbiolo, and the more unfamiliar, if you're not from here I might point out, with names like Ramie, Freisa, Doux d'Henry, Malvasia and Erbaluce that have evolved and adapted to thrive in our mountains and plains of our section of Piedmont. The names also have a French sound to them, reflecting the time when we were a part of France and now, are the border between Italy and France, highlighting that these arbitrary lines blur over time and reflect the more natural borders of the mountains and rivers. These local Piemontese varieties highlight the characteristics of the soil and weather that come together to make up the bouquet of these wines and reflect the local preferences for lively wines that are oftentimes mistaken for inferior quality. As an American who has not grown up with drinking local wines, who came late to the table and grew fond of the full bodied wines with lots of oak, that are so prominent in our California wines, I can fully appreciate making this mistake.

I know my preferences and openness to sparkling red wines and the more subtle flavors of the reds and whites of this area has evolved and matured over the time that I have lived here. It takes an open mind and sometimes a bit of time and exposure to appreciate wines and flavors that we are unfamiliar with. I know I wasn't a fan of cilantro/coriander, the first time I encountered it when I moved to Colorado, but over time and actually a short time I grew to love it and now make sure to grow it here in my garden to enjoy it in a completely different setting. Local wine here have been much the same. My palate has come to enjoy and appreciate a greater variety of flavors and some of that comes from time and settings. Having someone explain and point out a variety of elements of what is in and underneath what one is tasting is an enlightening and liberating experience.

It helps to keep sipping to work on expanding your palate!

Our second tasting was in Andezano at the Azienda Balbiano a town behind Torino's hillside border and a winery that was established back in the 40's by our President of out Torino Wine associations father and his family today. It is an extremely charming cantina with a wonderful tasting room that will cool you off and quench your thirst on a hot sunny day. The family has added a small museum of toys in one end of the cantina and there is a wonderful fire place with comfy couches surrounding it, making a visit a wonderful winter destination as well.

All in all, the two contrasting locations of an old fashioned cantina full of wonderful antiques and winery artifacts and the sleek modern tasting laboratory of the Museo del Gusto made for a fitting contrast between the reds and whites of this provinces offerings. I highly recommend that you come here yourself and discover another range of Piedmont wines that reflects the character and personality of the Turin Province wines and it's people.

Strada Reale meets Museo del Gusto

We have been enjoying a variety of launches of several recent exciting projects that will continue to place Val Chisone on the map for it's wine and cuisine. It's also an opportunity for our local artisan producers to reach a larger audience and encourage tourism in our part of Piedmont. Last year our Torino/Turin province, initiated a project creating a wine road in our entire province to highlight all of our local wines. We enjoyed the inauguration of that effort a couple of weeks ago in Torino. Thus Strada Reale Dei Vini Torinesi, (site in Italian only) or the Royal Torino Wine Road, was born, with a lot of speeches and some sampling of the goods, which I must say, made the speeches more palatable. It's an exciting addition to the touristic promotion of our area, and is now, a reality.

Hot on the heels of this presentation were two more, that were even closer to home over in Frossasco, an old Roman town, home to Museo del Gusto, a unique museum dedicated to the history of food down through the ages. It is also home to our friends, the Dora family, of Dora Vini winery, where they produce their Pinerolese wines. The first, saw the opening of the "Bottega del Vino"in the Museo del Gusto. Most of the Strada Reale far flung wineries of our Torino Province are represented there, making it possible to pick up a few bottles in one place. The Museo del Gusto, now is a "must stop" point on the wine lovers itinerary. True to Italian tradition, it's not only about the wine. You must have food to round out your experience, especially if you find yourself at a museum dedicated to food. They have added in a sampling of Paniere products, which are some Torino provinces unique and highest quality producers of local specialties. You can see a sampler package, that Eataly has put together. We use some of the products here in our "Cooking Together" sessions. Some of our other friends products are there as well, Difinello Coffee and Bernard liqueurs, to name a couple.

The most interesting evening to me personally was the presentation of the movie "Inverno" by Andrea Fenoglio and Diego Mometti, the first chapter in a series of "Landscapes of the World", an attempt to supported by Carlo Petrini and Slow food. It is an attempt to explore the return to the cultivation of the land through practices that does no harm, and all of the inherent obstacles and benefits. I found the black and white film intriguing, haunting and ultimately troubling. It was filmed in February completely in the Pinerolo area. During this time period the landscape is as stark as the words of the people who cultivate and nurture the old ways of food production. Methods that have been squeezed out along the way with progress. Images of a man plowing his field along side of a road on which the other side was a wall of new apartment buildings, with relentless cars passing by between, hammered home the message. It's hard to hang onto the land and traditional practices when we are surrounded by unchecked growth. The film spoke volumes to all of these issues with just a pan of the lens.

We were pleased and honored to meet, surely the most widely recognized public face and spokesperson of Slow Food, Carlo Petrini, one of its founders. He has also written extensively on the subject, with titles like, "Slow Food, the Case for Taste" and "Slow Food Revolution", to name just a couple. He is a funny and passionate speaker that can hold the rapt attention of a crowd. He is a very accessible man for all of his celebrity. He seemed genuinely interested in hearing about our efforts to bring sustainable tourism here and to join us for dinner sometime. Vediamo. We shall see. Stay tuned!