Today we took the morning off and got up late. Sara finally got the cold that Dave is just getting over so we took it easy. After getting up and having a coffee, we took a drive through the area surrounding Montepulciano, it’s very scenic even with the weather not being great (still raining). There’s a lot of sheep, some horses and cows and tons of wine. It’s much gentler than the northern areas we’ve been in and the soil (per Dave) is red clay with limestone.
We did a wine tasting at a family owned winery called Boscarelli. The local terroir is for Vino Nobile di Montepulciano which we learned today has to be a minimum of 70% Sangiovese. As Sangiovese is a very delicate grape most of the fermentation process is done in huge barrels or even in giant concrete tanks which mimics the old Etruscan method of fermenting in terra-cotta. The Rosso di Montepulciano, the Vino Nobile and the Riserva change in their blends and in the fermentation techniques but are all majority Sangiovese. The operation reminded us a lot of the smaller family run wineries we visit in California like Keever and Canard where everyone does a little bit of everything from putting the back labels on bottles bound for the US to sorting bad grapes on the table during harvest.
We looked for restaurants around the winery but couldn’t find anything open close by as it was nearing the end of lunchtime so we came back to Montepulciano. Everything was closed here too but Dave was able to find a sandwich in a bar we split. After resting a while at home we went to another tasting in the cantina directly across the road from where we are staying called De’Ricci. While the the cantinas themselves were really interesting (they start at street level and go all the way down the ancient Estrucan caves deep below the city) the wine was just ok. We had the place all to ourselves and they were running a skeleton crew of just one who poured for us. She was a bit of character and after chatting together for a while she waived our tasting fees.
We are having an aperitivo at the apartment with wine we bought last night at the Locanda dei Nobile and some snacks, including pecorino which is made here (from all those sheep we saw earlier). The wine shop has a super knowledgeable staff and crazy amount of local wine- a fantastic shop that Mitch would love. From the street it just looks like a small wine shop with a sandwich counter but we ended up eating dinner there last night because down the stairs they have a giant, multi level cantina that’s been converted into a really cool restaurant.
Tomorrow we’ve booked a few more wine tastings and a lunch in a neighboring town.
We got to admire all the towers and medieval alleys pretty much by ourselves. Sara also made this classic Cinecitta tribute short video
Also, one of the big cantinas producing vino Nobile (the local wine) is literally across the street from the front door. We walked around a little and had lunch in at a very nice place called Le Lodge di Vignola. The plan was to eat dinner in but all the grocery stores in town are closed because it’s Sunday afternoon so we will probably have a light dinner out. Tomorrow the plan is to take a drive through the surrounding country and visit a winery in the afternoon.
The Duomo has both a museum and the church. We wandered around the museum and looked at the assorted treasures of the church then explored the Duomo itself which is massive and very beautiful inside. The entry fee also includes an elevator ride up to the roof so we walked around the roof and checked out the view too. It’s interesting because we’ve both been in office and apartment buildings taller than the Duomo but for some reason being up on the roof with all the spires and scaffolding gives a sense of vertigo.
This morning we said goodbye to Jeff and Karen who were on their way to Rome, where by the way, the airports were closed this morning due to a freak snow storm that is blanketing Southern Italy! We heard it took them quite a while to make it to the Eternal City. We helped Nate and Christine to the airport as they had graciously agreed to take all of our ski stuff back to California for us. After saying goodbye to them we went back into Milano and picked up our new rental car.
Even after lunch the hotel doors were still closed so Dave waited with the bags while Sara went to get an Italian SIM card. Finally we were able to get ahold of the hotel owner to come and let us in because a very nice lady from the building offered Dave to call him directly. Once settled we set out to explore the historic center of Genova which reminds us of Porto, Portugual, the old quarter of Barcelona and a little bit of Venice and Naples. It’s really beautiful with pink and yellow palazzos squeezed in tight around tiny piazzas and also a little gritty which makes it interesting. Everyone we’ve met here was at first a little standoffish but then once engaged, very lovely and extremely welcoming.
