We were all together in once place (other than our house) for the first time as we followed various paths into Alba. I had made a wrong turn, which took us down into a deep valley and the town of Santo Stefano Belbo; we then compounded our error by believing Google Maps, which took us over steep, twisting roads far up into the hills again before depositing us in Alba.
We all parked behind the Duomo and gradually sauntered down the Via Vittorio Emmanuelle II, the main shopping street. We were making our way, slowly, toward the Osteria dell’ Arco, one of the first Slow Food restaurants in Italy. Dan found something that he would rather try, and we all turned around and headed back the way we had come…until Dan discovered that the restaurant was closed. So we turned around again and finally made our way to the Osteria.
Sue and I had eaten here in 2014 on her first trip to the Langhe. The food here is terrific: totally traditional, and very carefully sourced and prepared. We had some of our best versions of Piedmontese fare. We started with a fine but somewhat less good Bellavista Franciacorta and went on to the best wine we had had so far: a 2015 Marchesi di Grey Barbaresco Martinenga Camp Gros. The Martinenga vineyard is one of the greatest in the region, and di Gresy makes three different wines from it: the regular Barbaresco and wines made from two particularly great sub zones, Gaiun and Camp Gros. The wine’s nose was immediately seductive; it needed some time in the glass, thought to resolve some tannins. When it did, wow! That’s the bottle in the foreground:
On our way back to the car we visited Alba’s baroque gem, the Chiesa della Magdalena.
Nathaniel was coming out as we went in; he urged us to “look behind the altar.” And sure enough, behind the altar was what is probably a chapter room for the nearby monastery that no longer exists, with exquisite trompe-l’oeil frescos.
While the girls were inside, they asked about the candles for sale; when they learned what they were for, they each bought and lit one in memory of someone who had passed on. Very sweet.
While the others finished their shopping, I went to my favorite wine store in Alba, the Enotecha Fracchia & Berchialla. Remarkable selection of wines from the Langhe and careful advice from the two women who run the store. One of them actually remembered me from the last visit; as I left, several bottles in hand, she called out “See you next year!”
Back at La Galeisa, we had our game down pat: a good swim, and then a long, lingering session of drinks and dinner on the veranda.