Our first stop was Domenico Clerico, one of the top producers from the region, and a producer we had visited last year. Domenico himself was not there, and we had a bit of a language struggle (our luck that Megan was running a few minutes late and the winery rep spoke very little English) but no matter, we still had a great tasting. We began with the 2008 Dolcetto d'Alba Visadi, followed by the 2007 Barbera d'Alba Tre Vigne and the 2007 Arte Langhe, a blend of 90% Barbera and 10% Nebbiolo. From there we proceeded into the Barolos with the 2005 Barolo Pajana and 2005 Barolo Ciabot Mentin Ginestra, before finishing with the 2003 Barolo Percristina. All of these wines have plenty of potential, but are quite young and tannic still.
Megan then joined us as we sat down at Paolo Scavino, where Enrica Scavino, daughter of proprietor Enrico would help lead us through an fantastic lineup. We actually began with a white, the 2008 Langhe Bianco that was a blend of 70% Sauvignon Blanc and 30% Chardonnay, and it was quite nice. From there we worked through the entry-level reds, with the 2007 Rosso di Tavola, the 2008 Dolcetto d'Alba, and the 2008 Barbera d'Alba, followed by the 2006 Barbera In Carati and the 2007 Langhe Nebbiolo before the Barolos began. We began this group with the 2005 Barolo normale, which was very nice again this year for a normale bottling. Continuing up the line we had the 2005 Carobric, the 2005 Bricco Ambrogio, and the 2005 Bric del Fiasc, which was quite tasty and powerful. We concluded this phenomenal lineup with the 2003 Rocche dell'Annunziata Riserva Barolo.
Leaving the Piemonte for a moment, we then ventured into the area of importer Marc de Grazia to seek out one of our favorite Brunello producers, Livio Sassetti of Pertimali. Last year Livio's son was there, but this year we were treated to Livio himself in what became one of the highlights of the trip. Livio is 75 (something we would learn during our visit), but loves his work and still has a great passion for it. He speaks practically no English, so we were quite thankful to have Megan with us. Despite the language barrier, it was easy to see the great pride he takes in his work, but Megan's ability to tell him how much we appreciate that work really helped.
As for the wines, we tasted the 2007 Rosso di Montalcino followed by the 2004 Brunello, which was fresh and not too tannic, probably better than any we tasted on Thursday. As we drank the Brunello, Livio suddenly reached down into a backpack next to him and pulled out a ziploc bag. He the produced a hard salume that Dad quickly identified as chingale (wild boar), and Livio explained that he made this from a boar he hunted and killed himself last fall. The salume was fantastic, spicy and flavorful, and really a great addition to our tasting. Livio then finished off our memorable tasting by reciting a poem for us that he wrote himself about his passion for his wine.All in all, this was one of the most amazing and memorable parts of the entire trip, and something I don't think Dad and I will ever forget. We both love the wines from Pertimali, but anytime we drink them from now on, I think we will always remember our visit with Livio Sassetti.
Finally moving on, we managed to make one more stop in Piemonte, where we sampled the latest releases from the Produttori di Barbaresco. We started with the 2005 Barbaresco normale, followed by a pair of Riservas, the 2005 Asili and the 2005 Ovello. We then finished with the 2008 Saracco Moscato.
As we wound up our short day, we headed back to the Toscana pavilion to eat lunch at the great cafeteria there. Just outside was the booth of Poggio di Sotto where we had stopped on Thursday but only had the Rosso di Montalcino. We wanted to be able to say hello to Piero Palmucci, and as he was there we stopped to try ther 2004 Brunello and chat quickly with him. The wine was great, rivaling the Pertimali as one of the best Brunellos we would taste. From there, it was time for lunch and then off to catch a cab to take us to Dal Forno.
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