LA STAMPA (Italy)
ALBA - New York rappers aren't usually associated with Barolo wine or wild truffles, but this weekend, the Brooklyn-born music mogul Jay-Z indulged in a spontaneous trip to the northern Italian region of Piedmont to sample these refined delicacies.
The second richest musician in the world (according to Forbes he’s worth $504 million), and noted wine aficionado, splashed out for a dozen of his friends by spending almost 30,000 euros on two dinners and Barolo wine, not to mention 3.5kg of truffles, a rare seasonal treat that sprout up in these parts.
The trip happened thanks to an unlikely source: Hurricane Sandy. Thanks to mutual friends, wine expert Luca Currado found himself in Jay-Z and wife Beyoncé’s New York apartment during the storm. By the end of dinner, the rapper asked his new Italian acquaintance: “What are you doing in three weeks?” Currado said he'd be back home in Italy. “Perfect," said Jay-Z. "I’m coming to visit”.
Photo: chickswithguns via Wikipedia
La Stampa reports that the whirlwind trip began Friday when the private jet landed in Milan. After a quick shower at the Four Seasons, the group headed on to the small town of Langa.
Currado and Jay-Z were born in the same year, 1969, so the barolista had a Barolo Rocche from that year ready for him. “He’s not just a wine fanatic, he’s a gourmand too” revealed Currado. “He went crazy for the egg raviolo alla Nino Bergese with truffles.”
Crazy for truffles indeed: the group even went to the woods to go and collect some themselves before buying the 3.5kg from Morra and Tartufingros without even batting an eye. For lunch they chose Maurilio Garola’s Il Tornavento and between the Barolo and the Barbaresco the bill rose to more than 10,000 euros in uncorked bottles.
Truffles and wine were the theme of the trip and the group was not let down by the famous yet expensive local produce. Let's hope not, La Stampa estimated the total bill upwards of 51,500 euros.
