When Auntie Kelly visited Tara, us three signed up for an 8 person wine tasting. It was an 8 person tour, including; personal pick up and drop off services, visiting two wineries in the Chianti region between Florence and Siena, and a few other stops in-between.
Being picked up at 2:30 on that Friday, by a brand new black Mercedes van... We find out we're the only three people on the tour. Personal wine tasting for just us three? Awesome.
We drive through Florence and into more of the countryside, away from the city center. Our driver, giving us facts about every thing we passed by and teaching us about the old rivalries between Florence and Siena, he was awesome. I think I may have learned more in those few hours than I have in some of my classes...
The first town we stopped at was Impruneta. The town of terra cotta. This is where terra cotta originated. It is an older, historic and tiny town, and we just stopped in the main square, got some coffee and continued to the first winery.
Taking Route 222; the main Chianti road, we arrived at the first stop. Andrea was our guide in leading us through the tour. We saw the cellars, where the wine is stored, where it is fermented and he explained to us the multiple ways the different wines are created.
We sat down at a table with two wine glasses; one for red, one for white. There were plates with different pieces of meat, cheese and bread, along with about 8 bottles of wine and some balsamic on the table. I was so excited.
Andrea gave us tastes of each white wine first. We tried the cheese and meat and then the bottles of balsamic. My favorite was the 20 year aged balsamic. It so so unbelievably good. It could go on anything from strawberries to cheese to even vanilla gelato. Guess how much it's sold for.... 79euro per little bottle. It's that good.
I really liked the red wines. My favorite was the Chianti Classico. That's the most popular wine of the region and apparently has super, super strict rules when creating it. As long as there is the label, DOCG on the bottle with the black rooster, it's the real Chianti.
We tried white wine at the end, more sparkly and bubbly than usual and then ended with a dessert liquor which we dipped biscotti in for 10 seconds and then ate it.
The food and wine was awesome. This was in the middle of the country in Toscana, on a huge piece of land where they make their own wine, olive oil and house great cheese and meat. It was my favorite.
We bought a few bottles at their store, and left to head to the second winery deeper into Siena.
This place was amazing. Not only was it a winery, but it was also a bigger farmhouse/resort type thing that they rent out for certain parts of the year. There was a swimming pool and a bunch of little patios. It was touristy either, it looked like someone's house. There was a huge winery in the back and the whole property over looked a ton of land where they grow the grapes and olives.
We got a tour of the cellars and the woman explained how they created and fermented their wines. This place seemed a little more modern than the first. We sat and got tastes of their wines, cheeses and meats. They made olive oil and wine here, not balsamic or cheeses. This place was really cool and their homemade biscotti were so good. But not as good as Nonni's :)We left there and headed back with our driver to our place in Florence. We got home around 9pm. It was a long tour and so much fun. I loved learning about all the different wines, how they're made and how the Chianti wine was started and created.
I know how to properly taste wine and got to experience a real and authentic Italian wine tasting.
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