When speaking with Luca Currado from Vietti I learnt a valuable lesson on how to be a traveller not a tourist in Piedmont. He said “you can always spot the tourists because they are the ones drinking Barolo.” To the Piedmontese, Nebbiolo is the wine to store and bring out as a treat. The locals drink Barbera and Dolcetto. Listen to Luca just below

I was partly mortified

Because the first thing I did when I sat down for dinner in Barolo was to order a half bottle of Barolo. The waitress said no to me, and just poured me a couple of glasses of Barolo.

To me, Dolcetto is a lovely, but simple, drink that is too basic to order at a nice restaurant. It never would have occurred to me to order Barbera. Mostly because I’ve never really loved the variety. I have found a couple that I like, but never have I really had an “OH MY!” moment with Barbera. What is Barbera?

Luca has shamed me to action.

Step 1. Buy some Vietti Barbera. Luca had spoken about the lovely Cru wines that he has so I dived right in. The result? “OH MY this is pretty darn good!”. Maybe there is something to this grape. In particular this wine:

Vietti Scarrone Barbera d’Alba DOC 2013

Perhaps the biggest tick for this wine is that is has a couple of years in the bottle already. It has the smoke, dark fruits, silky mid-palate. It is the whole show.

And I love it so much we are turning it into an event.

We’ll drink

Vietti Arneis Roero 2018 – Chablis-like. Mineral, crisp acid, long finishing. The pear notes point squarely at Arneis. Give this wine time and lots of lovely food to complement.
Vietti Tre Vigne Barbera d’Asti 2017 – The stepping stone into Vietti’s Barbera mastery. It will set the tone for what is to come.
Vietti Perbacco Langhe Nebbiolo 2016 – The sites for this wine include Barolo and Barbaresco. This is a seriously impressive Langhe Neb.
Vietti Scarrone Barbera d’Alba DOC 2013 – This is the wine. I’m so excited to drink this again with some lovely food.
Vietti Castiglione Barolo 2014 – A blend of sites across Barolo.
Vietti Scarrone Vigna Vecchia Barbera d’Alba 2016 – 100-year-old Barbera vines grown in Barolo. The ‘young vines’ is amazing, how good will this be? Let’s find out.

Food

Rokkbank & Co are offering us a three-course, limited à la carte menu. There will be plenty of options that will make these reds really sing.

Investment

250.00 per seat. Payable now (scroll down).

This will include all wines above, food as mentioned, services charges, and BYO.

Seats

There are only 8 places for this dinner including me. Book your seat now or you’ll miss out.