Franco Rocca: Our Barbaresco Winegrower Friend
A Great Deal on Single Cru Barbaresco
Have you heard of cruzu.com? Check them out, crowdsourcing for wineries looking for American exposure. A Barbaresco winegrower friend of ours, Franco Rocca, has an offer open until July 5, and he is looking for support. I don’t have anything to gain from this support, except that I have backed him and I’m hoping his deal is successful, as I would love to have more of his wine! Take a look, the pricing is very attractive for single cru artisan Barbaresco. We love Franco and Susan’s Barbaresco, and we’d love to see it in the U.S. I hope you’ll consider joining us!
Why Franco is So Special
Bear with me while I tell the story a bit backwards. Early in our first real trip to the Piemonte, our guides, Robert & Leslie, had arranged a winery visit and lunch at Cantina del Bricchetto. We enjoyed the visit, having a nice chance to meet Franco and Susan. We purchased several bottles of wine, and continued on with our day.
The simplest gesture is so nice: Franco pulled over, just to say hello.
Several days later, Julie and I were out for an early morning walk before another day of touring. A car was coming up the (very rural) road; it was Franco. Franco saw us, smiled, and pulled over just to say hello. How nice is that! Franco doesn’t speak much English, and we don’t speak much Italian, so our conversation was short. We felt so welcomed by his simple gesture. He seemed to exemplify everything we were quickly coming to love about the Piemonte: down to earth, unique, friendly.
Here’s a slideshow of our visit to Franco and Susan at Cantina del Bricchetto (click on any photo to start the slideshow)
foodwineclick 
Oh wow – this is exactly the sort of experience I am hoping to have when Mr Wino and I visit the Piedmont this August/Sept.
Would you recommend using a tour guide rather than self guided? I’m finding that the way Italian wineries operate is pretty different to new world cellar doors we are used to.
Cheers, Louise@WillungaWino.com
Hi Louise,
I’m so happy you’ll visit Piemonte on your trip! Absolutely, positively, use a guide for your 1st experience there. You’re right, it’s quite different from other areas, especially if you’re not familiar with the Italian way of doing things. I’ve written quite a bit here on our experiences, so you can search on piemonte, barolo, barbaresco. I can enthusiastically recommend the guides we used: Robert & Leslie Alexander of http://www.Travellanghe.com Please tell them I sent you! Also, I’m friends with Valerie Quintanilla (www.girlsgottadrink.com) and Anna Savino (www.italianna.com). I haven’t used either of their services yet, as we weren’t acquainted with them on our 1st trip, but I know they are energetic, knowledgeable and dedicated to showing visitors the best the area has to offer. Any of these guides can help you with lodging and other recommendations. There are so many cool agritursimo’s, B&B’s and small hotels that are inexpensive and a positive experience in themselves. Please feel free to contact me via email, I am smitten with the Piemonte and would be happy to offer any advice I can from our first experience there. P.S. even on subsequent trips, we have used guides for some of our time there, they add immeasurably to the experience.
Love your photos from this trip.