600 Year Old Wine

Every time we have been to Tuscany, we have visited Monte Oliveto Maggiore, a Benedictine monastery about 33 km northwest of Pienza.  There is something calm and peaceful about this place.  It relaxes the soul.

The purpose of each visit was to see the famous series of 13 frescos depicting the life of St. Benedict.

But this time the frescos were off-limits as the monks chanted Seste behind closed doors.

Since we couldn’t look at the art, we poked around to see what else we could find.

We discovered we had missed something every bit as amazing in their basement.

A 600 year old winery.   Who knew?

The monks started making wine in the 14th century...and have been doing so without interruption every since.  

On display were casks used to age wine hundreds of years ago...

...as well as terra cotta jugs used to store the finished product.

A slightly newer wine bottle

A very old wine press

The wine cellar still operates.

Producing four different wines...

    

Vermentino is a white wine, very similar in taste to voignier.

Monaco Rosso...a red table wine made of a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese, and Merlot grapes.

 

Grance Senesi Rosso:  a red table wine made with Grance grapes...a fairly rare variety grown mostly in the hills south of Siena.

And finally Grappa... a liquor distilled from the grape seeds, skins, and stems left over from wine making.  It has a very high alcohol content (38%) and burns your throat as it goes down.

For the cyclists among you, the ride to Monte Oliveto was 68 km round-trip...with 1307 meters of climbing...and six Cat 4 climbs.

The hill up to the abbey itself was a 16% grade...the steepest yet.