Our last day in Alba, so we decide to drive to some of the neighboring towns. Nico was the front desk guy, and he suggested Neive, which is just a couple of miles from Barbaresco. He said it was the prettiest town in Italy and one of his favorite places.
We agreed - it was a darling town. Several nice sidewalk restaurants and a couple of beautiful churches.
Then on to Barbaresco and the Enoteca Regionale.
We did some tasting and bought a couple of bottles that had been recommended in Matt Kramer's book about Italian Wines. We didn't get to taste the ones we bought (only six were available for tasting), so I'll have to let you know if Matt Kramer is right or not!
The Enoteca itself is beautiful, with a lovely frescoed ceiling.
Well, guess where we went for dinner - yep, La Pignatta again! It was just so close and convenient, and the food was great. No pizza tonight though. Bill had Gnocci with arugula, and I had Steak with Gnocci and Gorgonzola. Bill also had a huge main course salad that had tons of stuff on it, but I forgot to take a photo until it was almost gone. Sorry - but at least you get some idea of what it had on it.
Our wine was Elio Grasso Gavarini Nebbiolo - another good wine.
This was our server, Agnes. She spoke excellent English plus three other languages. She was actually Croatian but had lived in Germany and now in Italy. She said she preferred Germany but had married an Italian man and had a young child, so she was "stuck" living in Italy. Kind of interesting.
Comments (3)
The town looks really lovely. I noticed that the church has some beautiful icons in the altar.
Posted by María I. | September 28, 2009 6:55 PM
Posted on September 28, 2009 18:55
Cute town. I have not heard of Neive before. Trying to imagine how I would feel being "stuck" in Italy.
Posted by girasoli | October 5, 2009 12:35 PM
Posted on October 5, 2009 12:35
Wonderful photos, Nancy! What a beautiful town, such lovely churches.
And that ceiling fresco is fantastic -- I'd love to work in a place decorated so beautifully.
Posted by sandrac | October 29, 2009 6:17 PM
Posted on October 29, 2009 18:17