The sunday before last Chef Asked me if I wanted to tag along on a trip up to Piedmonte for a couple of days. He had to go up to the Alba- Barolo culinary school for one final meeting before his trip to the US. He and four other chefs from various regions were selected to go teach at ten different culinary schools over the course of two weeks(one chef at two schools for two weeks) Enea is going to Le Cordon Bleu in Cambridge Mass for a week, then the CT Culinary school in Hartford CT for a week. We jumped in the beemer on Sunday afternoon and headed north west up to Alba. The road from Perugia to Alba is very scenic and beautiful, and I am guessing the the trip normally takes around eight hours or so. Traveling in excess of 150 miles for long periods of time, we made it in under six hours which includes being stuck in traffic for an hour. Another interesting ride for the books.
We arrived in time to meet for dinner and some wine with another chef and the director of the Alba-Barolo school and then it was off to our beds because it was an early morning meeting.
I was able to sit in on the meeting, which was pretty cool, then we got a tour of the school and a great four course lunch prepared by the students. The school was great and everyone was incredibly friendly.
After lunch, we said our goodbyes and made our way to nearby Barbaresco where Enea had other business to attend to. Adriano, the owner of L'Osteria asked since we were going to Piedmonte if it wouldn't be too much trouble to stop in at Gaja winery to pick up three cases of various vintages to bring back to the restaurant.
The Gaja winery, pronounced Guy-ah, is one of the best wineries in all of Italy. Founded in 1859 by Giovanni Gaja in the town of Barbaresco, the winery is now world renowned for producing outstanding red wines. The flagship wine, being Barbaresco, which is produced from 100% Nebbiolo grapes and is a DOCG wine.
The Gajas know Antonio(the manager at L'Osteria) and they also know Enea, so we got the royal treatment. It was harvest time when we went so they were in the middle of making this years vintage which was really cool to be able to check out. We got a tour of the grounds and the cantina down below, then they sent us off with the cases of wine and some parting gifts including a bottle of 2005 Barbaresco.
The trip was amazing and everyone that I met was beyond cool. I only wish that we had more time to spend in that area.
