One of the greatest surprises that awaits the first time visitor to Italy is the realization that after traveling a mere hundred kilometers he or she is confronted with a wholly new and different cuisine.

Each region has it’s own particular cucina, especially when it comes to pasta, and in Langhe, south of Alba in Piedmont, it is tajarin, a thin, yellow tagliatelle made with up to twice the number of eggs as the conventional kind. It’s yellow from all those extra egg yokes, and incredibly rich….yum!

On a recent visit to explore the wines of the region – Barbaresco and Barolo – I found myself eating it every day. This certainly wasn’t hardship rations, at least for a short time, and the best example I encountered was served at the unpretentious Trattoria Antica Torre in the hilltop village of Barbaresco. It came with a simple topping of ground veal and diced tomatoes, and a bottle of the wonderful Giuseppe Cortese Barbaresco Rabajà 2004 ($45), Rabajà being a single, and highly esteemed, vineyard of which the Cotrese family own a part.

Thanks to the almost 60 year old vines and Cotrese’s traditional, restrained approach to winemaking – he uses large botti rather than the currently fashionable smaller, new-oak bariques to age his wines – the results are astounding. Rich yet elegant, concentrated and intense but far from heavy, the Rabajà is redolent of red fruit and floral aromas at the moment, and went as well with the preceding vitello tonnato and the subsequent rabbit wrapped in pancetta – it was one of those Italian lunches – as it did with the tajardin.

With time, as it evolves and deepens, it will develop darker, earthier tones, and be more appropriate for roast meats and stews, but for me it will always remain a memorable wine from a memorable meal in that memorable hilltop village.