DAY 3

After two full days of exploring the area and the excessive heat, we decided to take a day to relax and lay by the pool at our B&B. We enjoyed breakfast and then got changed in to our swim suits and made for the pool. It’s been a long time since I’ve lounged by a pool reading a book, and it was perfect. We took a break for lunch and popped into the village for a quick bite to eat. I had burrata and prosciutto and R had chicken and potatoes. Both were delish! I also treated myself to a chocolate gelato. I just can’t say no to that stuff! The remainder of the afternoon was spent reading and swimming in the pool.

That evening we arranged a wine pairing with Bruno, the B&B owner and sommelier. I enjoyed this SO much! A lot of it was not new info for R, but he had asked Bruno to explain the area and the wines before diving into the pairings and it really helped me to understand the wine from this region. We tried four Nebbiolo based wines first and then we went back and paired them with foods. These are the wines we tasted:

• Nebiulin Langhe Nebbiolo DOC 2018, Le More Bianche (Magliano Alfieri)

• Barbaresco DOCG 2015, Mustela (Treiso)

• Coste della Sesia DOC 2010, La Palazzina (Roasio - Vercelli)

• Coste di Rosa Barolo DOCG 2010, Bric Cenciurio (Barolo)

I think the best thing I learned when pairing wines is this: simple food + simple wine, complex food + complex wine. I also loved how he broke down how to taste wine. When tasting wine, it’s about appearance, aroma, and flavor. But people tend to think it needs to be exact and very specific, but it shouldn’t be. Wine is very subjective and what one person tastes and smells may be different from another person. He broke it down into the following to describe a wine:

Visual: Limpidity (hazy, clear, bright, etc), Color, consistency (fluid, viscous, medium consistency), and any effervescence. This one is easy as it’s what you see

Aroma: Is it intense or lacking? simple or complex, fruity/mineral/fragrant/grassy/spicy. This is where i always get hung up and try to get very specific - what kind of fruit? greenery? spice? If I can pick up it’s floral or spicy, that’s good enough!

Flavour: SOFT sugar (sweet, dry, medium), Warmth (Alcohol), Polyalcohols (sharp/soft/mellow) HARD acidity (little, crisp, sour), tannins (feeble, tannic, astringent), minerals (insipid, sapid, salty) BALANCE, INTENSITY, PERSISTENCE (how long does it last in your mouth) QUALITY (common, not very fine, fine, refined, excellent) BODY STRUCTURE (lean, light, full, robust, heavy). Again with flavor is it sweet or not? sharp or soft? does it linger or is it gone quickly. if you can identify this, that’s enough.

We enjoyed all the wines and food on the patio with the sun setting over the hills. It was magical.