Really Good Wine

Today, we got our hands on some really good wine.  To explain how good it is, we have to provide a little background.

Wine in Toscana is defined by the Chianti’s.  There are seven varieties...largely determined by geography.  Colli Fiorentini comes from the hills near Florence.  Colli Senese from the hills around Siena.  Classico from the towns of Radda and Gaiole (among others).  You get the idea.

In all, the various varieties of Chianti produce about 96 million bottles a year.  All varieties of Chianti are based upon the Sangiovese grape.  Sangiovese by itself tends to make a somewhat bitter wine, so six of the seven varieties blend in small amounts of other grapes to take the edge off.  

There is only one of the seven varieties that can produce a Chianti made from nothing but Sangiovese grapes.  That wine comes from Montalcino.

Montalcino is a small town in the Tuscan hills, about 25 km from our apartment in Pienza.  The climate and soil combine to produce the king of all Chianti’s...Brunello.

The Fuligni Vineyard

Just how good is Brunello?  About 10 years ago, Wine Spectator magazine published an article on the 100 best wines in the world.  Three of the top five were Brunello.  In 2006, that same magazine named a Brunello the best wine in the  world.  The next year it wrote, “No wine in Italy matches Tuscany’s Brunello di Montalcino.”

There are 208 small wineries that are members of the 

Consorzio Brunello di Montalcino (Brunello Growers Association).  They control what constitutes Brunello by limiting where wine by that name can be produced (only 5,100 acres). It cannot be artificially watered and must be pruned to limit yield. Brunellos must be aged at least two years in oak barrels and can’t be sold until the fifth year after harvest.  In 2008, the Consorzio successfully sued to prevent three wineries who did not meet these standards from calling themselves Brunellos. 

Output is small by commercial winery standards.  Less than 10% of Chianti's are Brunellos.  Output from all 208 producers is less than half of what Chateau San Michelle sells in a year.

It was therefore with great anticipation that we rode our bikes up the hill to Montalcino (Cat 3 climb) to visit the Fuligni Winery.

Carol, catching her breath at the winery gate

The Fuligni Winery

As on our first visit five years ago, we were graciously greeted by the vintners (who at the time were in the midst of cleaning up their olives orchard in preparation for next week’s  harvest).

We got the cooks’ tour of the winery...

The fermentation vats

The aging cellar

One aside...Vineyards in Tuscany often have rose bushes at the end of each row of vines.  It’s not merely aesthetic.  It turns out grape plants are susceptible to the same diseases as roses.  If the roses are healthy, the grape plants probably are as well (kind of like the canary in the coal mine).

Just how goods are the Fuligni Brunellos? 

A wall full of recognition

Their 1999 vintage won second place in Wine Enthusiast magazine’s (Britain) “Top Hundred Wines.”  

Wine Spectator has given them their critic’s choice award five times since 2001.

We've had the opportunity to drink their wine before, and "wonderful" doesn't begin to describe it.

Why is this woman smiling?   The wine made it home safely in Roger’s bike bag.

 Our ride today was 51.5 km with 1063 meters of climbing.  Four Cat 4 and one Cat 3 climbs (although we think the climb from the Fuligni Winery back to Montalcino at 9% grade should also have been rated).

So far in Italy...

Total Distance	Elevation	Cat 4	Cat 3	Cat 2
1,319 km	17,491 meters	32	13	3

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.

The Hospice

Spedaletto's main gate

Back in the 11th century, if you wanted to go on a vacation, you would likely opt for a religious pilgrimage.  The most popular pilgrimage destination (as it is today with visitors to Italy) was Rome.

Traveling to Rome back then was a bit more harrowing than it is today.  You travelled by foot, or---if you opted for the luxury tour---by donkey.  The roads were practically non-existent.  They were fraught with danger...everything from robbers to carnivorous wild animals.  There were no Holiday Inns or McDonald's along the way, but there was...

...the hospice.

Back then, a hospice meant something different than it does today.  It was a refuge...a safe place to stop, rest, and get re-provisioned along a well-travelled pilgrimage route.  

As it turns out, the Val d’Orcia had a very popular pilgrim's path running right through it...The Franciagena...the main road connecting France and Rome.

This former hospice, called Spedaletto, still stands, and today serves as a pair of upscale bed and breakfasts.

This was the view that the weary traveller would see as he approached.

It was more of a fortress than a hotel.

Yes, that's Carol in the crook of the wall.

Entrance to the chapel

One of the B&B's

The other B&B

I Colori d'Attuno...The Colors of Autumn

Artists say there’s something special about the quality of light in Tuscany.  If you’ve been here, you know that already.  If you haven’t, the photos below can only begin to give you a sense of what it’s like.  The colors of Autumn are different from back home...more muted.  Here’s what we mean.

Monticchiello front yard

Brunello vinyard in Montalcino

Sangiovese plants turning color

Old Wall in Monticchiello

Vineyard and Olive Orchard

Sangiovese grapes that will never become Brunello

Life in Pienza...Then and Now

Then...

People have lived in what is now Pienza for thousands of years.  Our friends Isabella and Carlo have a farm on the edge of town.  Several years ago they were renovating their barn and discovered a buried Etruscan ruin.  Because of its potential archeological value, they wanted archeologists to excavate the site.  They applied to to government and are still waiting for an approval which they doubt will come in their lifetimes.

However, there is other documented evidence of Etruscan life in Pienza from pre-Roman times.

This archeological site---a few hundred meters from the center of town---was excavated in the 1970’s.  It stands just a few meters uphill from the natural spring considered the site of the first settlement here. 

And right across from this spring stands the original church of Pieve di Corsignano...which was built in 715.   

The church is so old, the bas relief over the door contains pagan symbols.

Corsignano was a place where people from the surrounding valley came for markets, prayer and just to get together.  It was not a hilltop town.  It is a steep, short walk down from the hill top.

Fast forward 500 years to 1253.  The Piccolomini family gets run out of Siena. They end up around Corsignano.  They thrive here, and Pieve di Corsignano grows first into a tiny village then a town.  In the mid-1400’s, one of their sons--Enea Silvio---becomes a Cardinal and a few years later Pope Pius II (1458.)

Pius II completely rebuilds his hometown into the world’s first planned city, according to architectural historians.  He died before the city was completed.  

The city included a Duomo (Cathedral) dedicated to Pius II himself.

Note the large disc atop the church’s facade.

                           It contains the coat of arms of  Pius II.

The Piccolomini family crest

...with the Cardinal's mitre added...

...and finally the crossed keys of the Pope.

...and Now

Think of Pienza today as a 15th century city...with WIFI.

Our apartment is small ...

...but has all the modern conveniences.

A clothes washer...

              ...with an automatic spin cycle.

...and a solar-powered dryer.

Roger was excited he would get to watch the world’s best soccer on TV.  But our apartment only gets game shows....                         

...or cartoons

To watch real calcio, we go the the neighborhood bar, where the Italian World Cup qualifying match was on pay TV.

Grocery shopping is another experience.  There is a very small supermarket in town. Mostly though, we get bread from the panificio, produce from the frutta & vedura vendor, and meat from the machelleria.  Every Wednesday, the fish monger comes to town in his truck...

...and on Fridays, there’s a farmers’ market.

We’ve been very fortunate so far to have had two sets of visitors...

 

Puddin and George Cox were in Cortona taking a cooking class.  They drove down for the day.

Rebecca Fox and Bob Heller spent a few days with us and provided transportation to Redicofani, so we didn’t have to cycle to the top of that ridiculous hill.

By the way, in this picture, we are standing at Via del Bacio... Street of the Kiss.  There are 4 short streets in a row which lead off the Panorama, a walkway around the West side of the city and overlooking the val d’orcia.  They are, in order, the Streets of Fortune, Love, a Kiss, and the Dark.  Use your imagination.  About half the tourists walking the panorama are laughing when they get to Street of Dark  (It’s where we live, so we hear them through the open window - In the laundry photo above, Carol is hanging over not just the laundry, but the Panorama.  That’s our bedroom window.  The kitchen window is about three feet away, with curved grillwork.)


And finally, we want to thank our daughter-in-law Lita Monaghan for providing us with our traveling wardrobe.