A Barolo wine tour in La Morra
I’d never been on a dedicated Barolo wine tour before and didn’t really know what to expect, when our tour bus stopped by a winery on a country road in La Morra.
In the distance, villages like Santa Maria, Annunziata and La Morra could be seen, but apart from that, green, combed hills of nebbiolo wine, mulberry trees and round hazelnut bushes dominated the Piedmont landscape.
A tiny, inconspicuous plaque on the wall of what appeared to be a rather ordinary looking family house indicated that we had come to a ‘Cantina’ and ’Ristorante’. We were greeted by Paolo Gagliardo, the youngest son of the Gianni Gagliardo winery, and led downstairs to see the cellars.
Pictures from the winery and the surrounding landscape. The cook welcomed us in front of the restaurant.
A guided tour of the cellar
Paolo guided us through the dark, musty rooms filled with barriques and patiently explained about fermentation, vinification, the types and sizes of casks, temperatures, blends, lables, vintages, and single vineyard wines.
The family has several vineyards all over La Morra and a long tradition for winemaking dating back to Paolo’s maternal grandfather. His father, Gianni Gagliardo, entered the trade my marriage and developed the business, which is now being taken over by a new generation. Paolo’s elder brothers, Stefano and Alberto, have both joined the company as head of the winery and the vineyard.
Time for a tasting
After about an hour among the barrels, a cook in a red polo shirt served a so-called ‘light’ lunch starting with Insalata russa and followed by homemade pasta with a filling of local cheese and butter sauce. The dish was called Fagottini di Raschera al burro fuso and it was tongue-meltingly delicious. The meal ended with a bonet chocolate pudding made with crunched amaretto biscuits. Nice. As was the tastings of white Fallegro, red Barolo Serre and the Dolcetto d’Alba and Asti Muscat that accompanied the food.
After such a treat I’ve definitely developed a strong taste for La Morra and Barolo.
If you are on a Barolo wine tour, don’t miss:
Grazzano Badoglio – A village in Monferrato Italy
Italian Notes was a guest of #BITEG and the Piedmont Tourist Board but all opinions and mistakes are my own.
The king of wine tours. Would love to do this one!
Can’t beat wine tours – and a Barolo one at that. I wonder if that wine had been opened quite a bit before lunch to allow it to breathe???I always think of Barolos as having that reputation.
This sounds like a great tour. Unfortunately, I don’t get to Italy as often as I’d like to!
What a great wine tour! And all the delicious food to go with it sounds divine especially your dessert. I love wine tours but I don’t think I’ve ever gotten that much food as you have.
You can’t beat a good wine tour! I recently went to Mendoza in Argentina and couldn’t get enough of the stuff! :)
Wow, must have been an intoxicating experience.
Lovely! We love wine and we love Italy! This was a great tour for us as we have never been to a Barolo tasting (you are lucky!). The food sounded awesome as well (love the term “tongue-meltingly”!!!). If you loved your tour, we’d love for you to join us on our tour of Napa and Stags Leap: https://rwarrior.com/stags-leap-world-renowned-cabernet/
Happy Travels, Jill! :)
Sounds tempting, but Napa Valley is way out of my orbit. Unfortunately.
All sounds devilishly delicious! And a gorgeous view to boot… *sigh*