Fears and Tears

Buongiorno, good morning. On day three, we planned an afternoon Tuscany small group wine tour to the Chianti region visiting two vineyards. We decided it would be a good idea to find the place where our bus picks us up. So, after another great breakfast and fabulous coffee at our hotel, we headed out to locate our tour meeting place, which was at a bus station about a 15-minute walk from our hotel. The city was not as busy in the morning as we walked along the narrow streets.

Unfortunately, google maps wanted to take us the fastest way through the train terminal, however, there is not a way through unless you are a ticketed train passenger. The train terminal was so crazy, busy and noisy that we were getting really frustrated. Finally, we retraced our steps outside, went around the train station, and found our meeting place.

After that ordeal, we walked around for a while and found a lovely little side chapel connected to a large Church where we could sit and pray in the peace and quiet, which I appreciated after visiting the crowded and noisy train station. I sat there for some time and felt the Lord speak to my heart. I heard Him in the silence of my being say, “fruit of the vine”. I am not sure what those four words meant, but I carried them throughout my time in Italy, pondering their meaning.

We were excited to see the countryside and checked in with our tour guide, Jonathan. We got on our bus and were ready to experience the beautiful wine country.

We left the busyness of the city behind and spent the afternoon in the beautiful countryside with fields of green for miles to see with grape vines and olive trees surrounded by mountain views. On our way out of Florence, Jonathan pointed out the old city gates and walls that still remain and told us interesting facts about Florence, like during the war with nearby Pisa, Florence was unable to get salt and began baking their bread without salt. They found that it actually stays fresher longer without salt, and to this day continue to bake their bread that way.

We arrived at the first winery and are given a tour where they make the wine. The vineyard owner spent time with us explaining the process and the different wines the winery produces along with their extra virgin olive oil.

The juice, skin and fruit of the grape starts in steel containers before it is moved into the larger barrels for aging. The Chianti wine contains both the fruit of the grape and the skin during the entire process. The Rose’ wine begins with the fruit and skin, but after a short time, the skin is removed and contains only the fruit of the grape and is not aged as long as the Chianti wines. The Chianti wine can be aged longer in smaller barrels for the reserve wine and has a more vivid ruby red color and more drawn-out flavors to it. The wines are aged anywhere from a few weeks to a few months to several years. There is a glass device invented by Leonardo Davinci on the top of each of the larger barrels. This device lets the winemaker know how full the barrels are and allows air to escape during fermentation without letting air in.

We sampled some lovely Rose’ and Chianti wines paired with the local pecorino cheese, bread and olive oil. The wine contains no added preservatives and was delicious and flavorful.

We boarded the bus and made our way to the second winery, which is also a family-owned vineyard producing both grapes and olives.

This winery tour began at the steel containers where the winemaking process begins. The wine is then moved into cement containers, which allow the grapes to breathe more before finally moving into the wooden barrels. There is much tasting beginning in the fields and through the entire process to make sure they produce an excellent and quality product. The smaller barrels contain the reserve wine that is aged longer.

We moved to the tasting room and enjoyed sampling the Chianti wine along with their fresh ham, turkey, prosciutto, pecorino cheese and bread.

One of the winery family’s sons explained the characteristic of each wine we sampled. He said in the fall, his father will wake him up at 4am for harvest time. The grapes are handpicked so the fruit is not damaged. He let us know that the women inspect the grapes and only keep the highest quality ones. He said that women especially have a good eye for this task. And adds with a laugh that they are more patient with the sorting process than the men would be.

After a lovely day in the Tuscan countryside, we boarded our bus to go back to Florence. The bus ride back was quite lively, and we listened to American rock and roll and even broke out into song on the way back. It was really fun.

Jonathan, our tour guide gave us some recommendations for dinner, especially where to enjoy the best Floridian famous steak, which is to be ordered medium rare.

That evening, we took Jonathan’s recommendation and visited the restaurant he recommended. Fortunately for us, it was right around the corner of our hotel. We were, however, not ready for the huge steak after indulging in the cheese and meat earlier, so we made a reservation to return the next evening to have the steak.

We did stay for dinner and enjoyed more Chianti wine. Paul ordered the veal meatballs with lemon sauce, and I had the homemade lasagna. It was a fabulous end to the day. We even saved room to sample their homemade desserts of tiramisu and chocolate cake. Wonderful!! Truly a great end to day three. Ciao.