In Monferrato, Piemont, Montalbera’s infinity salt water pool + bubbles + Art Predator= perfection
September 2026 was quite a month! While I didn’t win any major writing contests like I did in September of 2022 followed by my first press trip to Italy, September 2026 will still go down as an incredible month for wine, food, travel and adventure for this Wine Predator!
David Oliver’s Petaled Portal, an honorarium art project at Burning Man 2026
I started September at Burning Man, quite unexpectedly when a friend gifted me tickets, so away I went the next day! While I didn’t bring my top wine game, my campmates sure did! Burning Man is better know for its cocktail culture, but there are certainly some awesome wine bars in Black Rock City like Vines without Borders. Another favorite wine bar, Camp Wineaux, took the year off and lead wineauxs camped with us bringing their wonderful tented tasting room with velvet drapes to our camp and there we gathered during the windstorms to enjoy wine and conviviality as well as to hold renewal of wedding vows for campmates celebrating 40 and 25 years. I was ring bearer!
I had big plans for writing in September… September 3 was Cabernet Day and I’d planned to celebrate that as well as California Wine Month with you with a few California Judgment of Paris wines; stay tuned for that story! Once I returned from Burning Man, I went back to college teaching full-time with two writing courses, plus co-chair responsibilities. Plans for Chianti Day followed as Sue and I tasted a few Chianti, so we’d planned that for Chianti Day in early September. But that too fell by the wayside for another day.
For Grenache Day, we have several from Tablas Creek and the plan is to also discuss their regenerative organic certification; I visited them in April and I have lots of pictures, too. I posted about Grenache Day several ways on the socials, including about Tablas Creek. Looking forward to sharing more on Wine Predator about my four days in Paso Robles visiting the six regenerative organic certified wineries there. Stay tuned! Subscribe!
Navigli negroni at MAG Cafe in Milano– what a lineup of cocktails!
But on Grenache Day, instead of writing about Grenache, I was on my way to Italy once again– on a press trip to Roero located just north of Barolo and Barbaresco in Piemont! They let me fly in early, so I visited friends in Milan and we went to a fabulous bar in the Navigli neighborhood of Milan. Did you know there are two canals that run through Milano? Yep! We enjoyed cocktails in Navigli at MAG Cafe next to the “smallest bar in the world” that by reservation only seats four people and makes custom drinks. Pretty cool! We shopped in the vintage market along the water also plus we sawa gondola!
Oltrepo Pavese hike high along the ridge; at the top we had a picnic lunch
And we went for a hike in Oltrepo Pavese, a wine region I’d written about but never visited that’s well known for sparkling wine made from pinot Nero. Sadly, we didn’t have time to visit any wineries but we did hike among the vines. My friends go hiking in Oltrepo Pavese often; they enjoy hiking the hills through the vineyards and through the forests. Our hike was thrilling along a knife edge with quite a steep drop off as you can see from the photo.
From Milan I went by train to Asti in Piemonte, where I was given a ride to Monferrato where I visited two wineries: Montalbera and Garrone where I think I tasted Ruche for the first time. We sampled other wines well known in the region like Gringolino and Barbera d’Asti. I also soaked in the salt water pool at Montalbera! That night had a stunning sunset with the Alps sending up a dramatically sharp outline.
Monferrato sunset
Do you know “ruche”? It’s a really rare red grape from the Monferrato region that’s definitely worth discovering! It was basically unknown until the 1960s or 1970s when a priest realized that a few rows of vines weren’t actually Barbera but something else.
That something else is now known as Ruche, and today I walked the Montalbera Terra del Ruchè vineyards and tasted their wines to learn why about 60% of their million bottle production is dedicated to this grape. They also grow and produce about 60% of this wine made in the world!
Montalbera’s ruche has quite a scenic view
To be honest, I was quite taken by it. I tasted two versions made in stainless steel and a third they make using large Slovenian oak barrels. Each had similar characteristics of raspberry, baking spices and florals like violets and roses, acidity and tannins, yet its own character. Vineyards in the region have a lot clay and limestone— and spectacular views!
The Ruche pairs especially well with cheeses but I’m looking forward to experimenting further! Lots more to share about my two afternoons here!
After my tour and tasting at Montalbera Terra del Ruchè, I was invited to take a swim in their infinity saltwater pool! So of course i said YES and I took my glass of sparkling gringolino (!!) along with the rest of my charcuterie poolside under the eyes of a watchful ape and a two faced red chair…What a great way to say “so long summer!” They even provided a Montalbera swimsuit and hat too! Sadly I didn’t get to stay there over night… the suites are very very nice as you can see and booked all the time they say…they only have 4.
Dante Garrone
Ruche is so rare that only a million or so bottles are produced each year! It fell out of favor and was almost completely lost mainly because it is very rigorous and hard to control in the vineyard and in the cellar. As mentioned above, it was recovered in the 1960s and 1970s; by the 1980s winemaking techniques had developed such that the wild ruche could be managed and made into a sophisticated and elegant wine.
Dante describes Gringolino as a gothic wine, sharp edged in contrast to Ruche as a baroque wine smooth and soft and when made with some wood rococo!
Sue and I have plans to compare the ruche from Montalbera with the Gringolino from Garrone, both paired with burgers and Italian cheese. Stay tuned– subscribe!
Garrone Jeep
After lunch we visited the Garrone cellar and took a jeep tour of the steep slopes of the Garrone vineyards. So beautiful … and with views of villages peeking through here and there.
Roero is also in Piemonte just north of Alba and the areas where Barolo and Barbaresco are made from Nebbiolo. Turns out Roero makes some darn fine Nebbiolo — elegant, fragrant, lean, supple. Roero is also famous for a white grape, Arneis and while we were focused on the traditional still expression, we also had sparkling and a passito.
And I have to stop here for now because I brought home from Italy, in addition to a few bottles of wine, jet lag, lots of mosquito bites, and a terrible cold. So it’s bedtime… before I fall into a deep snooze. ! Next up, Roero!
