Harvest blog, Anne Krebiehl, Treiso, Piedmonte

After the last grapes had come in, we started cleaning: the crusher/de-stemmer, the pipes, the hall. Remontages were still made twice a day for all the fermenting vats and those that had finished were racked off: what spectrum of purple, dark red and pink the fine lees were. I was tempted to play Jackson Pollock and pour them all over the winery in finely patterned arabesques, but alas, I just shovelled them into a tank.

As the main thrust of work was over, I set about exploring the region, following up on the tips Francesco had given me, but not before tasting some of the Pelissero wines: the super fresh Dolcetto Munfrina and the rich, rounded Dolcetto Augenta (both 2009) - same grape but what a difference a vineyard makes and some time in a big oak barrel. Then the purple, smoky Barbera d'Alba Piani from 2008 which was aged in barrique: an ageworthy, dark-berry-fruited wine with that typical Barbera acid pitch and velvety length.

We moved on to the Nebbiolo: the Barbaresco Nubiola was named after an old term for Nebbiolo - it is a mixture of seven smaller vineyard parcels and the 2007 shows itself sprightly and tight, with grippy tannins and tart, red fruit. Barbaresco Tulin (2007) is a single-vineyard wine with a floral, evocative nose and complex elderberry fruit, an elegant wine that still needs time - all the promise is already there.

Barbaresco Vanotu from 2006 is from the oldest vines, planted in the 1960s, its nose is a mix of violet blossom, tar and vanilla and in the mouth it shows the same severe structure that the fermenting must showed of that vineyard: ripe tannins, an acidic backbone and a core of fruit with some alcoholic heat. Again, this needs time to grow into itself but already lets us glimpse what a great wine this will become with time.

To finish we taste the virgin vintage of Moscato d'Asti 2010 here at Pelissero: all the lovely Moscato perfume with a creamy mousse and a green apple freshness.

And speaking of Moscato, that same evening I had one of the most memorable, decadent and seductive tastes ever: in my little village of San Rocco Seno d'Elvio the owners of the Osteria Italia - having seen my GB number plate - asked me to translate their menu into English, a very pleasant task which consisted of a lot of culinary chat. By way of payment, Renato the chef-patron, put a warm cup and saucer in front of me from which emanated a heavenly scent: it was a zabaglione made of Moscato, golden with egg yolks, softly sweet, upon which he had heaped the most generous shaving of fresh white Alba truffles. No deity has ever partaken of anything more delicious.