Day 7 (one week already), we finally get to go wine tasting in Tuscany today. We have always dreamed of wine tasting in Tuscany, and touring the region. After our host delivered breakfast to our room, we made our way to San Domenico Church to meet up with our tour group.
Almost perfect...Review of Grape Tours (Reviewed December 10, 2019 via mobile)
The wine tour started out well, and it was a beautiful day for the tour. We, along with another guest couple, were picked up in front of San Domenico church. As we made our way to wine taste, our guide gave us the history of the wine region, often tapping into his own personal experiences as a winemaker. He answered all of our questions, and overall the conversation was good. We stopped at a site just outside the town of San Gimignano to take photos of the beautiful hill country and town along the way. At the first winery, we had wine paired with different appetizers of meat and cheese, and we toured the cellar area where the wine making happened. At the 2nd winery, the tour and lunch were fine, but then toward the end of the tasting our guide began to loosen up and was a little too vocal about his dislike of Napa Valley wines. Derick and I live about a 20 min drive south of the Napa wine region and we had shared this with the group at the start of the tour.
For the remainder of the day, our guide continuously bashed Napa Valley and its wine growing techniques, as if Napa Valley produces the only wines in California. Furthermore, he was able to get the other couple from Memphis to proclaim that they don't like Napa wines either, as if we have any influence over any wine production. I asked our guide how many Napa wines he had tasted, to which he replied, none. I posted a review on Tripadvisor afterwards and a comment to the tour operator, "It is perfectly okay to have a biased opinion, but not to the point of making guests feel uncomfortable."
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Our first stop was at Montenidoli Winery, which means the mountain of the bird. It is a secluded, organic winery in the hills of San Gimignano. The owner, Elisabetta, uses organic principles on native grapes to create white varietals of Vernaccia di San Gimignano. Before going into the tasting room, we walked around the vineyards to get the history of Montenidoli vines and wines. Though the day was a bit hazy, the vineyard has a great view of its surroundings.
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It was unique to see the grassy vineyards of San Gimignano because we are accustomed to seeing little or no ground vegetation at the base of the vines. At Montenidoli the vineyard floor was quite lush.
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There was no indication that this Tuscan vineyard uses the same natural pest deterrent of yellow mustard plants, or another type of bio-fumigator which serves to suppress various soil-borne pests and diseases through naturally occurring compounds, as we quite often see in Napa Valley. However, we are sure they have some type of method which allows them to produce high quality grapes.
Montenedoli prepared a lavish spread of meat, cheese, pate', bread, and fried zucchini blossoms to pair with wines. It was so elaborate that we thought it was lunch. However, our guide advised lunch would be at our second winery on the tour.
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We sipped about 6 or 7 wines, mainly vernaccia, and this was our first opportunity to taste wines from these grapes. Vernaccia wine is dry, unoaked, with crisp acidity and a slightly bitter finish. It is often paired with seafood salad, seafood, and chicken scallopini.
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Our second winery tasting was held at Cappella Sant'Andrea. This farm winery filled with chickens, goats, horses, and mules, also produces organic indigenous vernaccia grapes.
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Inside Capella Sant'Andrea they rely mostly on native yeasts, filtration by precipitation, and even going as far as to make a specific Vernaccia in terracotta amphora, locally made in Impruneta, a small hill commune just outside of Florence. An amphora is a tall ancient Greek or Roman jar with two handles and a narrow neck. The amphora is made of Impruneta clay, which is used to make quality Italian pottery.
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The winemaker pointed out the old vines picturesquely hung on the wall, and briefly discussed the fermentation and winemaking process. It was all very scientific, but most of the tour group was anxious to get to the wine tasting.
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There was an appetizer platter of meat and cheese followed by a vegetarian pasta lunch to complement several of the vernaccia wines. The meal and wine tasting finished with a homemade apricot gelato. It was at this winery stop that our tour guide became opinionated.
We thanked the winemaker and chef for the food, wine and hospitality. There was the opportunity to purchase both Capella Sant"Andrea wines and olive oils. Afterwards, we took final pictures of the vineyards before making our way to the final stop, the hill town of San Gimignano.
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San Gimignano...finally we meet. This is a hill town in Tuscany, in the province of Siena, in north-central Italy. The Piazza della Cisterna is the town's main square. San Gimignano is surrounded by 13th century walls, with a population of just under 8000 people.
Within the walls are about 14 towers which form a skyline. At one time, towards the end of the medieval period, there were 72 towers, some as high as 50 meters, signifying the competing wealth and power of the patrician families who controlled San Gimignano. The taller the tower, the more wealthy a family was. In other cities, such as Florence, most or all of their towers have been brought down by wars, catastrophes, or urban renewal.
San Gimignano flourished until 1348 when it was struck with the Black Death. This pandemic was an infectious fever caused by a bacteria, and likely transmitted from rodents to humans by the bite of infected fleas. It resulted in a loss of half of the town of San Gimignano. Sadly, throughout Europe the Black Death claimed an astonishing 200 million lives in just four years. After this pandemic, no new buildings were ever constructed in San Gimignano.
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What we loved about San Gimignano? The quiet lanes and alleys the beckoned us away from the tourists; The beautiful, large wood entrance doors with thick door knockers to loudly summon occupants at various homes; Looking up at the uniquely shaped windows and seeing what was on the window sills above; The really old, 200-year old buildings that seem to want to crumble to ruins yet continue to hold up; The amazing history associated with this medieval town and its super tall towers.
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We enjoyed the tour, speaking with the winemakers, tasting vernaccia and chianti wines, olive oils, and most impressive, the scenic region of Tuscany.
This was our last night in Siena. Tomorrow we depart for Florence by train.
On Day 8, we arrived in Florence, the capital of Italy's Tuscany region, and home to many masterpieces of Renaissance art and architecture. Florence is also home to the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, the Uffizi Gallery, the Ponte Vecchio Bridge over the Arno River, the Basilica of Santa Croce, and last but certainly not least, Michelangelo's David. Upon arriving at the Florence train station, we walked directly to our hotel.
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We were very fortunate to find such a wonderful accommodation at the Hotel Spadai through Expedia.com. The hotel was centrally located, and an easy walk from the train station. From the moment we entered this boutique hotel our senses were greeted with nice sights, a comfortable interior and friendly staff. The woman who greeted us at the check-in desk was extremely kind and helpful, yet very professional. Furthermore, we enjoyed speaking with the woman at the front desk about things to do nearby and a few dining choices.
We immediately put our luggage in our room and board a city tour. As we only had one day, we decided to use the Hop on Hop Off Bus to see as much as possible, then walk to those sites closest to the hotel prior to tomorrow's departure.
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It was not possible to photograph the sites while onboard the bus, therefore we just enjoyed the tour and photographed sites as we walked back to our hotel afterwards. We stopped in the Piazza di San Lorenzo after noticing people sitting on the steps of Basillica di San Lorenzo. The basillica is one of several churches that claim to be the oldest in Florence, having been consecrated in 393. Across the street was a painting which caught our eye. It was old and beautiful, but we were not able to find any of history about it.
After attending a wine and cheese reception in the hotel lobby, we enjoyed a nice meal at a nearby restaurant recommended by the Hotel Spadai, called Ristorante Buca Niccolini, which we enjoyed. After an unhurried stroll around the neighborhood, we spent the remainder of the evening in our comfortable room.
Day 9. We got out early to take in some nearby sites before catching our noon train back to Rome. After breakfast at the hotel, we discovered a glass rooftop observatory at the top of a spiral staircase on the same floor as the breakfast area. The photo conveys the amazing and breathtaking view and does it more justice than any words.
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To our surprise, our hotel was only steps away from Florence Cathedral, formerly Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, which translates to Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower. The cathedral complex consists of three buildings, of which all are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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Brunelleschi, one of the architects involved in designing and constructing the Florence Cathedral, used a herringbone brick pattern on parts of the exterior, and constructed the largest brick dome in the world.
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The three huge bronze doors date from 1899 to 1903. They are adorned with scenes from the life of the Madonna.
The surrounding square, the largest in Florence, was about to get lively with tourists but there was still time to capture a few photos without the crowds, and shop for some last minute Florence souvenirs. I decided on a calendar with photographs of Florence that I would not have time to capture, but could still enjoy.
We caught the high-speed train back to Rome and two hours later were walking to our overnight hotel, Best Western Plus Hotel Universo. We walked around the area for last minute Roman souvenirs, returned for an early lunch at Trattoria Melo where we had dined at on Day 5. The owners were very happy and grateful that of all the restaurants in Rome, we chose theirs for our return. Lunch was just as satisfying as the first time. Afterwards, we made our way to the hotel, where later in the day we got a taste of our first downpour of rain in Rome.
The next morning and our final day, Day 10. We left early and took a hotel arranged drive to the Leonardo da Vinci Fiumicino International Airport, where sadly we said Ciao! to Italia, all the while wondering why it took us so long to visit Italy together in the first place.
Many thanks to Barbara, Amazing Piazza Venezia Suites (Rome); the kind and loving staff at Caffe Roma (Rome); Cacio e Pepe (Rome); Oliver Blum Photography Tours (Italy, Spain, Germany); Marco Bulgarelli Photography Tours (Rome); the owners and staff at Melo Trattoria (Rome); Babingons (Rome); Grape Tours (Siena); the wonderful staff at Hotel Spadai (Florence); Ristorante Buca Niccolini (Florence); Best Western Plus Universo Hotel (Rome); Expedia.com; and the many other nameless people we met along the way.
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