Montepulciano & Montalcino

I am going to wrap up my Italy holiday with Montepulciano and Montalcino. I 've been very busy and have lots of things to share with you after Italy.

Before I get into Montelpulciano and Montalcino, I want to tell you I attended the HVWGA - Hudson Valley Wine & Culinary Food Pairing last night. I will share with you my evening in the next few days. If you can't wait that long, visit Carlo's blog on the Hudson River Valley Wine http://hudsonriverwine.blogspot.com/

Now for Montelpulciano and Montalcino. We got a last start this day and didn't get down to Montelpulciano until noonish. It was about a 1 1/2 hr drive. What I found amazing is you are driving, vineyards on each side of you and in the distance is a walled city.

We got really lucky when we arrived. Not sure where to go to park we found parking right at the gate. I find these cities truly amazing. In Montelpulciano you can find many tasting rooms from top producers. The first tasting room we visited was Pulcino. His wines were very good! His cheeses and meats were too and they found there way into our suitcases for the trip home. Of course we visited the local church. What day wouldn't be complete without a visit. The artwork is amazing.

fter a late lunch we left Montelpulciano and headed towards Montalcino. It was around 4p and to late to stop in Pienza for a taste of pecorino cheese. We wanted to see Montalcino before dinner and we had reservations at Boccoa Di Vino Ristorante at 7:30p.

We also arrived to late to go hear the the monks pray and sing gregorian songs in Sant'Antimo which is 7 miles south of Montalcino. Oh well. Next time.

I wasn't as impressed with Montalcino as I was with Montelpulciano. We arrived to late to visit the church here. However, there was a celebration in town and we got to listen to some outdoor music, some speeches (of course they were in Italian) and Bingo got underway.
Just down the road for these happenings is a wine tasting store. We got to taste some very good wines, and wines that our palate thought were just okay. Prices ranged from $2 euro's to 4.50 euros. Yes I did try an few expensive wines, you only live once. While I was there tasting, the woman next to me was owner of a vineyard/winery in France. Her prospective was very interesting.

We ended the evening at a restaurant that was recommended in an issue of Rachael Ray Magazine...Baccoa Di Vino. First I have to tell you how lost we got getting to this restaurant. We actually went the wrong way at a fork in the road. Then the GPS got screwed up. We were in the vineyards of the region. We went down a dirt road (GPS told us to) and realized we were very lost. We ended up at a vineyard owner or caretakers home. (Upon exiting we realized it was Banfi) There was a group of men outside, none even questioned us dumb American's turning around. Of course they were probably laughing at us. We did stop and ask them where to go and through lots of hand signals and a few words of english, we left to find our way.

I was looking forward to this meal! Everything was so delicious until the main course. I ordered beef in a red wine sauce. I have t o tell you I was very disappointed. When the dish was set down in front of me, just the appearance gave me second thoughts. It tasted like vinegar. I did eat a little. For dessert we ordered flan. It was served with a hint of lavendar. Well, our initial reaction to the taste was like it was eating soap. After we got rid of the lavendar, the flan was quite good.

We all enjoyed our trip to Italy. It is now a distant memory with lots of good laughs. We did enjoy our food and wine. Even through all this touring we did manage to have a few bottles of wine at our villa with local cheese.

Florence, Pisa and Rome

The three big cities we traveled to in Italy. Yes we covered a lot of ground in our Audi.

The first of the cities we visited was Florence. At first if felt like a big city, but as we walked around, we realized it wasn't a huge city like NY. Everything was easily accessible. We parked at the Piazza Michaelangelo which had a fantastic view of the city. On the Piazza there were vendors selling various merchandise. They actually had the best prices for aprons, luggage and typical tourist purchases. I purchased an apron of David exposed for a friend, however, I don't think he saw humor in it. We went to your typical tourist spots, Accademia and the Uffizi Gallery and not to be missed the Market! Yes, I did purchase leather at the market. Yes do bargain with them. I bought myself and my daughter a leather coat for 80 Euro's each…that's about $120 USD. I thought it was a good purchase. We ate dinner at Il Latini. Make reservations for the 7:30 sitting and don't be afraid to go to the front of the line and state you have reservations or you won't get in. What a blast!! It was such a party atmosphere and we had a wonderful waiter. There was no shortage of wine or food! We shared wine and olive oil with the people sitting next to us from Texas. When we left, we felt we had met new friends at a party.

Pisa…we traveled through the hills and small villages of Tuscany to Pisa…well that's where our GPS took us. Pisa was a dirty city, not to charming. We saw the Leaning Tower and the Church and called it a day, heading back to our villa. We did shop at the market vendor around the tower…prices were higher than Florence and they weren't to friendly.

Rome…what a city! You can equate this to New York City. We dropped of our rental car and took the train from the airport to city center and transferred to a local train to Vatican City. What an incredible tour. We met our tour guide outside the café across from the Vatican. Emiliano was ours for the rest of the afternoon and what a fantastic tour guide he was! We entered the Vatican Museum without standing on line and the afternoon started. I can't even begin to explain the artwork but to say it's breath taking and amazing. We were allowed to take pictures throughout except Sistine Chapel. Gee..you couldn't even talk in the Sistine Chapel. After walking through there we went down to see where the Pope's were buried. It was extremely moving when we passed by John Paul's site. That night we ate at a fantastic restaurant in the Jewish Ghetto. The restaurant was DaGiggetto Hostaria. The food was fantastic!! They are known for their artichokes. We tried the fried artichokes and I personally did care for them so I gave mine to Susan. My eggplant Parm was outstanding!

Chianti

We spent a wonderful day touring in Chianti. We went to the town of Greves. It's a beautiful town where we at in the square. We then went to an Enoteca. An Enoteca is where you can taste a variety of wines from that region. This Enoteca had wines from all over Tuscany. They also had olive and truffle oil tastings. I really liked the entire concept. We paid $30 for a card. It was like a charge card. We looked at the variety of wines and when we decided what to taste, you insert the card in the slot, put your glass under the pourer and press the button. The glass fills to a tasting and the price is deducted from your card. When you are finished with all your tastings, you hand the card in and are refunded any money still left on it. There were 100's of wines to choose from at this Enoteca.

After Greves we went to Brancaia for a wine tour and tasting. http://www.brancaia.com
Julia was our host and a wonderful one at that. It was here where we were told that to be classified as a Chianti Reserva the wine has to be aged in oak for at least 12 month. Chianti Classico is young wine. I should add all made from Sangiovese grapes.
Something else we learned...ever wonder why there are rose bushes at the end of the rows of vines. If something goes wrong with your roses, there is something wrong with your grapes. It's a safe guard on how well your vines are growing and if they catch any diseases.

Pictures from Italy

I am not as organized as I'd like to be. I am still catching up and wanting to share my trip with you. Kathy has posted her pictures. I have downloaded mine, but not labled them...so not to keep you in suspense and to give you another eye view...here is the link to Kathy's pictures.

http://www2.snapfish.com/share/p=902221211474321906/l=385041222/g=38526041/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

Answer to Poll

White wine is made from red and green grapes

Saying goodbye to a wine icon - Robert Mondavi

ROBERT MONDAVI, a legend in the world of wine, passed away this week, at the age of 94, leaving a legacy that will last for decades. Mr. Mondavi was a true visionary whose unusual approach—California first, Napa Valley second, Robert Mondavi winery third—ran counter to the more self-centered approach of most wineries; and was based on the premise that a rising tide lifts all boats—if you create awareness and demand for California wines, Napa Valley will certainly get its share, as will Robert Mondavi winery.

He was 52 and a winemaking veteran in 1966, when he opened the winery that would help turn the Napa Valley into a world center of the industry. Clashes with a brother that included a fistfight led him to break from the family business to carry out his ambitious plans with borrowed money.

At the time, California was still primarily known for cheap jug wines. But he set out to change that, championing use of cold fermentation, stainless steel tanks and French oak barrels, all commonplace in the industry today. He introduced blind tastings in Napa Valley, putting his wines up against French vintages, a bold move.

Always convinced that California wines could compete with the European greats, Mondavi engaged in the first French-American wine venture when he formed a limited partnership with the legendary French vintner Baron Philippe de Rothschild to grow and make the ultra-premium Opus One at Oakville. The venture's first vintage was in 1979.

The success of the Mondavi winery allowed him to donate tens of millions of dollars to charity, but a wine glut and intense competition gradually cost his family control of the business. In 2004, the company accepted a buyout worth $1.3 billion from Fairport, N.Y.-based Constellation Brands.

Mondavi was an enthusiastic ambassador for wine — especially California wine — and traveled the world into his 90s promoting the health, cultural and social benefits of its moderate consumption.

Born in Virginia, Minn., Mondavi got an economics degree from Stanford University in the 1930s and went to work at the Charles Krug Winery, which his Italian-born parents had bought after moving to California from Minnesota.

He married his high school sweetheart, Marjorie Declusin, in 1937, and they had three children, Michael, Marcia and Tim.

For 20 years, the winery was a family business. But Robert clashed frequently with his younger brother, Peter, who had a more conservative approach the business. According to Robert Mondavi's autobiography "Harvests of Joy," matters came to a head with a November 1965 fistfight.

"When it was all over, there were no apologies and no handshake," wrote Robert Mondavi.

In the late 1970s, Mondavi's first marriage ended; in his autobiography he wrote that his single-minded pursuit of the wine business was partly to blame. In 1980, he married a second time, to Margrit Biever, a native of Switzerland who had worked at the Mondavi winery since the late '60s.

By the mid-1990s, Mondavi had turned over operation of the company to his sons. But like their father and uncle before them, Tim and Michael clashed over management styles.

More troubles emerged as a grape glut soured the wine market in 2002 and lower-priced wines in the Mondavi portfolio faced tough competition from cheaper Australian imports and domestic brands like California's Two Buck Chuck.

Also a problem were the millions in charitable donations Mondavi and Margrit had pledged, including helping found Copia, The American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts, in Napa and giving $35 million to the University of California, Davis.

In her 2007 book, "The House of Mondavi: The Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty," author Julia Flynn Siler wrote that declining stock prices later left Mondavi in danger of not being able to cover the millions in gifts he and Margrit had promised.

A corporate restructuring in August 2004 boosted the stock price, but undercut the family's control of the company. By time it was bought out, Michael Mondavi, who disagreed with the board strategy, had already left the company, and Tim Mondavi had loosened ties.

Later there was a bittersweet family moment when Robert and Peter Mondavi, aided by members of the younger generation, made wine together for the first time in 40 years. Using a 50-50 split of grapes from Robert Mondavi and Peter Mondavi family vineyards, the brothers made one barrel of a cabernet blend that sold for $401,000 at the 2005 Napa Valley wine auction.

San Gimignano & Siena

Sorry for the delay..I didn't realize how much catch up I would have to play this week. I still haven't completely unpacked.

When we pulled up to San Gimignano I was wowed by the walled city and the towers. It was pretty amazing as I later began to realize the Italian countryside is dotted with these walled villages perched up on the hillside. We did a lot of cheese and wine pairings while in San Gimignano. We had some Chianti Classico, Vernaccia and a Di Montalicino. This was the start of our Duomo visits. Each Duomo we visited was unique and different from the previous one. I now have a new appreciation of art!

The picture above is the view from the tower we climbed. Boy did my calves hurt the next day!! And I thought I was in shape.

The day we went to Siena it rained. So unfortunately that left an impression on us. It was the only day it rained while we were in Italy. We arrived just in time for lunch and entered a restaurant that wasn't to friendly to tourists. They guy said we couldn't eat there...it was clearly filled with locals. This pissed me off, but we moved on. We visited the Duomo and then had a coffee in the square. We ate dinner at restaurant called Osteria Il Tamburino. I had a wonderful veal dish that was served with a succulent tomato based sauce. It was excellent!

Tuscany

Well, we got home from out trip to Tuscany Sunday evening. However, my body still thinks it's in Italy. I've been waking up at 3am. I will tell you, I have now become an Italian driver so watch out!! We all had a fabulous time!!

We arrived in Rome and went to rent our car. We found the staff at the airport most helpful as we had no clue where to go. Lucky we got an upgrade to an Audi Quattro. Good thing too…four women and luggage needed it. I won't tell you we purchased two extra bags to come home with. Had to put the wine, cheese and olive oil somewhere.

Once we got up towards Poggibonsi the GPS (yes thank heavens we had one!) kept telling us to go down a dirt road. We weren't quite sure so we pulled into a tasting room and asked for directions. It's funny, and we found this in multiple places, nobody knows what's outside their immediate area..that or they weren't willing to share it with us. We ended up purchasing some wonderful Vernaccia from this tasting room. (I will go into that later) We were no better off after the tasting room with directions, but we did now have wine. Against odds, we went up this dirt road, up the "hill" (which was like driving up Mount Beacon) and we came across our new home for a week. A converted barn that had 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, basic kitchen and small living room. The view was wonderful. We could see the walls of San Gimingnano and the rolling hills of Tuscany! The place was great for us as it was within an hour of everywhere…San Gimignano, Siena, Chianti, Florence, Montalcino, Montepulciano and Pisa. However, it had no bells and whistles, so if you wanted a more luxury villa, you would have needed different accommodations.

The villa was on a farm winery complete with vineyard, olive trees, a rooster who woke us every morning, chickens, turkeys and not to forget the 5 cats/ kittens. One in particular who was at our doorstep every morning and evening when we returned. She even hung out with us until late at night while we drank wine.

The owners of the farm were very nice and sincere. Lovely people, to bad they didn't know English. It was quite amusing communicating with them. Angela would come down and be talking and talking and we had no clue what she was saying. One morning we woke to a basket of fresh Fava Beans just picked from her garden. The last evening we were there, they came down with 5 bottles of wine for us to leave with. It was very nice, but to bad the wine wasn't that good.

I'll write more tomorrow and take you on our journey through Tuscany……..

Tuscany here we come

The day has come when we are taking wine night to Italy. There are 4 of us heading out to Rome today where we will then drive up to Tuscany. We will be staying at this villa – Il Gallo just outside San Gimignano http://www.labellatoscana.net/index.php?p=proprieta_toscana&l=eng&proprieta=57 . We will be visiting San Gimignano, Florence, Siena, Greves, Radda and some other places before heading back to Rome to do some sightseeing. We do have appointments at a bunch of wineries throughout Tuscany.

I won't have my computer with me, but if I come across an internet café, I will make a posting. Otherwise, until May 12….Ciao!