Monthly Archives: October 2010

Wagner has never really done it for me and I have been able to get along very well without him but in the past week he appeared, uninvited,  in my life. You may already be wondering the relevance of Wagner to life in Italy and until last week I wouldn’t have been able to explain. (more…)

We have always found it very easy to get sucked into excess and it seemed like a good idea to supplement the vegetable garden with free range eggs. As I have written before we bought 11 young chickens that we wrestled with every evening for a few months putting them to bed. We have now been well and truly rewarded but with a bit of foresight we should have considered what we we would do with nearly a dozen eggs a day!

The super 6

One of the ringleaders

We don’t really want to eat scrambled, fried eggs or omelettes for breakfast daily even if they are delicious. On the other hand we are able to keep our friends well supplied. Hopefully they will slow down as autumn and winter set in. A quietness and stillness is beginning to settle in as the harvest reaches its conclusion and the mist is becoming more prevalent. Time for a bit of culture:

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This week we had the good fortune to be introduced by Federico Scarzello to Pete Weimer and Romy Gygax, who run the extraordinary Cascina Ebreo. While everyone in Barolo is anxious to use that aristocratic name on their bottles, Pete takes a different view.

Pete & Romy's remarkable wines

Pete Weimer

Romy Gygax

Back in the 90′s after back-breaking renovation and replanting, Pete presented his 1997 report to the Barolo Commission who told him that he made nice nebbiolo but that it was cloudy.

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I am very fortunate that my passion for Piemonte wines is contagious and last week my son’s mate Rob (aka as Poshington)went along to a tasting organised by Decanter magazine in London. Among the wines he particularly enjoyed were a couple of names that I didn’t know so a quick phone call and we set off to Barolo to meet equally passionate Federico Scarzello (Scarzello Giorgio & figli – Azienda Agricola). (more…)