A TASTE OF LANGHE
I know if it says Langhe, one immediately thinks of vines and wines, and in fact i wine-growing landscapes of Langhe-Roero and Monferrato sono UNESCO heritage.
The province of Cuneo offers the spectacle of green landscapes, castelli, country churches, but it is also a land of high-level food and wine: Piedmont IGP hazelnut from the Langhe, Fassona meat, fresh pasta, truffles and our beloved cheeses, just to name a few of the best known products.
Among the cheeses produced in this area, three DOPs: Castelmagno, Murazzano and Robiola di Roccaverano (in the Langa of Asti).
When you are in the Langhe, a visit to the cellar is therefore a must.
We made a visit with tasting at the Ratti Winery, in the heart of Barolo.
RATTI WINERY
The winery is located in Frazione Annunziata in La Morra, seat of the ancient Abbey of the Annunziata (from 1684).
The founder Renato Ratti he was the one who introduced a new style of winemaking in 1965, and that in the 70s created a Barolo Charter, containing the Barolo vintages and the mapping of the historical wine-growing sub-areas of traditional vocation and particular qualitative characteristics. Renato Ratti is now considered the "father" of the Barolo CRUs. Inoltre, nel 1973 invented the Albeisa bottle, vessel that has become iconic for Piedmontese wines.
The tasting at the Ratti Winery is a truly unique experience: takes place in a room with a huge circular window that offers a splendid view of the hills and vineyards.
In the chalice, sips of territory: the Dolcetto, low acidity (da cui il nome); Barbera d'Alba (enjoyable wine, to combine with traditional dishes) and Barbera d’Asti (rich and structured); the Nebbiolo, with its bright color and its hints of wet leaves, mushroom and undergrowth; the sumptuous Barolo (100% nebbiolo, aged for at least three years, of which about two in oak barrels).
The labels also represent a link to the territory: the soldiers depicted are those of the regiments who were stationed next to the vineyards in the late 1700 and the beginning of 1800.
CASEIFICIO LA BRUNA
It is then impossible not to visit one or more dairies in the area.
In Monterosso Grana, in the Grana Valley (oltre 700 metri d’altezza), the La Bruna Dairy produces raw cow's milk cheeses, including various DOP products: Castelmagno, Bra Tender, Good Duro, Raschera and Toma Piemontese.
The flagship of the production is certainly the Castelmagno DOP, cheese with ancient origins, excellent in combination with a Nebbiolo or a Barolo.
Here are some of its features:
– It undergoes a double breaking of the curd, which is chopped and salted after about 4 days from the first processing;
– It has a minimum seasoning of 60 giorni;
– Each shape has an embossed logo: a stylized C, with alpine peaks on the top and with a cheese wheel in the center;
– It is always labeled as a Product of the Mountain, because all the producing dairies are located over 600 meters high. When it is produced in the alpine pastures a Oltre 1000 meters during the summer it takes the Castelmagno di Alpeggio label;
– It can be a natural blue cheese: molds are not inoculated in the boiler (as is usually the case with blue cheeses), but they can develop naturally during aging.
The aging of Castelmagno PDO takes place on wooden boards in the cave of the Dairy, in which water flows continuously to create the optimal conditions for the correct ripening of the cheeses.
The company mountain pasture is further on 1700 meters of altitude, in the municipality of Castelmagno, in front of Sanctuary of San Magno.
LA MEIRO
Castelmagno DOP is also one of the products of La Meiro, inn with rooms for stays in the high mountains.
The seasoning takes place in rooms made entirely of natural stone.
Among the dishes offered at the restaurant there are precisely the gnocchi al Castelmagno DOP.
COLOMBERO FARM
Family of margari for generations is that of Colombero (ahead, dad Giulio), dedicated to the transhumant breeding of Piedmontese cattle (native breed of Piedmont, known as the "double-rump breed") by the triple attitude: I work in the fields, meat and milk.
The Colomberos have approx 240 capi, and still milk by hand twice a day.
In winter, the animals stay in fixed housing structures, in the summer they move to the mountain pastures, a 2000 meters high. In the mountain pastures, the cheese is transformed and matured on natural axes. Among the cheeses processed at high altitudes, the Nostrale d’Alpe -produced for centuries by the margari -, made with raw cow's milk from the mountain pastures between the end of June and the end of September; has a minimum seasoning of 35 giorni. Butter is obtained from the residual whey of the cheese processing.
President ofAssociation of Producers of the Nostrale d’Alpe è Roberta Colombero, who every summer moves to the mountain pastures for three months together with his herd.
Sometimes she happens to host students in the mountain pastures, and that's how he met the very young girl Roberta Valletti, today a winemaker. produce Roberta Nascetta (among the great whites of the Langhe) and "Rock", Langhe Rosso DOC born from dolcetto vines. All the activities of Roberta Valletti (from cultivation to production) have organic certification.
Two wonderful young women.
And after this "taste" seasoned with beautiful stories of territories, people and animals, we say goodbye to the Langhe, hoping to return as soon as possible.
Ratti Winery
Annunziata hamlet, 7 - La Morra, Cuneo
such. 0173/50185 – 0173/509373
www.ratti.com
La Bruna Dairy
Borgata Marobert, 3 - Monterosso Grana, Cuneo
such. 0171/989169
www.caseificiolabruna.it
La Meiro
Via dei Pinet, 1 - Castelmagno, Cuneo
such. 366/2271614
www.terredicastelmagno.com
Colombero Giulio Farm
Strada Oropa, 23 fraz. S. Savior – Savigliano, Cuneo
such. 340/6817180
Avalanche mountain pasture - Marmora, Cuneo
such. 346/9892079
Valletti Roberta
Bergera hamlet, 1 – Novello, Cuneo
such. 347/4116490
vallettiroberta@gmail.com