I direct my attention right ahead towards the wines for free tasting: here they are:

1) Massotondo Monsecco Uva Rara 2001 (Bonarda) every day wine, balanced. 81/100

2) Vespolina Ca De Santi 2000 Il Rubino Colli Novaresi. Animal bouquet. wet and muddy. Same in the mouth. Small structure 78/100

3) La Mostella 2002 Torraccia del Piantavigna Vespolina Colline Novaresi. Still some animal scent. Grass and pepper. Exactly the same in the mouth. Pleasant finish. 84/100

4) Coste della Sesia Spanna 2002 Nervi
Light brick red. Black pepper. Ethereal. Light medium body. Tannic. Long finish 82/100

5) Ghemme 1997 Monsecco
Wet fur, barnyard, grass.
Fairly balanced when entering the mouth. Tannins come in late but powerful. Warm and round feelings.
86/100

6) Gattinara 1998 di Sergio Gattinara
Wet and muddy. Pepper, grass. Same in the mouth. Though...I think this bottle has been open for a while (a week?). Tannins are evident, well structured. 83/100

7) Gattinara 1998 Cantina Sociale di Gattinara. Muddy, a bit corky. Wet grass. Same in the mouth. 75/100

8) Gattinara 1998 Nervi. Light brick color. Delicat at the nose: violet, roses, berries. Light medium body. Pleasantly tannic. 82/100

I finally left Gattinara, sadly, but not that much, because I know that I will find my friend Nebbiolo elsewhere. The itinerary I inserted into my computer last night, and that I am following closely without mistakes thanks to my GPS, is bringing me through small towns in the middle of 2 other small DOC of Piemonte: Bramaterra and Lessona. I start to "climb" higher hills, right until Biella the famous town of Italian wool industry. Then I really started to see mountains. The ALPS! I always remember looking at these mountains and feeling small, small, small. Still the same. Once again, I see them, I fear them, I pay respect to them. The rock is steep and enriches the sky, right above your head. This is what I notice when I am in an alpine valley. I am now in the Dora Baltea valley. Dora Baltea is one of the major alpine rivers responsible of the excavation of the valley that now is the tiny region of Valle d'Aosta between Piemonte, France and Switzerland.

I went across the border between Piemonte and Valle d'Aosta, just to feel something different. Again, another region, another character. However, my goal today is to explore and study another DOC where Nebbiolo is the main grape: Carema DOC. The different producers I visited told me that they have started the papers to request the DOCG for the Carema denomination. Soon it will become a DOCG. Good for them. They put so much work in this alpine area for growing grapes. The resulting Carema wine is a good result of this effort and in the glass it shows it: a brick red, structured, tannic typical Nebbiolo.

The first producer is in the town of Carema: "Cantina Produttori Nebbiolo di Carema"

1) Canavese Rosso 2003 (70% Nebbiolo) €5 78/100

2) Carema Etichetta Nera 2000 (Nebbiolo 100%) 3 years in casks €6.80 82/100

3) Carema Etichetta Bianca 1999 (Nebbiolo 100%) 3 years in casks plus one in bottles €8.20 80/100

4) Carema Etichetta Bianca 1998 (Nebbiolo 100%) 3 years in casks plus one in bottle €8.20 78/100

Closed at the nose, almost like if it was in decadence. It was a new bottle, that might have needed o some time to open up. Same in the mouth.

5) Carema Etichetta Bianca Barricato 1998 (Nebbiolo 100%) 3 years in casks plus one in barrique €12.20 85/100

A beautiful drive further south in the valley, brought me after 20 minutes to Ivrea home of the producer Ferrando who also owns an enoteca/wine bar in the town's historical center.

I was ready to spend the usual couple of hours with another wine maker....they are all wine makers, right? Therefore they crush the grape and ferment the most. Yet, every time I sit down with them or I go to the vineyards with them, it is a different story. I come out enchanted by what everybody has to say, by how they live their reality, either for passion, heritage or just to make money out of the ever-growing wine business. And every time I leave, my "cultural pocket" is full of newly unveiled mysteries, answered questions and.... why not, also new unanswered ones.

Roberto Ferrando has an innate passion: promote the local grape variety and enhance the quality of the resulting wine. The white native variety, the Erbaluce, is produced in 3 variants each one regulated by a DOC. Bianco, Spumante, Passito. The Ferrando estate produces all of the three. I had to try them all! I also tasted the 2 Carema he produces in his vineyards further north (Carema DOC - the direction I came from) and a late harvest. What a feast!

And I listened carefully to Roberto's stories. 6 wines, 6 stories!!!

1) Erbaluce di Caluso Vigneti Cariola 2003. Erbaluce (100% in this wine) is a grape with a high content of acidity. These wines usually go through the malolactic fermentation to reduce the acidity content. This wine is very balanced and ready to drink. Yeast notes on the nose augment the fragrance. €7 79/100

2) Erbaluce spumante - Cuvee del Fondatore. An experiment. Not commercialized yet.

3) Carema etichetta bianca (literally: white label) 2000. Nebbiolo 100% €16 82/100

4) Carema etichetta nera (literally: black label) 2000 Nebbiolo 100% €27 86/100

5) Solativo Vendemmia Tardiva (late harvest) 2000 Erbaluce 100% €15 (0.500 lt) 82/100

6) Caluso Passito Cariola 1999 Erbaluce 100% €30 (0.500 lt) 80/100

I found a nice "pensione" just few km south of Ferrando in a small fraction of Ivrea just before the Pianura Padana flats. I had some time to relax before dinner (remember... You cannot have dinner before 8 pm!), so I reorganized my notes in a splendid terrace. This is one of the best rooms I found so far in terms of price/quality. Only 20 Euro!

I am now seated at the local trattoria, listening to a conversation between locals. The dialect of the area is so beautifully and different from the one I heard just the day before!! And I only drove 100 km! And I am still in the Piemonte region! However, this is the province of Torino. Yesterday was the province of Vercelli. According to the locals, the "Vercellesi" are foreigners!

A smooth "quartino di Barbera " is beautifully wrapping my day...