Wine tour through Tuscany country side. - Siena, Italy
Siena, Italy
We start the day with the shuttle driver picking us up at our hotel . We meet three other couples on the shuttle. One from Ohio, two from Canada, Our first stop was a small town called San Gimignano. The city of a hundred towers. San San Gimignano is also the birthplace of Vernaccia, the first Italian DOCG wine. Jeff and I stopped for coffee and a little pastries right outside the entrance of the city. The city was busy today as it had the street fair going on. I loved looking at the products they had. We toured the city on our own. We were told to go to the highest peaks so we could get a birds eye view of the city and surrounding country side . All I can say,is it was breath taking ! While we were in a court yard near the top of the city, I decided to go to he restroom as I knew our next stop was a ways away. Why am I telling this? Ha ha you will find out. I put 1 euro in to go use the facility . I walked in used the toilet and realized there was no paper . Ok no problem. I got a Kleenex from my purse. As I was pulling my pants back up the doors started to open! Automatic doors. Guess they figure 30 seconds is enough time to do your business. So I can say. I was caught with my pants down in San Gimignano. Ha ha. We continued to explore the city till it was time to join the group again. Off we go to Monteriggioni, the ancient crown shaped fortress that adorned the head of Italy on the old 100 lire currency. The walls are adorned with 14 towers that Dante likened to the giants of inferno in divine comedy. This was an outpost of Siena during the war with Florence . We stopped to stretch our legs and quick photos then we were on our way again. We then traveled a bit to the Tenuta Torciano winery. A family owned winery which Pierluigi Torciano Giach is the winemaker. The history of Tenuta Torciano is very interesting, but too long to get into right now. We stopped at the winery went inside where they were waiting for us with tables set and antipasto on the plates. We were treated by one of the owners daughters ( great great grand daughter of the founder of the winery .). After a very warm hello she proceeded to tell us that we would be learning how to properly hold the glass during wine tasting. Then she asked us to have a bit of bread or cheese and start to taste the wines. Unlike in the USA , the glasses were filled with quite a bit of wine! We tasted Verrnaccia de San Gimignano , Chianti DOCG, Brunello di Montalicino, Cavaliere (super Tuscan) and Bartolomeo. (Super Tuscan). We were served lasagne with truffle oil. (Truffle oil was made there and was out of this world)! We also tasted their olive oil. Presentation was wonderful, the food a delight! So off we go to our next destination with lots of very talkative and happy people ( I wonder why.). :-) We are on our way to Monteriggioni, the ancient crown shaped fortress that adorned the head of Italy on the old 100 lire currency. The walls are adorned with 14 towers that Dante likened to the giants of inferno in divine comedy. We then stopped at Val d'Orcia, a jewel of Tuscany, site of Unesco World Heritage since 2004. This was a very little quiet town. A few shops and a few churches. After a quick 45 minute stop we were on our way again. This time to Montalcino, the land well known for Brunello wine. Our last stop of our tour was at the renowned Brunello of Montalcino winery . Here we were greeted by the owners son which gave us a quick tour of their winery. After the tour we were seated at a long table to taste some wines . Again the portions were much too generous! Luckily we had cheese and bread to eat in between tasting. We tasted Diffrent brunello di montacino wines. At the end of the wine tasting the owners son, tall, dark boisterous fellow announced we would be partaking in his favorite drink, Grapa. He also said we would toast with it. He gave us a shot glass and informed us we needed to drink all off it in one gulp. Mind you, this as all the others was a very generous portion! One , two, cheers and bottoms up! I am surprised everyone was able to walk to the shuttle. Ha ha Our trip home was very, very quiet as most of the passengers on the shuttle were asleep. Our guide Simon was wonderful , I enjoyed seeing tuscany, under the Tuscan sun as we had a beautiful day. Jeff and I had an experience we will not forget soon. Tired, time for bed. Buona notte. :-)