If it's Wednesday, it must be Emilia-Romagna

Already it's midnight here in Italy, and it's a been a long day.  Good news: jetlag is finito.  Also: though my suitcase is still among the missing, I did receive generous permission from Delta Airlines to buy "the bare essentials" so that I may walk proudly again among the well-scrubbed and presentable.  Hypermarket shopping at its most luxurious.

We drove a long way from Barolo to Reggio Emilia, or so it seemed after I took the wrong turn at a roundabout and found myself facing racing on-coming traffic.  My partners professed to be near infarction, but we didn't crash and we didn't die, so what's the big deal?  I only get worried when the worst DOES happen.

The destination was worth it.  We spent a few hours touring the property of the large and beautiful Venturini-Baldini farm and tasting the wines that had impressed me back in June.  (Click here to get the skinny on that.)  The wines, retasted, did not disappoint.  Well-made, mostly organic, they were very good examples of the kind of wine Lambrusco can be.  Which is to say a damn sight better than the awful old grape-soda-like stuff you may have had in your self-abusive youth. 

I got some nice pix of the landscape but am too tired to download them now.  Another day.

Tomorrow we head for Florence airport to see if my errant baggage has settled down yet.  I can't imagine what I'll get Ken to say when he deals with Delta in my name.  (I can't stand waiting on the phone forever.  I'm not as relentless as he is.)

Then we will pass the night at the Montalcino estate of the warm and dedicated winemaker Susanna Crociani, whose Vino Nobile di Montepulciano would never be suspected of containing disallowed grapes.  They burst with Sangiovese brightness and sapidity.  See a Vinitaly 2007 post on Susanna's wine. 

I'm happy to report that Susanna has bounced back well after the sudden death of her brother Giorgio, who was the winemaker of the family.  He died soon after last year's Vinitaly, and Susanna was at sixes and sevens for a time.  But in part with the help of Giorgio's children, she's carrying on strongly again.  Brava, Susanna!

Comments

[Vittorio]

Mi piace leggere dei tuoi pellegrinaggi vinicoli in Italia, è come leggere Goethe nel suo "Italianische Reise"...
Se vieni a Torino o dintorni (ho visto che sei stato a Barolo, attendo post su cosa hai assaggiato) avvertimi che ho sempre qualche buona bottiglia da farti assaggiare!

[Vittorio]

Mi piace leggere dei tuoi pellegrinaggi vinicoli in Italia, è come leggere Goethe nel suo "Italianische Reise"...
Se vieni a Torino o dintorni (ho visto che sei stato a Barolo, attendo post su cosa hai assaggiato) avvertimi che ho sempre qualche buona bottiglia da farti assaggiare!

[alex]

This was the dialogue in the car:

KEN - The radio issued a warning about a crazy driver who entered the highway against traffic flow.
TERRY - one driver? It must be fourty of them!!!

:-))

[Nebbiolata]

I will have to check out that Lambro. I have yet to find many wines I like in Emilia-Romagna. Further suggestions would be appreciated. I frequently work in Parma and have been known to bring my own wine from Piemonte.

Looking forward to your next installment.

[terence]

Alex, ha ha. I was the crazy driver. Mea culpa.

I need to mention that we ate at a very stylish, ambitious place called L'Arciprete. We had a very impressive rosato lambrusco from Francesco Bellei. Unfiltered, loaded with character -- modenese.

[gianpaolo]

Hey Strappo, any idea about timing tomorrow?