La Morra held their biannual wine tasting event last night (this is first year with a summer event in addition to the fall). 30-40 small producers showing wines only from the commune.
Quality of 2022-2024 LN was still high across the board. 2022 Barolo was definitely more variable but there were still some standouts. Not surprisingly it was the more modern styles that weren’t up to par.
Here were my top 3 of the night
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2011 F. Rinaldi Barolo Brunate (double decanted)
Lakrisal (licorice candy), dark cherries, plums, floral and herbal notes. Silky texture, yet fine grained tannins (kind of reminds me of Lakrisal as well). Medium acidity. Good with long finish, perhaps a bit one dimensional (at the moment?). With time it started to show red berries as well.
Staying in Monferrato for a week with the family. It’s really hot and we are hitting the pool before and after lunch time. Eating out is far from relaxing as our 2-year old just won’t stay still. As such, I find myself often reminiscing over our holidays before the kids but then I say to myself: ”stay strong, fight through it, it will get easier eventually”. Today we drove to Alba and I managed to visit a few wine shops (I Piaceri del Gusto, Enoteca del Torri and Crichin). The last one was a really quick visit as my family’s patience was running thin. Had to step in though as it was right next to were we had our car parked, grabbed a bottle of the 2021 Piero Busso Barbaresco Mondino. Enoteca del Torri seemed absolutely fantastic, I could have bought a ton. Run by a very nice older couple (my assumption) with a very warm, welcoming vibe to it. As I shared my purchases in our Whatsapp group OttoF informed about the challenges in the 2024 harvest. I guess I will see how it goes, as as can be seen in the image below I bought several bottles from this vintage. I am happy to report that the first one was very nice and we emptied the bottle pretty fast while treating ourselves to a selection or cold cuts (Coppa, Prosciutto di Parma, Culatello), cheeses, bread, crackers etc.
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Looks like we have similar tastes! We are staying next to Marengo and that was our favorite - brought back a couple bottles to enjoy. Good people too - invited us to visit during bottling last week to entertain the kids but unfortunately we already had plans
What a view! Hoping to make a lunch trip to La Morra while here. I saw the 2021 Marengo Bricco del Viole today and the price was attractive (50€). Have you tried?
Tasted the ‘22 barolos and it general there was too much oak influence for me (they only use barriques for the barolos with about 10% new). Having said that the BdV and Brunate had the stuffing to match the oak than their two lower tier bottlings. Plus, the price is extremely reasonable too (43 at the winery).
Mora e Macine is really good for lunch
Ha! Time flies, and soon your kid will be opening wine for you.
Plus, at least for me, the kids are more rewarding than any restaurant meal could ever be.
That’s what I’m aiming for 
Of course they are. We’re just wondering if it’s even worth the hassle to try to have proper restaurant meals at this point and just go for conveniency instead. We would prefer to not have the kids look at a screen for 1h+ so that we can enjoy our food and wine (haven’t taken the phone out so far on this trip).
Yeah, I guess it depends what you mean by ‘proper’ restaurant meals. We definitely shifted dining habits around that age and avoided all the tasting menu-type places. And I do remember the hecticness, regardless of where we went!
And I’m not immune to thoughts about pre-kids gastronomy. My cooking had to adjust to young person tastes. But that too is changing!
Well even three courses seems borderline impossible currently, even with the help of drawing books and such. Definitely not thinking about long tasting menus
More e Macine moved us along quickly, honestly a little too quickly in any other situation. Our kids were in a bit of a mood the other night and maybe they could sense that…. There are always other families with little ones there for what it’s worth. I would recommend making a reservation even for a weekday lunch.
Osteria del Boccondivino in Bra (home of the Slow Food Movement) is great for families too. Large courtyard and the tables are really spread out so your kids could walk around if they get antsy. Most of the tables had little ones when we went.
Cliché alert! 
… “You’ll see, it goes by so quickly.”
We were lucky that the kids could hold at the table at a young age as we were also screen averse parents.
And now, we’re taking them to their first 1* Michelin in a week or so and I’m nostalgic about the years when they didn’t order what the hell they wanted from the menu! 
For car trips and flights, Lunii was a game changer for us when they were younger.
For now, keep them coloring books out! 
I love the sound of that!
Well what a group of people with great taste!
Moro e Macine 
Thanks for the notes on Marengo Valmaggiore, I’ve been curious about that for some time. If it came out well in 2024 than I’m sure it comes out well in every other vintage. They do seem to be a great family, Jancis Robinson has a great article on a Marengo Brunate vertical they did a couple of years ago. The takeaway was that the Marengo Brunate has a very even keel, that in lesser vintages it still maintains good quality and character, and in better vintages it certainly only improves. I would love to try the Brunate Riserva one day, which is a parcel selection of 90+ year old vines.
Never heard of Lunii before, I’ll need to check it out. Can’t say the same about the first line 
Part 2 of exploring 2024 Nebbiolo. The contrast to the Marengo Valmaggiore could not be much greater. This is very tasty with a high evaporating rate but I find myself longing for Marengo’s more structured and rugged approach just a bit. Good wines both, and I’m enjoying the journey.
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These Alfieri pastas were not bad at all either.
@Matt_England @Phil_T_r_o_t_t_e_r
More e Macine was very good for us. Granted, we had spent two hours in a water park in the morning and then driven an hour to La Morra so our 2-year old was VERY restless when we arrived. As such it was even more hectic than usual at our table but I was motivated to stay composed to enjoy some good wine and food. We chose a couple of interesting options from the 13-wine Coravin list. I most definitely did not have a single moment to assess the wines but they were clearly very different. The 2021 Luigi Pira Marenca was focused, firm and tight with beautiful intensity and a refined structure and certain freshness to it. The 2020 Ca’ di Press Perno was rich and spicy with a VA kick but still relatively civilized. The missus strongly preferred the latter, I the first. The food was affordable and very well made. This is the sort of place I can imagine returning again and again, hopefully one day with a group of friends to raid the wine list properly.
