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I think I’m going to try and add the Brussel sprouts!  That sounds amazing!  Your right about winter greens.  Probably why I hated them so much as a kid – they’re just nasty all boiled down!

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The restaurant is Undici in Rumson, NJ. They do these dinners pretty regularly. Many times they have the producer there to talk about the wines and the estates. All the wines are for sale too at pretty decent prices. I do love the Roero Arneis, the label is creepy but in a cool kind of way! The Tasting [IMG]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y11/njdivegirl/7DBD90BC-2DB6-4516-B0B3-324416295F3B-9989-000008B58778FA77.jpg[/IMG] The Menu [IMG]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y11/njdivegirl/C4CD3507-A527-4789-8960-54DE7FDEB848-9989-000008B57C1EBCB6.jpg[/IMG]

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OK, proofreading this (I shouldnt be posting at work!) – with regards to the Lazzarito – I was NOT impressed with this wine. I’d rather buy 2 bottles of the Castiglione given the choice!

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Michael & I went to the tasting last night! Although no carne cruda, we did partake in white truffles!

The wine line up:

2011 Roero Arneis
2010 Barbara D’Asti Tre Vigne
2009 Barbara D’Alba Scarrone
2008 Barolo Castiglione
2003 Barolo Lazzarito
2011 Moscato D’Asti

The menu:
Crostini Duo – Cremini mushrooms with Robiola & fire roasted pepper & ceci
Risotto Tartufo – Carnaroli rice with shaved Alba white truffles
Stinco di Maiale – slow roasted pork shank

Bigne – puff pastry with pastry cream & chocolate gelato

Thoughts:
We sampled the Arneis and the Barbara D’Asti with the Crostini. I thought the Arneis was fabulous with the mushroom and Robiola Crostini. I am a big fan of unoaked whites and Arneis delivers on all counts. The Barbara D’Asti was one of our favorites while at Vietti, so no surprise we greatly enjoyed it again last evening.

We tasted the Barbara D’asti also with the risotto – very nice combination. The Barbara D’Alba was more robust… I was getting more of a cherry nose than with the Barbara D’Asti – but again, went very well with the Risotto.

The Barolos… Castiglione is one of my favorites. And it was superb with the Stinco! Now the Lazzarito was a 2003 – they said was a hot year, not a great vintage (I forgot to check our vintage poster when we got home last night..) but supposedly this was was spectacular, limited supply, at $100 per bottle. Now this is my opinion and mine only, but I was very impressed. It was too tannic for my tastes and greatly preferred the Castiglione. Michael can chime in on this one 🙂

Lastly was the Moscato D’Asti. Love love love the Vietti Moscato – its not too sweet, its not to fizzy and goes great with pastry cream. Enough said.

We didnt buy any wines last night – there is another tasting of Vietti wines with their sister restuarant in February. At that one they will have the Nebbiolo Perbacco (one of my favorites) so we’ll make our purchases then!

[Clare Centanni]

We were just in the Langhe this past November (as well as May 2012).  This last trip we visited many producers.  Our favorites included Oddero and Silvio Grasso in La Morra;  Cavalotto and Paolo Scavino in Castiglione Falletto; GD Vajra in Barolo; and Sottimano in Nieve.  All spectacular wines and fabulous people.

There are some really fantastic restaurants in the area!

• Massimo Camia in Barolo is our absolute favorite!   The chef is amazing and during truffle season, those dishes are just that much better.
• In La Morra – More e Macine is good for lunch
• In Bra – Boccondivino, this is where the Slow Food is located.
• Ristorante Bovio in La Morra is white table cloth, excellent food, top notch service.  Also in La Morra is Osteria Vignaiolo – this place is not only good for dinner, but lunch as well!

We shipped a case home via United our last trip.  It was so easy to do.  The MBE is right on Corso Europa – we were in an out of there with our shipping carton in less than 10 minutes!  Just remember to bring some sort of fat permanent market to mark fragile, this end up, your name etc…  We were able to grab one when we were in Bologna but just easier to have one with you.

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So to let you know how it worked out… The MBE in Alba is super easy to find!!! We found the one in Bra as well (its on the same street as Boccondivino – the Slow Food restuarant). The wine shipper, box and tape costs us 10 euro.

Originally I didn’t think about a magic marker to write on the box but was able to find one in a shop in Bologna. Happened to walk by and saw highlighters – right next to permanent markers!

We marked the box with our name and arrows indicating which end up. At MXP – we had no problem checking it. You definitely want to make sure you leave yourself extra time when doing this as you may have to pay for the extra bag depending on your United status and you have to accompany it over to the xray machine.

Once back at Newark we waited patiently (and anxiously) for our precious box to come off the belt! Once it did we got though customs very easily…. although I wouldn’t be surprised if a customs agent or two stopped by for a glass of wine!

Thanks Michael for the information! It was spot on and now we can enjoy our Piemontese wines that we just couldn’t get here in the US!

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