Out With Erin

We awoke this morning bright and early, and started our day off with a tasty breakfast to fill our bellies.

Last night, we booked a wine tour with a local company called Di Gusti. We met our guide, Gilberto, at 9am in a little plaza close to our B&B and were off to the town of Montalcino.

On route, Gilberto educated us about all the wines in the area, specifically the Sangiovese grape. We learned that depending on how long it sits with the skin on, determines the type of wine it can make. For example, one day is a white, three days a rosé, and one week a red. He also informed us about the differences between the DOCG, DOC, and IGT labeled wines. The first indicates that the wine producers followed the strictest regulations and had the wine tested by a committee to ensure the geographical authenticity of the wine. The DOC label still indicates strict guidelines, but they tend to be a bit more relaxed than the DOCG. Finally, the IGT label was created to indicate that a wine producer couldn’t follow all of the guidelines but still makes great wine. Gilberto gave us an example of an IGT wine where it’s comes from the Sangiovese grape, but in order to be a Sangiovese wine it has to be made of 80% Sangiovese grapes. A wine producer could instead use 50% Sangiovese grapes and 50% something else and still make an amazing blend, but then would be limited to the IGT label. This allows for many great wine producers to be creative in the blends they can make.

Along on drive to the first winery, we saw beautiful fields of sunflowers, vineyard after vineyard, and rolling hills that went on for miles.

On first visit was at a family run vineyard called Poggio Rubino. This is a 7 hectare vineyard that has been passed down the family since the 1800s. To ensure the soil of the ground is healthy to grow great grapes, they plant a rose, and if the rose grows then they know grapes will too. The vineyard is surrounded by a tallish caged fence, which protects the grapes from the many pests, particularly deer and wild boar!

We had a tour of the grounds, the beautiful view, and of course the cellars where the magic happens. They informed us that the wine spends only 30 days max in the silver tanks.

We then returned to the main room to begin our tasting. To start with, we had their rosé which is 50% Sangiovese grapes and 50% Pinot noir. It was sparkly, fresh, and an easy drinking summer wine.

Next, they brought us two different olive oils to try. The pure one cost €35 a bottle and the blend €25. One olive tree makes about one bottle of olive oil. We also tried two different types of balsamic. One was 15 years aged and cost €70 a bottle and the second was 30 years aged and cost €90 a bottle. For any balsamic lover, you would have been in heaven. These were both absolutely delicious, especially the 30 year aged, as it was less sweet. At this point, they also prepared us a small snack.

Our next wine was called the Rosso, which is a 2 year aged young grape.

After that, we had two types of Brunello, these are 5 year aged grapes. They were similar in style except for the one on the right came from volcanic soil which greatly impacted the minerally taste of the wine (and to me, made it that much more delicious!).

Finally, we had the piece de resistance: the riserva. This Brunello has to be aged for at least 6 years. This baby sells for a whopping €125, and you could taste the difference.

Our tasting ended with a glass of grappa which is made from the grape skin.

After leaving the winery, we made a short stop in the town of Montalcino, which sits 500m above sea level and was an old fortress for the town of Siena.

Continuing on our journey, we headed to our second vineyard, Tornsei. The house has been in the family since 1863 and again has been passed down through the generations. It’s currently being run by a 91 year old grandma, the son who is the winemaker, and his wife and two daughters. We were lucky enough to meet the winemaker himself and his daughter! We received a tour of the cellars and learned about how their wine making process has evolved through the years.

When we returned to the stunning panoramic terrace, they had a beautiful homemade lunch made for us. During lunch, we also tasted their Rosso and Brunello.

We loaded back into the van and began our trip back to Florence. Now, I forgot to mention. We had booked this tour because they specifically stated that they don’t take more than 8 people in their van. However, today it was only Daniel and I. We essentially had our own private tour of these beautiful Brunello vineyards!

On route home, the amazing Gilberto stopped at the Piazzale Michelangelo to allow us to see a gorgeous view of Florence, which included part of the old city wall that was built in 1334. The square also has the “fake David.”

Returning back to our B&B for a quick pit stop, it then began to hail!

We waited for an hour to so for the storm to pass, and ventured to our favourite little market for dinner. We were fairly filled by all our wine and food today, but still managed to have a beautiful cheesey appetizer, a massive arancini, and a little dessert.