Arterial stress at its very best

Hotel Bellevue, Cogne Valle d'Aosta, IT

First the weather...at Les Cretes it was 22C (71.6F). Here, 15km away it was 14C and dropped during lunch to 9C. Crazy. I watched the snow storm come from Mont Blanc to Gran Paradiso during lunch, in July.

Lunch at Bar a Fromage.

The room is typical Italian Alpine business: very cute, lots of wood and wood beams. Pewter table service makes it feel very 1880.

Ok, if I eat everything on the dish put in front of me I'll die or be 280 lbs. It's an entree plate filled with polenta covered with a poached egg (that has that sunny color that really fresh egg yolks have), about 20 slices of summer truffle, and surrounded by crispy bacon.

The other dish is maybe better. Small pasta Favo, tossed with a cheese sauce finished with tomato, small favas and covered with crispy brown breadcrumbs.

Next dish is Raclette, a semi-firm, salted cheese made from cow’s milk. God help us. Having these dishes with Costantino's top chardonnay from Les Cretes "Cuvee Bois" 2004. Probably should be served with an IV and my cardiologist on the side or maybe something brighter. Great wine - I did not choose as I should have though.

Raclette is served melting slowly at the table - probably a 24 ounce piece for 2 persons to share. They send you a basket of steamed, salted little potatoes and a plate of dried beef on the side in case the puddle of stinky, glossy goodness isn't sufficient. I found rolling slices of the potato in the cheese and using the dried beef as a counterpoint pretty gosh-darn pleasurable. Guess it's safe to say this is not the Italian cooking we think of in Baltimore typically.

Al Veluu: Not in any guidebooks…

In the teeny town of Rogaro above Tremezzo on Lake Como sits the idyllic restaurant Al Veluu. It is difficult to imagine a more perfect place for lunch outside - on the side of one of the mountains surrounding Como a few hundred feet up.
The proprietor who was taking care of us explained that "they don't make advertisements because they have enough work and they don't like too many people".


Lunch was one classic after another: Bresaola with Arugula, Reggiano (best Bresaola I've had) and local oil (Lenno xvoo); Carpaccio of Piemonte Beef with Arugula and Preserved Black Nava Truffle; are fried Zucchini Flowers stuffed with Mozzarella and fresh basil. When he took the order and offered my fried zucchini for a side dish I asked if there were any blossoms - "of course there are, I'll go get some from the garden below us". So he did. He also brought back some beautiful figs from the tree just below us on the hill to serve with local prosciutto and salami. After we had a pasta, Penne "Al Veluu" very much like Arrabiata, and Beef Tartare. We also had the excellent Dolcetto that Gaja makes (the only wine anyone can afford from him these days) called Cremes. Light but with some body, punch of purple fruit and well-managed tannin. Unusual for this often ill-behaved grape.


After we sampled cheeses from the area including two different Valtellina (Lombardian cow's milk pressed cheese that does not come to the U.S.) that remind me more of some English pieces and a flavorful fresh local chèvre. Dessert was a very decadent if not refined version of Tiramisu.


This is a remarkably welcoming place serving exactly what you might wish for in this region, with a great view, fair prices and a thoughtful wine list. By the way - you will not find this place in any guidebooks, they avoid being listed. Go to Lake Como, up the western shore maybe halfway to Tremezzo, look for signs for Rogaro up the hill that overlooks the lake and then look for signs for Al Veluu.
http://www.alveluu.com/

WINE AND A BEAUTIFUL LUNCH IN AUBIGNY

After a busy morning of visiting growers in the communes of the Sancerrois I was looking forward to a good lunch at a restaurant that a grower had recommended as always having great river fish - exactly what I was in the mood for.

I guess I should encapsulate a few notes before my petit repas...

The 2006's that I had begun to taste in the States were showing more fat here. They just do not have the spine or the phenolics of the 2005's...which I will now lay more away - especially as fruit set is late for this year and hurts the odds of this year as a top performer. I miss the 96's that I have finished from my own cellar that still have good life ahead for a few years. I just drank them too fast...

At any rate I don't recommend cellaring much if any and only the best Sancerre from the strongest vintages for more than 5 years. Most are best at 3-4 years after the vintage. They retain fruit and freshness but show better complexity and minerality.

In the town of Aubigny, just a short drive from Sancerre and Chavignol is a little restaurant called La Chaumière (also an Auberge). It's a perfect room for lunch - lots of light, clean buttery linens on the tables, lots of exposed 600 year old beams and architectural elements. Also of note, I was the only diner at lunch under 70 on this weekday except for some sort of English soccer tour troupe in the far corner drinking Kronenbourg and talking "birds".

The menu is short and purely regional. My first dish was the house-fruitwood-smoked salmon. Beautifully and delicately done (although inexpertly sliced) and served with crunchy-fresh local butter lettuces, frissee and fresh juniper berries in white wine vinaigrette. My second dish was the eel (colin). This is the small river eels that had been bragged about: super fresh, roasted on the bone and served whole with a reduced cream with fresh sorrel. This was a great simple dish. The eel was fresh, firm and sweet. What you wish swordfish would be like (with a finer grain to the flesh).

I drank a ‘96 Sancerre (white) from Chateau de Maimbray that showed beautifully with both dishes. I had to battle with the Sommelier who was on a mission to prove to me the quality of the red wines of the region. Bleck. Twice over the years and after hundreds of attempts have I had a red Sancerre that was pleasurable. The popularity of these wines in Parisian cafes indicts the clientele on charges of masochism in the first degree.

AUBERGE DES TEMPLIERS

I was recommended to stay and dine here while visiting producers in Berry. Sancerre and Pouilly sur Loire are just a half an hour or so south.

It is a lovely place to stay - park sort of setting, really talented gardeners - and just an excellent cellar and solid kitchen. I may have to rename the place as "Auberge du Fussy Old Englishmen that Torment the Poor Staff". Probably not a commercial name I guess, but entirely indicative of the guests at that moment in time. I think I became popular with the staff for leaving leftover wine, not changing dishes and not lecturing the staff 24/7 on how to do their jobs, what they should or shouldn't do with the wine they are serving/not asking to speak to the Chef in order to lecture him and not wearing high-water spring pastel colored pants with lace-up clown shoes (3 of these from different guests at the same time).

From the kitchen the best dishes were simple and traditional to the region,Pigeon, Spring Lamb, Smoked Local Salmon, Sandre (river fish). The local chèvres are also highlighted. Specifically Crottin de Chavignol in several stages of aging.

The cellar is loaded with red and white Burgundy and Bordeaux (both with range and maturity) as well as local wines that you expect and a superb champagne selection.

My biggest surprise wine of the trip came from their cellar. A 1967 Gevrey Chambertin Clos Saint Jacques from Domaine Clair-Dau (a great estate that no longer exists). I ordered it because it was from a great estate and vineyard and from a vintage of mixed reputation that I've had little experience with. So this might be my best shot at enjoying something from that year.

The wine showed great perfume immediately, dark, minerality but flowery sweet red fruit on top. A touch of alcohol. Probably just starting to break up. On the palate the wine showed with good opulence, soft tannins and many of the flavors one expects from the nose along with a nice meaty mid-palate. It was terrific with pigeon and foie gras.

One of my favorite treats in France (and northern Italy) in the spring and summer are the wild strawberries that are served - often with crème fraîche. Paired with a great Chenin Blanc - based sweet wine this is a magnificent treat. I had it with a 1964 Clos du Bourg Vouvray from Huet. Just terrific. The wine has both the acid required by the tart berries, the richness and the decadent sweetness one wishes for.