While Doug is off in Italy running tours, we’re home working and having a relaxing family night.  While we don’t have the luxury of being in Italy tonight, here’s a fun alternative that just might be the next best thing.

It’s Friday, and thus we are enjoying a late dinner and a bottle of Giribaldi’s Dolcetto d’Alba (Crottino, 2012…an *excellent* buy at $10 at my local fine wine purveyor), which just tastes like…Italy!  Tannic, little of the frivolous fruitiness sometimes ascribed to Dolcetto, and perfect with food.  On the back of the bottle, I note that it is produced and bottled in Rodello, Italy, a sleepy little village in Piemonte.  Using Google, you can actually go see exactly where your grapes are grown.  It is a way fun to brainstorm for places to go exploring in Italy AND feel connected to the artisanal nature of wine making in the foothills of the Alps.  Looking up Azienda Giribaldi, Rodello, Italia, Google takes me here:

Green hills, curvy hillside roads, and terra cotta roofs, what’s not to like?  Needless to say we’re intrigued, and it’s time to click the zoom in button:

Even better.  Rows of grapes and plots of farmland can now be made out from what feels like a 20,000ft view.  I feel the aura of the place already.  Lovely.

Another click or two and our virtual tour of Rodello clearly shows the individual houses near the farm plots and rows and rows in the vineyard.  Yes.  Time to click for the street view:

And there it is–not overly dramatic, just an understated structure but with vaguely Palladian symmetry about it that certainly looks inviting.  That’s where our wine comes from!  A small vintner on a hillside in Piemonte labors to produce something in the crowded marketplace that is our wine, and thanks to the distributor’s efforts and the sharp eye and palate of our friends across the street at Sovereignty Wines here in Colorado Springs, we’re able to enjoy it.  It’s neat when you think about it for even a moment.  Let’s explore further:

And we see minimalist sign inviting us into explore Azienda Giribaldi.  Most of the places that are “must see” for first or second Italy visitors are within walking distance of train stations.  I’m sensing that a visit to Piemonte to visit local grape-growers is as good a reason as any to rent a car!  You can see the shadow of Google’s robot-on-the-car in the lower left.  Moving deeper into the vineyard:

Well…that’s certainly not ugly.  That’s where my Barbaresco, my Dolcetto, my Gavi are coming from?  Yes, let’s go visit, and soon.  (Composes email to the Giribaldi folks about a visit this spring–who’s in?).

Spring 2015:  who wants to visit Alba and taste the best wines in the world?  Taking applications to go on an adventure here.