On the Move - Italy (10 of 23) - Nice Chianti
We got a fairly early start on Monday morning. We had planned to head for San Gimignano, but it was raining pretty heavily and as Jason began to investigate various sites in the guide book, many of them said "Closed Mondays." So we decided to focus more on the Chianti region.
Driving over the mountains to the west, we stopped in Castellina-in-Chianti, a tiny little town perched in a cleft in the hills. The temperature had been pleasant at Il Doccio, but by the time we reached our first stop it was not only raining, but downright cold, and we were very glad we'd brought the rain ponchos that Trish had given us for Christmas. One of our books had recommended stopping into the Enoteca del Gallo Neri (Wineshop of the Black Rooster--the Gallo Neri is the symbol of the Chianti Classico region/appellation, a subset of the larger Chianti) and getting advice from the owner on what wineries would be open and tasting that day.
It was still before ten and the shop was not yet open, so we went around the corner to a little bar. Bars here are not what they are in America. Rather than being more or less synonymous with "pub," they are more like New York style snack bars, serving coffee, pastries, sandwiches, etc. They are usually fairly tiny, but this one was large enough to have a few tables, so we took over one and enjoyed cappucinos and panini and croissants for half an hour or so. I went down the street to the newsstand and bought a London Times and we amused ourselves with that while we waited. When the enoteca finally opened (somewhat after ten, posted hours being more of a guideline here than a mandate), we got snagged along the way by a little store along the way selling kitchen goods of the usual intriguing and ingenious Italian design.
All over town there are signs saying essentially, "If you want to taste Chianti's wines, Franco is your guide!" and they tell no lies. Franco, the owner of the Gallo Neri, sells maps of the region for L3000 (about $1.50) and once you buy one, he will mark on it which wineries are open and would make a good stop. It makes Castellina an excellent jumping-off point for the region.
Back in our car, we negotiated our way out of the parking lot. Our car's first gear was a bit tricky--it seemed to take an uneven amount of power to move the car in first--and we had to do a Chinese firedrill so that Jason could get us up the hill without rolling into the truck behind us. That accomplished, we switched back and I drove us on to Vagliagli, mostly along steep dirt roads. Turning off the "main" dirt road onto an even smaller dirt road, we found Dievole at last.
This was probably the best wine tasting I've ever attended. We started with a glass of their rosato (rose) in the terrace bar and waited there about ten minutes until there were eight of us, at which point a young man came and gathered us into a group. He led us to a tiny chapel that is part of the complex, where we tasted their Chianti Classico. The standards for this wine are fairly strict...it has to be made with at least 75% Sangiovese grapes, grown within a narrow band of elevation (I think it's 250m to 400m above sea level) within the Chianti region. As our guide repeated often, it's not classico unless it has a pink certificate over the cork and black rooster on the back. Our guide also took this opportunity to show us pictures of them presenting a bottle of their nine-hundredth anniversary wine to the Pope. Seven years ago they discovered the original lease of the land from the church (for something like seven silver coins, four loaves of bread and two chickens a year) in the archives in Siena.
Leaving the chapel, we went down into the cellars, where we made a stop in the area where wine used to be aged in the bottle, but which now gets too cold for it. It's filled with bottles of vin santo ("holy wine," a sweet dessert wine that tastes like a late harvest reisling) over 40 years old and therefore undrinkable. There we had a taste of their Renacimento ("Renaissance"), a wine made from black malvasio and ??? grapes, in an older, more fruity style. In another section of the cellars, where wine is aged in barriques (small oak barrels), we tasted their Broccanto. Aging it in the barriques gives it a significant oaky character, but with the chunk of pecorino cheese our guide gave each of us to taste with it, the flavors are perfectly balanced. Down in the cellars they also have a mural of their land (they are required to keep more than half their acreage in forest, in order to protect the land from erosion) and a display of the sixteen different types of soil they are cultivating.
Our next stop was a lovely glass-walled dining room with big round tables. We were seated around it and given three more tasting samples. The first was their classico reserve, the second their nine-hundredth anniversary wine and the last a special wine created in honor of the millenium and sold in a special case with a glass paperweight inside filled with dirt from Canaan. These three were really too young to be drunk now, so the comparison wasn't as useful as it might have been.
Finally, we went up to the wineshop, where our guide gave us tastes of their grappa. Trish had been very curious about it and was pleased to have the opportunity to try it without the commitment of buying a bottle. It's a clear, strong liquor with a pleasant taste, but more of a bite than I enjoy.
Knowing we'd have to carry anything we bought made it easier to whittle down our choice of what to buy. Jason and I got a bottle each of the Rinacimento and the Broccanto (we'll have to pick up some good pecorino), while Steve & Trish got those, plus a bottle of one of their classicos.
After tasting seven different wines it seemed like a very good idea to sit for a while before tackling the winding roads between Dievole and the rest of the world. There is an inn on the grounds of the winery and the terrace bar serves a limited menu as part of the service for their guests and other visitors. There was only one older man serving the entire dining room of perhaps thirty people, so he was really scurrying. We ordered several of their cold plates and shared liberally our swordfish carpaccio, wild boar salami, venison salami, assorted cheeses and prosciutto with melon.
Not too far down the road is the hereditary seat of Baron Ricasoli, the man responsible for creating the standardized Chianti Classico formula and getting Chianti declared the first D.O.C., the equivalent of France's controlled appellations. The Castel de Brolio is up on a very steep, wooded hill. After making our way up and paying the extremely surly gatekeeper, we had the freedom of the grounds--including the chapel of San Jacopo with the Ricasoli family tombs in the crypt--but the castle proper is not actually open to the public. It does command gorgeous views of the surrounding areas from the walls and we spent an hour wandering around there.
Down in the valley below the castle is the enormous Ricasoli winery complex, where we tasted their three Chianti Classico wines and their vin santo and came out with a bottle of the latter. Jason tried to call for reservations at one of the osterias near Il Doccio, but both were closed on Mondays. We drove back to Montevarchi to make it to the ipercoop before they closed. That was less crowded than we had seen it previously and we got back to the villa with our groceries by 7pm. Jason dealt with our email and discussed the dinner options with our hosts and they sent us to the Trattoria La Querche in Levane, just south of Montevarchi and across the river. It was not a fancy place at all, but we had reasonably good food. I particularly enjoyed my penne with rabbit sauce. My steak was big enough that I split it with Jason, whose plate of pork sausages was just two links. With no side dishes, that makes for a pretty paltry dinner, even if they were tasty. Trish had the pollo diavolo, a breast of chicken rubbed with lemon and black pepper, which she split with Steve, who had also chosen the sausages. This was one of the very few places that we had dessert, splitting two panna cotta (the Italian version of flan) with frozen summer fruits on top and coffees. After dinner we were all ready for bed and happy not to be too far from Il Doccio.
Next, a busy day in Florence...
Driving over the mountains to the west, we stopped in Castellina-in-Chianti, a tiny little town perched in a cleft in the hills. The temperature had been pleasant at Il Doccio, but by the time we reached our first stop it was not only raining, but downright cold, and we were very glad we'd brought the rain ponchos that Trish had given us for Christmas. One of our books had recommended stopping into the Enoteca del Gallo Neri (Wineshop of the Black Rooster--the Gallo Neri is the symbol of the Chianti Classico region/appellation, a subset of the larger Chianti) and getting advice from the owner on what wineries would be open and tasting that day.
It was still before ten and the shop was not yet open, so we went around the corner to a little bar. Bars here are not what they are in America. Rather than being more or less synonymous with "pub," they are more like New York style snack bars, serving coffee, pastries, sandwiches, etc. They are usually fairly tiny, but this one was large enough to have a few tables, so we took over one and enjoyed cappucinos and panini and croissants for half an hour or so. I went down the street to the newsstand and bought a London Times and we amused ourselves with that while we waited. When the enoteca finally opened (somewhat after ten, posted hours being more of a guideline here than a mandate), we got snagged along the way by a little store along the way selling kitchen goods of the usual intriguing and ingenious Italian design.
All over town there are signs saying essentially, "If you want to taste Chianti's wines, Franco is your guide!" and they tell no lies. Franco, the owner of the Gallo Neri, sells maps of the region for L3000 (about $1.50) and once you buy one, he will mark on it which wineries are open and would make a good stop. It makes Castellina an excellent jumping-off point for the region.
Back in our car, we negotiated our way out of the parking lot. Our car's first gear was a bit tricky--it seemed to take an uneven amount of power to move the car in first--and we had to do a Chinese firedrill so that Jason could get us up the hill without rolling into the truck behind us. That accomplished, we switched back and I drove us on to Vagliagli, mostly along steep dirt roads. Turning off the "main" dirt road onto an even smaller dirt road, we found Dievole at last.
This was probably the best wine tasting I've ever attended. We started with a glass of their rosato (rose) in the terrace bar and waited there about ten minutes until there were eight of us, at which point a young man came and gathered us into a group. He led us to a tiny chapel that is part of the complex, where we tasted their Chianti Classico. The standards for this wine are fairly strict...it has to be made with at least 75% Sangiovese grapes, grown within a narrow band of elevation (I think it's 250m to 400m above sea level) within the Chianti region. As our guide repeated often, it's not classico unless it has a pink certificate over the cork and black rooster on the back. Our guide also took this opportunity to show us pictures of them presenting a bottle of their nine-hundredth anniversary wine to the Pope. Seven years ago they discovered the original lease of the land from the church (for something like seven silver coins, four loaves of bread and two chickens a year) in the archives in Siena.
Leaving the chapel, we went down into the cellars, where we made a stop in the area where wine used to be aged in the bottle, but which now gets too cold for it. It's filled with bottles of vin santo ("holy wine," a sweet dessert wine that tastes like a late harvest reisling) over 40 years old and therefore undrinkable. There we had a taste of their Renacimento ("Renaissance"), a wine made from black malvasio and ??? grapes, in an older, more fruity style. In another section of the cellars, where wine is aged in barriques (small oak barrels), we tasted their Broccanto. Aging it in the barriques gives it a significant oaky character, but with the chunk of pecorino cheese our guide gave each of us to taste with it, the flavors are perfectly balanced. Down in the cellars they also have a mural of their land (they are required to keep more than half their acreage in forest, in order to protect the land from erosion) and a display of the sixteen different types of soil they are cultivating.
Our next stop was a lovely glass-walled dining room with big round tables. We were seated around it and given three more tasting samples. The first was their classico reserve, the second their nine-hundredth anniversary wine and the last a special wine created in honor of the millenium and sold in a special case with a glass paperweight inside filled with dirt from Canaan. These three were really too young to be drunk now, so the comparison wasn't as useful as it might have been.
Finally, we went up to the wineshop, where our guide gave us tastes of their grappa. Trish had been very curious about it and was pleased to have the opportunity to try it without the commitment of buying a bottle. It's a clear, strong liquor with a pleasant taste, but more of a bite than I enjoy.
Knowing we'd have to carry anything we bought made it easier to whittle down our choice of what to buy. Jason and I got a bottle each of the Rinacimento and the Broccanto (we'll have to pick up some good pecorino), while Steve & Trish got those, plus a bottle of one of their classicos.
After tasting seven different wines it seemed like a very good idea to sit for a while before tackling the winding roads between Dievole and the rest of the world. There is an inn on the grounds of the winery and the terrace bar serves a limited menu as part of the service for their guests and other visitors. There was only one older man serving the entire dining room of perhaps thirty people, so he was really scurrying. We ordered several of their cold plates and shared liberally our swordfish carpaccio, wild boar salami, venison salami, assorted cheeses and prosciutto with melon.
Not too far down the road is the hereditary seat of Baron Ricasoli, the man responsible for creating the standardized Chianti Classico formula and getting Chianti declared the first D.O.C., the equivalent of France's controlled appellations. The Castel de Brolio is up on a very steep, wooded hill. After making our way up and paying the extremely surly gatekeeper, we had the freedom of the grounds--including the chapel of San Jacopo with the Ricasoli family tombs in the crypt--but the castle proper is not actually open to the public. It does command gorgeous views of the surrounding areas from the walls and we spent an hour wandering around there.
Down in the valley below the castle is the enormous Ricasoli winery complex, where we tasted their three Chianti Classico wines and their vin santo and came out with a bottle of the latter. Jason tried to call for reservations at one of the osterias near Il Doccio, but both were closed on Mondays. We drove back to Montevarchi to make it to the ipercoop before they closed. That was less crowded than we had seen it previously and we got back to the villa with our groceries by 7pm. Jason dealt with our email and discussed the dinner options with our hosts and they sent us to the Trattoria La Querche in Levane, just south of Montevarchi and across the river. It was not a fancy place at all, but we had reasonably good food. I particularly enjoyed my penne with rabbit sauce. My steak was big enough that I split it with Jason, whose plate of pork sausages was just two links. With no side dishes, that makes for a pretty paltry dinner, even if they were tasty. Trish had the pollo diavolo, a breast of chicken rubbed with lemon and black pepper, which she split with Steve, who had also chosen the sausages. This was one of the very few places that we had dessert, splitting two panna cotta (the Italian version of flan) with frozen summer fruits on top and coffees. After dinner we were all ready for bed and happy not to be too far from Il Doccio.
Next, a busy day in Florence...