Return of the Pig and wine fetching

30 June
To recount the story of the return of the pig. I finished serving breakfast to our guests and then loaded the baby pig food into the Doblo' and took the cage which is about pekingese size to the "pig area" and tried to get Bacco inside. Unfortunately in 4 days under my expert feeding program, he had just about outgrown said kennel, so i had to take the top off, put him inside and then relatch the top. Poor thing didn't have much room during the 4 hour drive to Culatello country, but he arrived safe and sound and his previous owner unceremoniously grabbed him by the hind legs and tossed him back in with his bro's and sisters and cousins. This being near Colorno site of my university, I drove over to break the bad news to all our wonderful classmates who brought the pig down to us and then since it was Betsy's birthday in the other master's class, several of us visited the old haunts in Parma on via Farini and I caught up with my old amico Diego at his enoteca "Tabarro" , a must stop for anyone who visits Parma. The following day was for wine fetching and I bought 45 wines on ebay italy from a private cellar but failed to notice that they wouldn't ship them, so I drove to Venice to pick up the wines and they took the pig's spot in the back of the Doblo' On to Peschiera for lunch with la mia amica Claudia and then 5 hours back to Nascondiglio di Bacco. All told for those who lament the cost of driving in america, I filled up the car with 14 gallons twice for a cost of 160 dollars. The tolls for the roads came to 100 dollars. That for the equivalent of driving from KC to Estes Park.
On the way back, being Friday, the roads were packed as everyone escapes to the sea here. I saw an accident ahead and hit the brakes rather abruptly and thereafter i could smell wine in the car. Sounds like a terrible thing except when I got back to Nascondiglio di Bacco, I found the culprit bottle was a 1967 Barbaresco with a hole in the shoulder. I strained the wine into a carafe and after 40 years, I must say, it was INCREDIBLE. My reward for all that driving. I shared with Raffaele and his fidanzata, Elsa, of course. The other wines are from 1959 to 1977 and include Barolos, Barberas, Brunellos, and a few French thrown in. Can't wait to try some or serve them to guests with interests in old wines.
I am off to work in the vineyard. Have a wonderful weekend! d