If you are familiar with Italian wine, you know of Barolo wines (and I’m hoping that you have read my article on Renato Ratti winery here, where I described Barolo wines)…and you may be thinking that I mis-wrote above when I titled this article ‘An Evening IN Barolo’, as if I’m in a glass of Barolo wine. Though not a bad idea itself if one has a very large wine glass, I am referring to the town of Barolo, from which Barolo wines get their name.

The small town of Barolo is in the southern Langhe area, which is the area of the Nebbiolo grape vineyards that form the basis of Barolo wines…as well as Nebbiolo wines. And of course, we are in the Piemonte region of northern Italy.

This is the final article that concerns the Langhe vineyards and wine producing area of Piemonte. The previous articles are as follows:

This article is heavy on photos, and low on verbiage. You will see charming buildings and a nice, simple dinner — so here goes.

And if you are a circus fan, don’t fret, as the Circo Peppino Medini comes to town in September for 10 days. And, as it says, ‘the show is suitable for all ages’.

Only 50 meters to Osteria la Canti Nella

A Bit of Shopping

As Barolo is king here…in the town of Barolo…it is readily available in the wine stores.

Earlier in the day, we had learned to cook Italian in a wonderful cooking class, and tajarin pasta was one of the pasta types that we prepared…found here in a small market.

The local butcher shop, or macelleria, carried many of our favorite meet products.

Dinner Time with the Famiglia Brezza

As the evening approached our dinner time, we decided on the comfortable Brezza family restaurant at the Hotel Barolo. Note that the sign has both Italian and English information, so do not fear travel in Italy because of language issues, as explained in a previous article here.

OK, we are in the town of Barolo, in the heart of the Piemonte wine country, so one should expect to see a lot of wine. But, we didn’t expect to see so many bottles in one place. The ristorante Brezza proudly displays their wine in the midst of the diners who will be enjoying them. Though Craig looks calm in the photo below, he is actually feeling a bit of angst about which wine he will choose during our dinner…so many wines, and so little time!

We chose an Arneis as our starter white wine, and it was as delicious as we had hoped.

How about a 60-year old Barolo?! The bottle below would cost you only $300 here in Italy. Or, if you wish, you can purchase a 90-year old Barolo Riserva from the same vintner for only $500. You will NOT find these prices in the US.

Here are some more prices for the Barolo d’epoca, or vintage Barolo wines, as sold here in Ristorante Brezza. Next time I return to this restaurant, I think I’ll splurge for a wine that was produced in my birth year!

Another meal and another toast as we enjoy a bottle of Barolo.

Just in case you are interested in the price of a meal in a typical small northern-Italian town, here is the menu.

By the way, do you like truffles? This area is famous for its truffles. There are both black truffles and white truffles, so you have a choice. But beware, as the white truffles are much more expensive. Did you notice at the bottom-right of the menu that you can get one shaving of a white truffle for about $31? Ouch!

Below you can see our risotto made with Barolo wine, veal sausages, and wild boar…all delish, of course.

Well, it’s time to head back to our lodgings. And we are well satisfied with our visit to the small town of Barolo, as well as our wonderful meal at Ristorante Brezza. We will find ourselves strolling the night laden streets to linger just a bit longer.

Ristorante Familia Brezza

Thank you for joining us on our stroll through the very quaint, very charming, town of Barolo. And also, we’re glad you joined us for dinner. That last Barolo toast? it was for you!

Ciao for now,

Steve

p.s. Join me next time as we leave the Barolo wine are of the Piemonte for Lake Maggiore.

Eat Here: Ristorante Bovio

Index of Articles

Would you like to dine with a view like this one? Then you need to eat at Ristorante Bovio.

This lovely restaurant is situated on the slope of the hill upon which the Piemonte town of La Mora is situated. Whether you are dining on the terrace for lunch, as we did, or eating in the beautifully appointed dining room in the evening, the view is magnificent.

As seen from the restaurant, that’s the Church of San Sebastiano in La Mora, blessing Ristorante Bovio. And, well blessed it is.

As with virtually every meal we have eaten in Italy, we start with wine…and usually the first bottle is a white wine. Here we are poured our new favorite white northern-Italian wine, Arneis. Note the unique bottle holder at the table in the background…it keeps a white wine at just the perfect temperature. Here you see Craig’s look of anticipation.

With every toast, we celebrate having the great friends with whom we are traveling, sister- and brother-in-law Leslie and Craig Johnson.

The terrace of Bovio is oh, so pleasant. And, it is a gorgeous day in the Langhe area of the Piemonte. Craig, Leslie and wife Ellen await our first course.

“Would care for a scrumptious bread product?”, asks Leslie.

“Yes!”, I say.

Most every Italian restaurant has olive oil available for dipping one’s bread, but here, we also have butter. I’m assuming that there is nothing wrong with putting butter on a grissino. Would you agree?

As an appetizer, we tried the fried zucchini blossoms, which we found delicious.

Also tasty were the mushrooms over creamy pollenta, topped with black truffles.

In the dining room, we found a covered plate of several black truffles, topped with a truffle shaver, ready to do its job.

While we were seated, we saw a local man park his vehicle and unload a box which he took inside the restaurant. I followed him to the kitchen to see what he had for sale and found that he brought these large mushrooms. The chef liked what he saw and the grower left with cash in his pocket.

If we had been at Bovio for dinner, we might have sampled some of their spirits…but as it was lunchtime and we had a special place to be after lunch, we passed.

Lunch has arrived and here it is. A nice Bolognese pasta, mushroom risotto, beautifully-cooked scallops, and a bit of beef with scalloped potatoes were enjoyed as we ate with a view.

And of course, we needed more Arneis.

As is an Italian custom, dessert consisted of cheese. And we had a large selection from which to choose.

We mad a selection of seven cheeses, accompanied with honey and fruit preserves.

The dining room awaits evening diners. And they will also have that nice view during their meal.

Ahhhh, what an outstanding meal. As we leave, we take one last look at the idyllic Langhe countryside, as seen from the terrace of Ristorante Bovio.

BONUS MATERIAL

Above, I mentioned that we had plans for the afternoon. What might those plans be? We have reservations for massages at the Chateaux Castello di Guarene spa in the hilltop town of Guarene.

That’s the castle sitting smack dab in the middle of the areal photo.

According to the Relais Chateaux Castello di Guarene website, the castle was built by Carlo Giacinto Roero di Guarene, who laid the first stone in 1726 on 13 September at 8.30 pm.

The grounds of the castle are well manicured and provide a pleasant place to relax for guests at the hotel.

The spa is actually located in the subterranean depths below these gardens.

To get to the spa, one goes down a couple of flights of stairs into the bowels of the hill. And then a long tunnel through the hill leads you to the spa.

At the end of the tunnel, Craig and Leslie stand on a balcony which juts out from the side of the cliff below the castle grounds. There is a nice view from that balcony.

But the inside of the cavernous interior reveals an ideal spa atmosphere.

Ristorante Bovio

Relais & Chateaux Castello di Guarene

That’s it for lunch at Bovio, and then a relaxing time at the Castle Guarene spa.

I have to admit that such a lovely lunch, followed by a couple of hours of relaxing spa time, is a great way to spend an afternoon in northern Italy…or anywhere else for that matter. If you are able to reproduce this day’s itinerary, you may find me floating in the grotto pool.