The Cappella della Madonna di Vitaleta on the road from Pienza to San Quirico d'Orcia

In 2001 I came to live in Italy. I had some fun, wrote a journal and this is the blog of my story...

"Tuscany is a state of grace. The countryside is so lovingly designed that the eye sweeps the mountains and valleys without stumbling over a single stone. The lilt of the rolling green hills, the upsurging cypresses, the terraces sculptured by generations that have handled the rocks with skillful tenderness, the fields geometrically juxtaposed as though drawn by a draughtsman for beauty as well as productivity; the battlements of castles on the hills, their tall towers standing grey-blue and golden tan among the forest of trees, the air of such clarity that every sod of earth stands out in such dazzling detail. The fields ripening with barley and oats, beans and beets. The grape-heavy vines espaliered between the horizontal branches of silver-green olive trees, composing orchards of webbed design, rich in intimation of wine, olive oil and lacy-leaf poetry. Tuscany untied the knots in a man's intestines, wiped out the ills of the world. Italy is the garden of Europe, Tuscany is the garden of Italy, Florence is the flower of Tuscany." Irving Stone from my favourite book " The Agony and the Ecstacy" A fictional biography of Michelangelo



102. Vino é piacere (wine is pleasure) Impruneta

Over 600 wines to taste! Christmas has come early this year...



As you might have guessed I'm just a bit excited, not only to be tasting some very expensive wines, but also some Northern Italian wines for the first time. This is a new wine event to me, although actually it is the third edition of an event hosted by 'Vinoteca al Chianti' a small enoteca in Galluzo to the south of Florence with a lot of wines to showcase...
They've hired out the very impressive 14th century cloisters of the Basilica in Impruneta, which make for a splendid setting.




We pop in on the Saturday evening after Panzano, just to have a look and return Sunday lunchtime to get stuck in! As well as all the wine, there are many stands giving away free samples of cheese, salami, biscuits, cakes and olive oil. The wine is seperated into sparkling, white and dessert around the cloisters, with all the red downstairs in a barelled vault, together with some grappas and brandies.
There are also some French champagnes which we enjoy alongside some Italian Spumantes, which are actually quite good! Nothing like the sweet Asti Spumante I remember from my England days... no these are dry and complex, in fact not that different from the French champagnes here... My favourite, a 59 euro Spumante from Franciacorte is a 1996 'Anna Maria Clemente from Ca' del Bosco. I also taste a red spumante from the Veneto region of Italy! Very unusual, although I'm not too sure... it's  a 1997 recioto della valpolicella from villa rinaldi and costs 87 euro 50 a bottle!



We move onto the white section and try some very interesting wines, my pick is from a female producer, Marisa Cuomo, with a blend of three grapes I've never heard of, Fenile, Ginestra and Ripoli? Making for a very exotic white from the Amalfi coast.

The largest section is obviously dedicated to red wine and the idea generally is to sart from the north of italy and work your way south. The most expensive wine here is a 252 euro Barbera d'Alba 'Pozzo Annunziata' 1999 from Roberto Voerzio, very concentrated, juicy, still young, tight tannins.
Two of my favourite Barolos are from Elio Altare, Paolo Scavino and Tuscany is obviously well represented with some nice Brunellos and a couple of my favourite Super Tuscan's are Castello di Terricciola's 87 euro 'Lupiccaia' and Valgiano's 70 euro sangiovese, Syrah, Merlot blend.

We finish with some dessert wines, including a 50 euro passito di Pantelleria , 'Martigiana' from Salvatore Murano with the most incredible nose!

Afterwards we take a walk around the market outside in the town, go and relax on our rug and then make our way home...
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