Travels of THB: Day 18: Calabria, Day 3

Day 18: Calabria, Day 3 - Metho day (Wednesday)

The shower baffles us. There’s the wand, the rain showerhead, and four jets that point right at the shower door. Yesterday, we flooded the bathroom floor and part of the room. Today THB flooded only the floor in front of the shower and used only the wand and a bit of the four superfluous jets. DB sez she got the showerhead to work and no water was coming out of the horizontal jets. For THB’s next shower he is going to use the swimming pool.

Jets in the shower, facing the shower door

The catastrophe pull is blue here

Quote of the Day: What are my options?

Weather: Warm to hot

To drink or not to drink?

To take drugs or not to take drugs?

Some combo of the two choices above?

Ahhhhhhh, that’s the rub

Note: the wifi is limited to the café on the property and another room off the reception desk. Downloading pics is best before 8am when the group starts filtering in to breakfast. And at that THB is basically downloading all the pics and then trying to fit in the narrative. We’ll see how that goes.

Weather at 10am

And at near 11pm

The door to our room

THB is choosing the middle ground: he’s taking the drugs, he’s planning on “sipping” the wine, and for sure he’s not telling his rheumatologist! Since some of you actually also know and might see THB’s doc, don’t let on that you knew me when.

THB and DB go for a walk off property after sleeping in (mostly because we have closed the shutter on the room’s only window nice and tight. Even so, we’re the first to breakfast at 8am. Slim pickings, a good thing! Rolls here are some of the best on the trip and go well with the ricotta. Limone yogurt and part of an over puffy croissant.

Breakfast is limited selection

Giant cornettos

Peach tart (THB holds off today, tastes tomorrow: sweet)

Our mid-day outing is to Ippolito Winery. Vincenzo, co-owner, gives us the tour of the fields and winery. He’s excellent, easy to understand and clear with his answers to questions.

Vineyards just inland and set among small rolling hills, a good micro climate; the tour "hikes" about 10 minutes up to the shade of building on top of a knoll

If you look carefully, you'll see there something extra about this tour

Vincenzo, co-owner, gives a great tour

There is a row of burnt trees on back of pic. They had a fire here recently and lost some vines and the hillside to back right used to be covered with olive trees

We're walking down, a good thing. It's probably 5 - 8 degrees hotter on the way down

THB decides to taste each of the 5 wines offered and then jettison what is left in the spittoon. This is actually a very effective technique, metho day or not. The food is substantial and that is harder to go only part-way. And the middle course, lasagna, is a portion that feeds a family of 3 as a second course.

It's loud when we're not getting an overview

Wine-loving winery dog

The last one we taste is a still-unreleased Calabresi Riserva from 2013. YOWZA! This one is a winner: THB takes a second sip to confirm, DB agrees. However, that forces us to buy two bottles of the 2010 Riserva for $27 per bottle. We’re checking, so we will make room in our suitcases. Rosetta confirms that if we’re buying on the trip, this is one of the top wines. You apparently can find the Riserva in various vintages in the US, normally around $60/bottle.

The Calabrese Riserva comes in a different shape bottle

One sip is all THB and DB need to add two bottles to our luggage

Back to Borgo Saverona for a dip in the pool and some blogging. Gorgeous: the pool is cool and refreshing, there’s a gentle breeze, the vista is eye candy with vineyards, olive trees and the hint of the Ionian Sea in the distance.

Another wine loving dog

In the late afternoon we arrive at the Ceraudo Estates: what seems like a small production of wine based on number of barrels for aging in the warehouse, olive oil (see production below in pics), a few apartments (they are going to replace them with hotel rooms, some of which are all ready to book), and a 1* Michelin restaurant.

Our timing is just right: the olives are being processed and we get to taste the olive oil as it comes out of the press. Spicy!! Bread is called for and THB sops up two slices. As good as it gets!!

Then Roberto, the owner, gives us a tractor-tour of the property. There are some amazingly old olive trees on the property, either 1400 to 1600 years old or from the 1400s thru the 1600s. Either way: ancient and still bearing fruit.

Raw ingredients

Washing

The "mash"

The end product, we're allowed to dip our fingers in the stream

Chiara and Roberto

The Last Supper hanging in the chapel. The chapel has been "consecrated" and thus is a site that official acts are official....is this right? What does THB know about Catholicism...nada!

Pomegranates growing near the pool

After our group makes it through two tours (and apparently the exact same spiel from four years ago), time to dine al fresco just outside the kitchen (fully exposed with big windows).

THB does his sipping of a few wines, nothing of note to report, and mostly enjoys the early courses and dessert. The two main dishes: tortellini in a very strong tomato broth (like eating tomato paste from the can) and poorly cooked and overly breaded lamb chops allows THB to keep his intake down. Dessert very interesting mix of 5 or 6 different flavors and textures though it looks like crumble on a scoop of ice cream.