One of the reasons we are going to Italy is the history and beauty. Maybe because all of our children have been there and we have not. Maybe more of that. But as a student of history, how can you not spend time in Italy?
So history will differently shape our visit, but something that we both enjoy is wines. Though nowhere close to being a Sommelier, we do enjoy good wine. So to prepare, I want to do a deeper dive into Italy’s wine history and regions. So that when we go, we can be ready to enjoy the wine to its fullest. So the first region, and a region that we might not get to is Piedmont. Though there are several spellings, I’m using WineTourism.com spelling. So with that, here are two sites that I’m using for my research.
So yesterday we opened two bottles. The plan was for four bottles, but there was no way the two of us could drink four bottles; we decided to do two at a time.
We went with a Langhe Nebbiolo from Osvaldo Viberti vs. a Barolo from Cordero Montezemolo. It was tough to discern the difference between the two bottles. The color, smell, and tastes were very similar. Both bottles were perfect and to our likings. However, the Barolo was more pronounced on the nose and slightly deeper in color, and at the end, I favored the Barolo over the Langhe Nebbiolo. Since Barolo are Nebbiolo grapes, why is one called Barolo and the other Langhe Nebbiolo? The link below helped me to understand the difference – https://www.wine-searcher.com/regions-langhe+nebbiolo. The two bottles that we didn’t open are Barbera D’ Asti and Barbera d’ Alba, same grapes, two different areas – though they are only miles apart. I think tonight we will see if we can find the differences. Next week we will have to explore the other wine regions. So far, it looks like we will spend a week in Rome – using it as our hub and making day trips to the south. And then Florence for a week and using it as a hub. And always open to suggestions.
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