We've been extolling the virtues of May in Monferrato...here's another installment:
We can't claim it never rains here in May, but after it does, we enjoy views like the one below. A Sunday ride on a day like this is truly a gift from the gods!
Of course it's a bit of a climb to get up here to admire these kinds of views, but that's what low gears are for!
This Sunday we had another mission as well....a big Sunday pranzo out in the countryside. One of our favorite stops is Trattoria Saroc in Vignale Monferrato. We've visited many times since they opened to enjoy a simple, but traditional lunch with wines from a vineyard one could almost throw a rock into from the trattoria's terrace.
We wanted to arrive soon after the pranzo service started since we didn't reserve a table, but where to ride first? We wandered around a route including some of the other hilltowns, a bit on the flats with a final climb up to Vignale to put the finishing touch on our appetites, where we found all the panoramic terrace tables reserved, but they had a nice one in the cortile for us.
There's "bike friendly" and then there's BIKE FRIENDLY...something this place has always been. Now they even have bike parking and a little workshop in case your ride needs some tuning or repairs. We're not sure that our visits inspired this nice touch but we've tried to encourage the brothers over the years as their place is not the easiest spot to find in the tiny hilltown. But it seems plenty are finding it these days!
We started with their version of carne cruda followed by agnolotti with butter and sage before a second plate of grilled fassone beef. A Ciaret (rose) from nearby Bricco Mondalino was perfect on this warm day. A wonderful hazelnut cake with gelato topped off the feast before we downed an espresso and climbed back on the bikes for the 20 kms or so back "home".
Would you like to enjoy a similar experience? We could add a couple more guests to our More Monferrato tour group if you can act fast.
Grazie amici!
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