Michael in Italy - Lunch with Prunotto

The most thorough wine experience of my visit to Piemonte in May was my tasting with Prunotto, a veteran Barolo and Barbaresco producer with a state-of-the-art winery in downtown Alba. The lovely Tizianna Gallo hosted me on an exclusive tour of the facility, which has been Prunotto’s headquarters since 1972. She then generously opened more than half-a-dozen wines to taste, the highlights of which were an ’05 Barbera d’Asti Costamiole….a fat, sweet-fruited red with serious stature, and an ’04 Barbaresco Bric Turot, which was already drinking perfectly, showing distinctive olive and herb notes. The sampling was followed by a delightful lunch in Alba at Enoclub Ristorante, where we enjoyed such local delicacies as cheek of beef, and Vitello Tonnato….a carpaccio of veal with cold tuna sauce. –Michael Koehler


The ’04 Bussia slowly becoming the beautiful wine that it will be.


Tizianna (left) and Miss Deborah discussing the nuanced flavors of cru Barolo.