This is the latest in an irregular series of articles introducing readers to some of the great wine bars of the world. Some of them are in frequently visited cities, like Paris or London. Others are in wine making regions, such as the wine bar featured in this month’s edition.
Roberto Sarotto is a wine maker in the town of Alba, which is at the center of the Piemonte in northwest Italy. The region is the source of some of Italy’s finest wines. Signore Sarotto produces just about all of them: several Barolos and Barbarescos, Dolcetto and Barbera among the reds; Arneis, Gavi di Gavi and Chardonnay among the whites. There’s even a choice of rosatos (Italian for rosés), sparklers, Grappas and other wines.
But Roberto Sarotto is not satisfied to be only a winemaker. He has also opened a wine bar at a prominent corner of the Piazza Michele Ferraro, the primary square in Alba. In good weather people gather to taste his wines under the umbrellas outside. Of course, it does rain in Alba and these years the summer heat can be oppressive, so there are tables inside where the air conditioning accommodates tasters.
Almost all the wines on the extensive list are available for purchase by the glass or the bottle. The exception is the wines designated as “Bottiglie Museo”, which we Americans would call library wines rather than museum bottles. The prices range from a low of €7.50 for a glass of Mosto d’Uva, which is essentially non-alcoholic grape juice to a high of €36.00 for a well-aged reserve Barolo. There are plenty of wines by the glass to choose from that are €10.00 or less. Barolos and Barbarescos are on the list in the twenties and thirties of euros per glass.
But a tasting at Roberto Sarotto is more than wine. In the land of the aperitivo, no bar will serve you wine without a little something to munch. In most cases it’s olives or potato chips. At Roberto Sarotto, they serve you a repast. As illustrated here, you will receive an assortment of bites that may include pizza rustica, local cheeses and salamis, a ham sandwich and breadsticks. The actual selection varies from day to day but it is always ample. It certainly could be a lunch or an appetizer before dinner.
There are positives to having such a wide selection from a single winemaker. Visitors can sit and have a vertical of an individual wine or a horizontal across multiple subregions of the Piemonte. However, despite all the different wines, they are all from the same winemaker; they only serve their wines, as in a tasting room not a wine bar. There is a stylistic similarity among them. If you have only one day in Alba, we recommend a visit to Roberto Sarotto. If you have a little more time, taste there but also try other wine bars for greater variety of styles.
This is a little gem of a wine bar, nestled in a major sector of Wine Country. And if you ask nicely when it’s not too busy, you can even get a tour of the cellar below the bar.