Would you like some bread/olive oil/prosciutto/salami with that wine?

Last Wednesday we went to a Chianti winery somewhere off in the Tuscan landscape. After a nauseating hour on the bus there (we actually had to pull over at one point for a bunch of people to get off and walk around so they didn’t puke), we got off and marveled over the amazing view. We were high up on a hill overlooking the vineyard, and we could see hills and in the distance, mountains with snowy caps. (Remember that if you click on the picture, you’ll see it at its original size.)


Then we got a quick tour of the winery, which is actually inside a castle that was built in the Medieval period. The man who started the business back in the 1400’s was an explorer who discovered the Hudson River in New York. On the wall were three stones from New York and an anchor commemorating his past.


While we were taking the tour, we got to see them loading some vines or something into this tractor. It all looked very official, but nobody explained anything to us.


The whole place was gorgeous.


We saw where they raised “wild” boar to make salami and prosciutto, but alas, no boars.

Then we got to go inside the castle and look at the casks and barrels of wine. It was very much what one would expect, I guess.



They prefer plastic bungs to cork nowadays, so this shot isn’t as quaint as I would have liked…


This was the owner’s special reserve of 300-year-old wine.


The best part of the day was most certainly the wine tasting. We walked into a big open room that overlooked the vista, and sat at four big tables. Here’s Melissa and Ryan at my table (and you can sort of see the room in the background).


And here's Neil and me with the huge window behind us. (You can't see it, but there was a really amazing view.)


The first wine we had was a mix of two red and two white grapes. We had that with an all-red wine that was a little more full-bodied. With those wines we got bread, prosciutto and salami. Since they were made at the vineyard, it was all really fresh and delicious. Our third wine was the special reserve. It was definitely the strongest of the three but, without a doubt, my favorite. We got bread drizzled in their house olive oil with salt and parmesan cheese on top. (They also make honey, but I didn’t get to try any of that.) That was especially good with prosciutto on top. Finally we had the dessert wine, which was amber in color. We only had a shot glass full of it because it was REALLY strong. It sort of numbed the tongue if you drank a big sip of it. They served us a huge basket of biscotti that you could dunk in the dessert wine. We got really full (after already eating a full lunch, mind you); it was probably the best food I’ve had since I’ve been here.

After dinner I wandered around for a bit and caught the incredibly gorgeous sunset.


(And a moldy-looking roof.)


The bus ride back was less nauseating, but much louder. People settled in after a while, though, and we enjoyed a ride through the Tuscan landscape at dusk.