Barolo, the town, the vinyards, the landscape, and the "cantine" or wine cellars.

A trip to the Piedmont will never be complete without a visit to the town of Barolo. For this post, I have decided to show more pictures, and write less words.

 

I stopped our car as we approached the final

climbing road into the town of Barolo, to pay

our respects to this vineyard.

As we walked through the main uphill trail of

the vineyard, we saw what we were not able to

discern from below, as a shack of some sorts,

or a construction of more noble usage.

 



A votive chapel in the middle of the vineyard was

a common shelter from the elements, as well as a

place to pray for a good harvest.

This vineyard is  the early days of March is just

waking up from the death of winter.

A bottle of Barolo red wine

from the

"Rocche dell'Annunziata"

a winery that represents

a Piedmont Subdivision

of the DOCG. As the name

"Annunziata" or

"Annunciation" hints, this

winery was founded by the

Benedictines in late 12th

Century.

The land in Barolo is not the rich

dark fertile land of my native

Pennsylvania, but rather greyish

stark and arid soil. However such

 delicious grapes and sumptuous

wine will come out of this

apparently barren earth.

An old winepress at the parking

 piazza at the entrance of Barolo

 

Sundials are a common decorative

motif on the outside walls in the

wine producing areas of Piedmont 

The streets in Barolo are narrow,

with romantic touches around

every corner.

The ingenuity of the Italians can

be seen everywhere, in at the

entrance of a Wine Tasting bar

and their ingenious use of old

bottles.

 

A bakery ("forno") that offers a

selection of fine cheeses.

A castle at the end of the street.

This small town of Barolo has

had an entourage of noble

 families. One of the first Cantine,

"I Marchesi di Barolo" was as the

name tells us, the result of a love

story of a French lady of nobility

and an Italian entrepreneur.

The Roman Bacco oversees that everyone has the

opportunity to make a toast.

 

Alleyways so narrow that

neighbors can share secrets with

 each other with a whisper

from their balconies

 

Sometimes I can overcome the temptation of a

glass of wine, but  I am lost at resisting

the call of  an Italian "biscotti" bakery.

Delicious selection of all types of "biscotti"

cookies, ideal for tea-time, or for anytime.

The owner of this biscotti pasticeria was as

gracious in offering me samples, as his butter

cookies were delicious.

The weeping willow provides shade to this

house on the outskirts of Barolo.

The "Ape 50", the workhorse of

the small Italian farmhouse, made

its debut in the early 1970's,  when

I was a student in Rome.

The parking lot of the Marchesi

di Barolo winery.

Props of a bygone time in the entrance of the

Marchesi di Barolo winery.

Playing with the props:"Cheese!"

View the wine cellar at Marchesi di Barolo.

Tasting room at Marchesi di Barolo

Old wine bottle corks and flowers in a discarded

box of wine bottles.

Article from a major Italian

newpaper on the Marchesi di

Barolo winery.

Another peep into the wine cellar at Marchesi

 

A children's park at the edge of the town of Barolo