100. Greve wine fiasco and Camillo a Gabbiano

September is officially the month of the wine festival here in Tuscany and it begins here in Greve-in-Chianti with the 13th 'Rassegna' of Chianti Classico. Next week the show is in Panzano, then Impruneta and it finishes in Mercatale. This is only our second edition and after last year's happy initiation we're excited about coming back...

The festival goes from Friday to Sunday, but as we remember from last year it's best to come early as they do begin to run out by the Sunday!

As usual they have two long booths one with the normal Chianti Classicos and Super Tuscans and the other with the riservas. I arrive an hour after the start at 5 pm and within an hour and a half they are starting to run out of some of the more popular wines! Apparently they have rationed 2 bottles per day and again have under estimated by a long way! Anyway I have the chance to sample some superb wines including Castellare's wonderful '98 I Sodi di San Niccolo and Terreno's '97 Momento Massimo.

I return with Annette on the Saturday afternoon and the wine has all but dried up... and some of the wines I've recommended to Annette, she can't try! Very disappointing... Also their ticket system has changed, whereas yesterday you bought a ticket for 10 euros and got ten tastes. Now you only get five! I'm not sure what they are playing at, but it leaves a bad taste in the mouth...




To drown our sorrows we book a table at Camillo a Gabbiano, a restaurant we've passed many times in Mercatale. The restaurant is part of Castello di Gabbiano, the food is great and, yes, they have wine too!

http://www.castellogabbiano.it/en/

Lee, Annette and Isabel 's trip to England - August 2011

99. Volpaia and Turandot in Siena

Volpaia

This afternoon the sun is out and the scorching August is coming to a close... So we take a very pleasant drive out to the tiny hamlet of Volpaia - inhabitants 55. It's in the middle of nowhere surrounded by vineyards and woods. We stop near Radda for a picnic in a shimmering olive grove and then take a stroll through the beautiful old cobbled streets. There is a castle, two restaurants and a bar, where we enjoy a nice cappuccino outside. It's a very peaceful place, time seems to have stood still here, no cars or any kind of noise...

Tonight we are meeting our new landlady... After 2 years at Olmastrino we have decided to move on. Our old landlady, Lucia is very up and down, kind and sweet one minute and a monster the next. The last straw was when my mum and grandma came and woke everybody up, we think the neighbours probably complained and she threatened to throw us out! She has made us feel uncomfortable, especially at having visitors. One of our neighbours have dogs that they leave all day and constantly bark and so we have decided to leave. One of our work colleagues, Miriam is going to Spain for a year and has offered us her house in Montefiridolfi, asmall town also in Chianti, near San Casciano. Moving date is September 10.

Tonight we meet her and her son and family for pizza in Montefiridolfi.



Turandot in Siena

Tonight the company of Torre del Lago are performing Puccini's masterpiece opera for free in Siena's Piazza del Campo. Obviously the chance to see it is too good to pass up and so here we are on our way to the medieval city...

It's a balmy evening and an unbelievable perrformance with wonderful costumes and set. This is only our second opera in Italy , but our third free concert in Siena!

In the background we can hear cheers coming from the bars as the Italian football team our beating Wales 3-1 in a European qualifying match... quite appropriate as we are listening to the famous aria 'Nessun Dorma'!

98. Montepulciano and Poliziano

Only a few days left of our summer holidays and our wine supplies are looking decidedly low. The answer? Sfuso wine. This is the cheap house wine that you can find in 'Fiaschetterie' wine shops dotted around Florence and Tuscany, which is sold from large barrels or steel vats. You take along any sized container and they will fill it up and charge you by the litre! After trying different ones from wine estates at San Andrea and Ugo Bing and in Florence and at nearby Strada-in-Chianti, we decide to take a leaf out of author Frances Mayes' book and head to Montepulciano, a place we came to nearly two years ago and which definitely deserves more exploration... We pack up the picnic bag and throw in a few 5 litre demijohns and head south.

The idea is to visit a few farms, do some tasting and purchase our favourite.



We reach the outskirts nice and early and our first port of call is 'La Vecchia Cantina', one of the largest consortiums here. Theisr sfuso is £1.75 a litre and quite drinkable. We pop into the town of Montepulciano and pick up a map of the whole area and all the wine estates marked on it.

At the moment there is the local festival on, it's called 'Bravio delle botte' - a Tuscan version of 'roll out the barrel',  where teams have to push wine barrels up and down the old, cobbled streets!

We reach the wonderful piazza Grande (which has been the setting for many films, including 'The English Patient' and 'Twilight- new moon'. Unfortunately it's undergoing a summer facelift and is covered in scaffolding! We try some more sfuso wine in a couple of enotecas, but time is moving on and so must we...

Our next stop is the estates of  Valdipiatta, Tre Rosa and Ludola Nuovo all of which have no sfuso to try.

Then we hit the jackpot!  Poliziano, probably the most well-known Vino Nobiles, and after tasting their sfuso, we agree it's the best! The estate, which is named after local poet, Agnolo Poliziano, has many different bottled wines, but their sfuso wine is sensational and surprisingly only £1.14 a litre! (which works out at 60p a bottle!!!)

We fill up our demijohns and head back to Montepulciano for a cappuccino and cake... at where else, but Cafe Poliziano! They have a few tables on an outside terrace with some spectacular views. I can't believe it's taken us this long to return!

We stop in one final enoteca, Pulcino's, for some cheese and wine tasting and then drive down to San Biagio, which is a beautiful honey coloured temple, built by Sangallo ,and the travertine stone is glowing in the early evening sun... beautiful! We enjoy a stroll before bidding farewell to this magical place.







The hunger pangs are too much and so we decide to stop off for dinner on the way home. About 10 km  from Greve we find a nice restaurant called 'Osteria di Sugame'
in Dudda and they have an outside table free! The meal is traditional and very tasty and we stagger home, but with our prized 10 litres of Poliziano wine..

97. Mum and Grandma, Antonio and Nilla

Mum and Grandma

My all-Italian summer continues and we're welcoming some very special guests... It's my mum's second visit and my grandma is making her first ever visit to Tuscany, so I'm quite excited!
A very late 23.15 pick up from Pisa airport means we arrive home at 1am. Our landlady Lucia goes loopy the next morning...

San Gimignano

Thursday and it's straight down to business with a day trip to San Gimignano. We have lunch in the Neapolitan deli and would you believe it the guy tries to rip us off! So last time there then... We pick ourselves up and get back on track with ice cream from our favourite gelateria and wander round the medievil streets and browse in the shops. Very satisfied we return home and knock up some salmon and risotto Milanese for dinner which we enjoy with our San Andrea wine and catch up on Worthing gossip.

Antonio and Nilla - Ferragosto
My cousin Antonio and his wife Nilla have paid the 84 euro train fair (each) to come and see us from Naples for the day! They are staying overnight in Lucia's spare bedsit.

I drive the ladies into Florence and drop mum and Annette off at Piazzale. I then take grandma to the station to meet Antonio and Nilla. We all drive up to Piazzale for Antonio's first view of Florence... After dumping the car off we take the bus down to the centre. What follows is the quickest tour of the city I am ever likely to conduct. From the Pontevecchio to Piazza Signoria, the Duomo and San Lorenzo without catching a breath! Antonio is eager to see as much as possible! The temperature is close to 40°C and we are sweltering. We stop for a breather and souvenir purchasing at the Mercato Nuovo and a very hearty buffet lunch near San Lorenzo. As today is a national holiday the busses are taking ages to arrive.

To all get home mum and Annette take the SITA coach and I take the others in the car. I stop off at Impruneta to get some ice cream and we're back home at 5pm... phew! (My advice is: Don't go sightseeing in Italian cities in August!)

Antonio and Nilla have brought copious amounts of food from Naples (obviously they were a bit sceptical about Tuscan cuisine...) including Buffalo mozerella, provolone cheese, salami and limoncello! Annette knocks up a pretty fancy meal while our guests relax in our woods, catching up on news and playing cards!

It's great to see Antonio, I haven't seen him in 7 years. We enjoy our dinner whch is crostini, two different pasta dishes, chicken, veg. and of course the ice cream. By 10.30 we are all completely exhausted and as I have to drive them back to the station at 7.30 am, so we hit the sack.


Saturday and after dropping Antonio and Nilla of at the station and bidding our fond farewells we decide to have a relaxing day. So we make a picnic, put on our swimming cossies and head to the outdoor pool in Greve for some serious sunbathing and swimming and even manage a game of table tenis. After a light dinner in the evening, we pop into Impruneta where they are staging some musical evenings (including the Reading Philharmonic!) and have put up an outside bar. They are doing Brunello wine by the glass... too good to pass up!

Siena

Sunday and mum and grandma have a lie-in so it's a late start to our Siena trip. We pack up the picnic bag and stop in Mercatale for lunch. After a coffee stop in San Casciano we're on our way to Siena...

Yesterday we saw some of the Palio horse race on tv and the Caterpillar neighbourhood were victorious, so today their yellow and green flags are adorning buildings everywhere. I drop the ladies off near Piazza del Campo and get escorted out of the historic centre by the Polizie Municipale! I feign ignorance as a foreigner of course...

I park up and meet them in the Campo. We enjoy an ice cream and then wander up to the main cathedral. I take mum and grandma inside and show them the Michelangelo and Bernini sculptures and and we even get a peak at the Piccolimini library with the lovely Pinturrichio frescoes.

We've managed to book a table at a place we spotted last year, but couldn't get a table then, the Taverna di San Giuseppe. We make our way here and arrive at 8.30pm. It turns out to be a big hit! Very atmospheric and the food is wonderful... we enjoy gorgonzola, honey and pear crostini and some yummy aubergine, ham and pecorino cheese parcels. For main course we have wild boar, osso buco, a porterhouse steak in a  Brunello sauce and pork with figs mmm... and we even squeeze in some wicked desserts! A monumental meal...

Monday is slightly more relaxing. Annette stays at home (still studying for her DELTA exam) while I drive mum and grandma to Radda, on a glorious afternoon. We take a very gentle stroll around this small, quaint town, finishing up at bar Dante. The ladies have an iced lemon drink and me, a glass of Brunello 'I Bricci' wine... what else!

For our final dinner grandma knocks up her speciality 'pasta e fagioli', our veal and finishing up with vin santo and cantuccini of course!

Tuesday and it's their last day... Their chosen destination is Arezzo. Again Annette is staying behind to study.

Badia a Coltibuono

First stop is Badia a Coltibuono, an 11th century Vallombrossan monastery, where I've heard the wine is quite good! We find the enoteca and drive up to the abbey. It is a beautiful setting, with huge cedar trees and incredible views towards Gaiole. Grandma pops into the chapel to say a prayer and light a candle and I check out the restaurant which looks rather interesting, for another time... We drive back down to the shop and enoteca for some wine tasting and I purchase a bottle.

Arezzo

After failing to find Castello di Brolio we head on to Arezzo. Somehow I manage to find a parking spot right next to the main square. We find a nice little place for lunch in the shape of a little deli which has a few tables and chairs out the back. So we tuck into pannini with prosciuto and pecorino, anchovies and pepperoni all washed down with some local red wine. Grandma gets chatting and makes friends with  3 ladies working in the shop.

Afterwards we walk into the Piazza Grande, made famous by the film 'La Vita e Bella', they both enjoy themselves and we take a stroll down 'Corso Italia' and stop for a disappointingly lukewarm cappuccino at Carraturo...

It's time to go and I rescue the car and meet them down the hill and we make our way home.

A quick wash and change of clothes and we're out for our last evening on the town... La Paglietta is the destination and as usual we order far too much food, but as usual it's all fab! Grandma takes a fancy to one of the waiters, who looks about 90 years old! Grandma asks us whether we think he still has all his beans??? I think she has had rather a lot to drink! Afterwards we drive into Greve where there is a band playing some traditional music, everyone is in a dancing mood and mum and grandma join in! I think they've enjoyed their holiday? Only the 9am departure from Pisa airport and a safe journey home...

(Original journal entry 20/8/03)

96. Festa della Cacciatore - Sassetta

Another invitation from Annette's student, (assistant to the Tuscan minister for education and ex mayor of Sasetta) Saverio. This time it's to the annual hunter's festival in Sasetta down on the Tuscan coast. The festival is on Saturday and Sunday and he has invited us to stay in his farmhouse.

A nice leisurely midday start and we arrive at around 3pm. I disappear into Castagnetto Carducci for an initiation into the delights of Bolgheri wines and lose all track of time!

The festival is a 10-minute walk into town and it looks like everybody has turned up. The idea of the festival is to raise money for the local hunting society, but I suspect it's also a good excuse for the whole town to have a knees up! We take our place amongst the locals on long wooden benches and tuck into the fruits of their labour... wild boar, pheasant and venison! washed down with free-flowing red wine of course.



Afterwards there is traditional dancing until the wee small hours, with many showing their skills on the dance floor. It's a wonderful evening with everyone, young and old, enjoying themselves . No trouble, drunkenness or stupidity... a million miles from England. We stagger home some time after 1am in total darkness, no street lights here! and collapse into bed.

The following morning at breakfast Saverio and his wife Pina have invited us to stay for lunch, an offer we cannot refuse. So at 1 o'clock they arrive at the farm laden with several dishes which turns out to be a 5-course meal! All fish and all incredible... we sit outside in the bright sun, being shown the ultimate hospitality, I think we've found our adoptive parents!





At around 4 we bid our fond farewells and head to the beach. The park of Rimigliano just north of San Vincenzo is the chosen destination and we enjoy a couple of hours cooling down in the Tyrrhenian sea. Before our drive home we pop into San Vicenzo to check out Italy's pemier restaurant, the Gamberro Rosso and also stop off at San Guido, home of the famous'Sassicaia' wine...

(Original journal entry 10/9/03)

95. Bernice and Laura

Day 1. Pisa

Our return home after 9 days in Sardegna and 1 in Rome is to a house full of wasps! So we sleep in Lucia’s spare bedsit.

Two days of cleaning and shopping ensue, in preparation for our first visitors of the summer, Annette’s niece, Bernice and her friend, Laura. We pick them up from Pisa airport at 3.45pm and then drive into town for the obligatory stroll round the Campo dei Miracoli. Only this time we actually get to go up the tower! They’ve finished restoring it and the limited number of people allowed to go up has been extended! It’s a surreal experience as the lean makes it appear as though you are walking down when infact you are walking up! We also have a peak at Pisa’s ‘other’ square, Piazza dei Cavaliere, which is slightly disappointing...

Home and dinner and we catch up on what’s new in Worthing! Rounding off a pleasant first half day.

Day 2
 

After 100 days without rain the heavens finally open! No problem as we're in Florence for the day and the girls get to see that big 'Dave' guy at the Accademia and I get to buy those new 'And1' trainers I've had my eyes on! Ice cream in Piazza Signoria and panoramic views up Piazzale bring day 2 to a close.
 
Day 3, Friday and the sun is back out for our trip to San Gimignano. We stop for a picnic lunch at our usual spot on the Francigena and spend a few hours in the medievil city - more ice cream in our favourite gelateria, with champelmo, vernaccia and chocolate and ginger flavours! Mmm
 
In the evening we treat the girls to a yummy meal at La Paglietta in San Polo
 

Saturday is beach day! A rather late start and we stop near the Villa San Andrea for some photos in this field of Sunflowers... well we are in Tuscany! Our next impromptu stop is in Bolgheri to see 'those' trees and means we don't hit the beach at Cala Violina until 1 o'clock... mad dogs and Englishmen! But the beach is beautiful, water crystal clear, the sun is out and the temperature is about 40° C. Unfortunately our stay is cut a little short due to a wasp invasion. It's just too hot even for them and so we head back to San Vincenzo for a sunset walk on the beach and shower. We stop for a wicked pizza in 'Number One' and at 10.30 pm the town is packed with young poseurs! We stroll around and buy some jumpers in the sales and the girls buy some gifts at the midnight market. This is the kind of evening it's impossible to have in England and one of the reasons we love Italy so much... We leave at 12.30am and get back home sometime around 3am!
 
Sunday and we all sleep till about 2pm! understandably... We have a lazy brunch outside in our woods and fall into our local pool at Greve for some 'waspless' swimming and sunbathing!
 
Monday and we spend all day at the pool, only tearing ourselves away for a pre-dinner aperitivo!
 
Tuesday and it's Bernice and Laura's last full day in Tuscany and market day in Florence at the Cascina park... We enjoy an early morning stroll with them and we pick up some plants and they buy some bargain clothes. We drive into the city and have lunch outside the Pitti palace and they get their first walk over the Ponte Vecchio. They are tempted by the street artists and so go in search of one worthy to immortaslize them in charcoal. Eventually they find an Algerian guy outside the Duomo and we spend a couple of hours in 42°C heat watching in amazement .
 

Back home to Greve and we cook up a late night meal and eat outside in the woods with some candles and scary stories to bring to an end a great week's holiday.
 
Wednesday and a 9.30am start for our drive to Pisa airport and last goodbyes, a very enjoyable week finishes where it started... However, rather than turn the car around we decide on another plan...
 
 
(Original journal entry 6/8/03)