Mick and I returned to Novello, very familiar with the roads by now, which were surprisingly quieter, much less traffic, but every river crossing surprised us as the waters had risen quite significantly and were rushing along. Some places around here must definitely be flooding.

After lunch we headed to La Morra to attend a special wine tasting event. Being a weekend, it was so much busier and we were lucky to even find a park. But it was not close.

La Morra is a very beautiful village with lots of interesting nooks and crannys.

Every Saturday for 5 consecutive weeks in October and November, different producers gather in a small art gallery adjacent to the Cantina Comunale, to showcase their wines. We had been told about it when we visited here for a wine tasting with our friends Jeanie and Michael.

First on Mick’s list was to pop back in here to check with the young lady the name of the wine grower who would have a 2010 Barolo to taste. Armed with that information we headed in. We deliberately chose to arrive just after the lunch break which turned out to be very clever, as we were almost the only ones there, other than the producers. It cost €22 for the experience, and it was possible to taste all of the 39 wines on show today from the nine producers. Mick gave it a good “red hot” go!

I was not tasting, but I did do a lot of ‘sniffing’ and swirling and nodding – and that was it. But, we both learnt quite a bit. I was very impressed with Mick’s ability to discern between the wines and to recall which ones he liked better than others. I was struggling making little scratchings on the program.

The wines available to taste were Arneis, Dolcetto, Barbera, Nebbiolo and lots and lots of Barolo. Most of the producers could speak very good English, but the winemaker (Signor Casetta) who Mick wanted to meet could not! However, between lots of shrugging and hand gestures on both their parts, it somehow worked. (Also, luckily for us, another Italian man who was there tasting and making lots of notes came over and talked with us in English about Signor Casetta’s wines).

We learnt that his 2010 Barolo had been aged for 72 months, using Slovenian oak, almost a year longer than the requirements for this wine classification.

Barolo has one of the toughest ageing requirements in Italy. Even the “standard” Barolo must be aged for a minimum of 38 months, spending at least 18 months in barrels made from oak or chestnut. Barolo Riserva has to be aged in the cellar for 62 months, including at least 18 months in oak, before release.

Mick also loved his 2020 Barolo for €38, and the elderly winemaker tried to encourage Mick to buy some to cellar. But that sounded way too difficult.

During our visit to Chianti in 2009, we had learnt that it was illegal to irrigate the vines. And today we were told that it is prohibited to irrigate any vines in Italy wishing to be classified as DOC or DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita – which is the highest quality level).

At one of the producers, we were told that for their riserva the ageing process was as follow: the first 12 months in steel barrels, then 3 years in oak barriques (French and Austrian oak), then a second 12 months in steel barrels, with the final 12 months being aged in bottles before the wine goes on the market for purchase.

Mick thought it was the best wine tasting experience he had ever had. We left with a bottle of the 2010 Barolo and a bottle of Barbera d’Alba, as I have discovered I like this variety which is much less tannic than wines made from the Nebbiolo grapes.

At one of the producer’s stands it was suggested we should decant an aged Barolo to ensure it has time to ‘open up’ and to allow the flavours to develop. We do not have a decanter in this little flat we are renting at the moment, but I poured two small glass of the wine out and did not try it for 30 minutes. I was very disappointed. I then tried a glass straight from the bottle and it was much better. Both of us were surprised by the difference and enjoyed the fuller flavours from the bottle.

To be honest – I preferred the 2016 bottle of Riserva Barolo we had enjoyed the night before with our friends.