Arrived in Lugano, Switzerland, Wednesday. On the way, stopped in Gattinara, home to Travaglini, an award winning wine-maker, in Italy’s Piedmont region. Travaglini is famous for its Gattinara wines (made from hand-picked Nebbiolo grapes) and also for the atypical shape of its sediment trapping bottles. Some of its wines are designated DOCG, requiring at least 90% Nebbiolo grapes. These wines compete with the Barolo wines of this region and elsewhere. Professor Silver, a former sommelier, at Uncle Ralph’s Pancake House in Castine Maine, says they are superior. Others similarly minded aficionados agree.
Travaglini’s wine cellar is as immaculate as it is impressive, with a sea of oak casks, some gargantuan in size. The smell of aging wine waffles the air. Travaglini is also experimenting with using concrete vats during the initial fermentation stage of wine production.
These casks, constructed with French oak, maximize contact between oak and wine, through casking techniques. Small quantities are drawn off the larger casks, aged, possibly blended with wine of other grapes and then put back into the larger casks. This process takes varying degrees of years, depending on the type, and the price rises with the aging process. Sadly, climate change is taking its toll on the wine producers of this region, with declining yields year over year.
Sampled three Gattinaras. The differences are not so subtle. The Gattinara Reserva to my liking. It properly stored, the Reserva could last more than 20 years.
Travaglini also offers far more expensive wines, with soaring prices.
On the way to Lugano, also passed through Arborio, the Italian rice-lands. These rices are used in traditional Risotto.
Had lunch in Aborio at Black Eagle, a traditional Italian local restaurant of this region.
The Black Eagle was full of local people. The food was simple but tasty.
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