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Springtime in Italy part II
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Location: Blogs Notes from Wine Country |
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| Posted by: Lorena |
6/25/2008 |
And what would a trip to Italy be without visiting Florence. Pictured is the Duomo. We strolled around long past midnight, passing the Uffizi and standing on the Ponte Vecchia.
The next morning we drove out to the Chianti Classico area, where we visited Rocca della Macie. Note the statue of the giant rooster in the courtyard - symbol of the Chianti Classico Consortium.
We had lunch in the home of the owners of Rocca delle Macie. The owners were away in London, but their son and daughter - pictured - were perfect hosts.
We visited the beautiful and ancient city of Siena, and had dinner outside in the piazza where the famous Palio is run every year.
The next morning we visited Castello di Fonterutoli. The wines were wonderful.
Fonterutoli is owned by the Mazzei family. In the late eighteenth century Phillippe Mazzei lived in America, where he was a friend of Thomas Jefferson. It was Phillippe Mazzei who originated the phrase "All men are created equal" which Thomas Jefferson used in the Declaration of Independence. Pictured is their new winemaking facility, built into the hillside.
While digging the foundations for the new facility at Fonterutoli, they discovered two natural springs. Pictured - the group by one of the springs.........
Back in Florence..............
By now our numbers had dwindled. There was only Paul Quaglini, Marie Griffin, and myself. We visited Castello di Monsanto in Tuscany and were greeted by Monsanto owner Laura Bianchi. Extremely kind and gracious, Laura walked us all around the vineyards and winery, despite the fact that she was seven months pregnant. Here we are having an aperitif outside her house before going in for lunch.
Laura Bianchi of Monsanto outside the cellar where their vin santo is stored for ten years.
That afternoon we made an unscheduled and unannounced visit to Villa Cafaggio in Tuscany. We quite expected that there would be no one there to see us. Were we wrong! Claudia - pictured - treated us like royalty. She impressed us all with her kindness and professionalism. The wines were excellent too!
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