Microblog
More photos from Grasso Fratelli. All the wines were good, but the 2015 Grasso Fratelli Barbaresco Riserva excellent. A real stand out.
After a leisurely lunch, we visited Grasso Fratelli, a small family owned winery whose owners Adam & Natalie are friends with. And when I say small, I mean very small. All the winemaking is done by brothers Luigi and Alfredo, while their niece Eliza handles the business end of things. We walked their vineyards, toured the winery with its 50 hectoliter boti (giant barrels), then tasted their wines. It was a fantastic time.
We had planned to taste at Produttori del Barbaresco, but they were a little busy, so we instead climbed Barbaresco Tower, directly across the street. The views of the countryside were outstanding.
We went into the village of Barbaresco to look around and found the same tractor we had seen earlier at Rabajà in the town square, delivering its grapes to Produttori del Barbaresco, the local farmer’s co-op and a very highly regarded producer of Barbaresco wines. The grapes are weighed and de-stemmed right there on the square.
I was surprised to learn that Joe’s house is directly across the road from Rabajà (pronounced rah-bah-YA in the Piedmontese dialect), one of the most well-known and prized vineyards in Barbaresco. Harvest is in full swing here, and tractors and field workers everywhere—in the fields and on the roads.
Adam and Natalie were staying with their friend Joe in Barbaresco, and they offered to let us use their shower to freshen up after our travel. Barbaresco is beautiful! In addition to a hot shower, the house also had commanding views of the Barbaresco countryside. I’m told these views are protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which makes it difficult/impossible to build anything that would spoil the view.
After an 8 hour layover in Boston, then an overnight flight, Heather an I arrived in Milan. We rented a car, almost misplaced my iPhone 😱, then took the 2 hour drive to Barbaresco where we were meeting our friends Adam and Natalie.
Had lunch at Boston Logan where we saw a prep cook shucking oysters. But the knife had a cord! Maybe an electric shucking knife? I asked my server and he explained that it wasn’t electric, but rather a security cable that tethered the knife to the station. They have periodic security audits, and if a knife is missing they shut down the airport! #Italy2025