Fat, Drunk & Happy

A Girls Wine Weekend in Alba

April 23 - 25, 2010

What a weekend. Eight girls piling into two vehicles on a Friday afternoon with vino on the mind. We got a late start leaving TASIS for various reasons, causing us to arrive at our agriturismo, Ada Nada very late in the evening. But we shouldn't have been concerned. The owner had arranged a late dinner for us down the road. The chef at the restaurant assured them there would be no problem serving a late meal for 8 women. How thoughtful of them.

On Saturday morning, after a typical European breakfast we set off for Alba to visit the markets and stroll through the town. There was some intense purchasing taking place of various spreads, cheeses, and baking goods.

Getting some serious shopping done!

Lizzie, Beth and I quickly got distracted by the booths providing free tastings of the local wines. It was already eleven in the morning so we felt it would be alright.

Alba

Next stop, Barolo. The towns in this region are very close together and the hill sides of each one is covered with vines to make the regions most famous blend. We were still in our sight seeing phase so we just took pictures, wandered, and of course stopped for a tasty meal at a small restaurant outside of town. Best dish of the afternoon was the risotto cooked in Barolo wine. It had a very unique flavor and was exceptional with the wine pairing our waiter provided.

Using the dominate nostril

I think we will take it!

Around mid afternoon we plugged in our next destination into the GPS. It wasn't too far away but the roads are not well marked and we might as well use the technology we had available to us. I was in the lead with Mara following close behind. The GPS continually was leading us down a road, onto a dirt path and up into vineyards. I hesitated, turning around twice before we agreed to go for it. I was about half way through the vineyard, bumping over rocks in my little car and laughing historically about the potential of getting stuck and what we would do if that happened. Then we reached a point, where I even had to stop because I didn't think my car would clear the ditch and I wasn't so sure I was far enough off the ground to pull the maneuver that was going to be necessary. Mara in a 4 wheel drive vehicle too the lead while we sat and waited. They cleared it, found the agriturismo, then called us to give directions as they waved down from above. Once we knew were we were going it wasn't too hard to find on actual roads but what would a weekend be without a little off roading in the vines.

The Rolling Hills of Tuscany

The Whole Crew in the Cellar

We spent the next couple of hours at Gagliasso Mario Vineyard outside of Alba. The owner gave us a tour of his grounds, the new cellars, and then we took our seats in a private room where we sampled all of his blends. Some of us were well behaved only taking a sip and then pouring the rest, while others thoroughly enjoyed the full pour the owner provided.

Guia, Lizzie, Hermione, Mara, Beth, Cecilia, and Sarah

Let the tasting begin

I was one of the good ones, pouring occasionally

The Loot

After purchasing many bottles each, counting carefully to make sure each vehicle did not exceed the limit, we were off to our accommodations for a 5 course meal with wine pairings. Not that we hadn't already had enough food and wine to last us the entire day.

Back at Ada Nada, we purchased a few bottles of wine and sat outside on the patio enjoying the sunset and each other's company. Dinner was phenomenal of course, and the house wines were amazing.

Late into the meal. We lost a few of the girls earlier in the evening

On Sunday morning we continued our sight seeing, first with a trip into the cellars of Ada Nada. The owner told us the story of how she took over the home and continued the growing that her family had been doing for many years. Each child in her family has a blend named after them, hers being Bisbetica because she is strong willed, full bodied, and on occasion hard headed. It was one of my favorites and I added a few more bottles to my collection already in the trunk of my car.

Jumping for Vino

Love It

Once we were had completed our tours we were off to Serra Lunga and the Castello di Grinzane Cavour. We toured the castle, danced in the ballroom and learned the history of the tartufo dog before walking the streets of the town and enjoying the beautiful weather.

Castello di Grinzane

At this point there were mixed feelings about heading home, seeing more, or possibly doing another tasting at Fontana Freda. We had called ahead but they were fully booked except for the potential walk ins. With this knowledge, a car load opted to head back to Lugano, to get situated for the upcoming week. My car of course, filled with Guia, Beth and Sarah B. decided that wine tasting on a Sunday afternoon was the perfect past time. So we were off.

We were met with success when we reached the vineyard. They had room on the Italian tour but it required Guia translating everything for the rest of us. She didn't seem to mind and we were able to pick up a lot of it just by looking around and following along.

The cellars we entered were some of the oldest in the region and they still were using barrels from the 1700's. It was quite a cool experience to see the new and old together and how the difference of the ages affected the outcome of the grapes. They were all fantastic though and the four of us had a great time tasting some of the premier bottles of the region. And of course purchasing just one or two more!

The strips of Fontana Freda

The dominate nostril never failed!