Berbenno di Valtellina, Italia
Good morning! Looks like we are in for some rain today, and perhaps tomorrow. Grandchild number 8 is almost cooked. Yesterday evening we were informed that she would be born on Friday. So, the plans for the coming weeks have been solidified, at least to some extent. We are going to Torino as originally planned on Tuesday, October 1.
While we missed the actual grape harvest, it took place last week, we will be in Berbenno for the transfer to the fermentation tanks, and eventually to the barrels. Exactly when depends on the wine, not us. Another thing that just simply can’t be scheduled. The there will be the olive harvests. Yes, two. One in Berbenno and another in Loro Ciuffenna, near Siena. Again, however, there is no way of knowing which harvest will take place when. In October is all out we can surmise.
Today is easy. We are going to go to Gerola Alta. It is about an hour south-west of Berbenno. Google maps indicates it is 30 km from Berbenno, however I have driven this route a couple times, and now and I can tell you it is at least an hour. First it is the traffic on the road from Sondrio to Morbegno, then it is the windy two-lane road up the hill from Morbegno. We have a two o’clock appointment at Storico Ribelle to pick up the cheese. We will pick up Damilia at 12:30 at the train station in Sondrio. An hour and a half should be enough time to get to Gerola Alta.
Well, despite the rain we made good time getting to Gerola Alta. The road was in much better condition than I remember. Finding Storico Ribelle was another story. I drove right past it. There is a lot of construction going on here and I just missed it. We went further up the valley than ever before, then I turned around and headed back down. We parked at the Church, and walked down the road from there.
Walking it was easy to find Storico Ribelle. It was before 2 so we had time to kill so we walked back up the road to Antica Trattoria Pizzo Tre Signori. We have eaten here before; last time it was with Mary’s book club. However, we didn’t each just got a cappuccino and brioche, wine and chips.
Once it had gone 2 we walked down the street to Storico Ribelle. We went down into the cantina to see our wheel of cheese. It is hard to believe it has been two years since we placed the order. Then we went back up stairs and decided how to divide up the cheese.
¼ - goes to Torino
1/8 – goes to Berbenno (Mariagiulia, Alfio, Mattia and Alessandra)
1/8 – for Damilia
1/8 – for us to take to California
1/8 – for Kansas City Falks
1/8 – for Taylor, Rachel & Leander
1/16 – for Mary’s book club
1/16 – for Pina
Mind you that the wheel was approximately 10 kilos or 22 pounds. ¼ - is roughly a little more than 5 pounds. 1/8 is a little more than 2.75 pounds. It is a lot of cheese.
Alpe Ancogno Soliva is the field or farm where our cheese is from.
While he was dividing up the cheese and vacuum packing it for us, we enjoyed a glass of Zago Prosecco DOC, produced in Vito D’Aozio in the Carnic Alps north of Venice. The Carnic Alps, in Italian they are Alpi Carniche, are a range of the Southern Limestone Alps in Austria and northeastern Italy. They are within Austrian East Tyrol and Carinthia, and Italian Friuli (Province of Udine) and marginally in Veneto.
Complementing the Prosecco, he served the Bitto cheese at four different ages. The first was two months old, then some of ours at 24 months, then one which was 60 months, and the last 120 months. It is amazing how the cheese changes as it ages, but it still has that wonderful flavor.
We packed up everything, including two bottles of the Prosecco, 750 grams of a “blue cheese”, 500 grams of Bitto aged two months, for the pizzoccheri tonight, and headed back down the mountain. It was still raining a bit as we drive back to Berbenno. We stopped at Mariagiulia and Alfio’s and dropped off some 24 month cheese for tonight’s dinner and a bottle of Prosecco. The dish or meal which is pizzoccheri is more than just a type pasta. Americans are so easily confused by this. Pizzoccheri, the pasta, is a short tagliatelle, a flat ribbon pasta, made with a blend of buckwheat flour and wheat flour. Now when you go to buy this in the states or even outside the Valtellina, it is more like tagliatelle, but appropriately and made by hand, it is about a ¼ thick.
Historically this hearty pasta is believed to have originated in Valtellina. Pizzoccheri the meal, is most definitely from the Valtellina. The meal consists of pizzoccheri, the pasta, mixed with cubes of boiled potatoes, wilted cabbage and melted cheese. This was the hearty meal for the farmers. It is packed with enough calories to sustain the hardest worker for the entire day. For the 70+ year old people, the meal can last a few days to a week. But, it is so worth eating, especially when Mariagiulia makes it.
Before dinner we drove Damilia back to Sondrio, and then returned to Le Corti Dei Sassi. We sat in the breakfast room, in front of a fire prepared by Luigi, and played canasta. Alfio had agreed to drive up to Sondrio to get Damilia for dinner, and, thankfully, driver her home after dinner. We walked up the hill to Mariagiulia and Alfio’s house at 6 for dinner. Just as we walked in so did Damilia and Alfio. What good timing.
Alfio grabbed Reno’s dinner, Alfio’s father who still lives in Regoledo a little further up the hill. Damilia, Mary and I talked a bit. Turns out the vineyard is the one of the curve on Via G. Garibaldi. Le Conti Dei Sassi is on Via G. Garibaldi just a little closer to town. It is the road we walk on to get to Mariagiulia and Alfio’s. From the photos Pietro shared with us, it was obvious this is Serra & Pietro’s vineyard.
This was confirmed later by Alfio. Alfio also said that Serra & Pietro’s house will be built in Castione Andevenno near Iperverde, a nursery. The zona commercial is just a little closer to Sondrio. This is where the Iperal store is, think Walmart in size, and a lot of other commercial operations, including Decathlon, this time think Big 5 sporting goods. We still need to confirm the actual location of the house. It seems impossible but it is supposed to be completed by next November (2025).
After dinner we retired to Le Conti Dei Sassi for the night. It was good to walk down the hill, even though it was pouring down rain. Anything to help the digestion. Sleep came quickly, but the though of ever eating again, that is another story.
Buonanotte e Ciao, Enrico e Maria
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