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5/6/02 Monday
Up and at breakfast at 8:10 in order to go on the Chianti region tour. We left with Antonio in the Golf VW convertible. What a crazy driver. He called the San Goban factory I'd seen yesterday in Pisa on his cell phone but found out they only make commercial glass. The factory I should have gone to is outside Paris. I wish I'd known when we were there!. I got the number to call next time.
First we went to San Gimignano. Quaint, old, stone.Next we went to a little town called Greve and did some shopping.
We bought some
wild boar sausage with truffles (and had a shot) at Antica Macelleria Falorni. Then we went to a wine tasting place, Le Cantine di Greve, where you paid for a card (¤15 in our case), you stick the card into a slot and push a button and are served a shot of wine from the bottle you chose. Prices varied according to the wine from ¤.40 to ¤2.80 or so. I liked a younger and cheaper as it turned out. They had quite a collection of corkscrews.
Then a little town "inside a castle", the village of Montefioralle. Antonio wishes to buy a house here because its so idyllic. Very peaceful and
picturesque. The is the birthplace of Amerigo Vespucci. His doorway, #21, is identified by the wasp ("vespa") and V of the Vespucci family. I may have gotten a shot of this with the video camera when I asked Antonio about the "bee". Next we took a drive to the country. Beautiful rolling hills and vineyards. Perfect weather, top down on the car. Took a gravel road back through the woods and finally arrived at a restaurant, La Cantinetta di Rignana. It's on the Rignana Estate. We were introduced to all the people there. Antonio was greeted like a long lost son. The cook looked like he could have been my brother.
We had our best meal yet. Nice bottle of wine. Pasta-flat noodles with hare meat sauce. Lucky me, I got the liver and heart. And ravioli made with truffles. It was the best ravioli
we've EVER had. Elaine ordered another plate for her second course. I had grilled pork, which was perfect, and spinach with garlic. Fantastic flavor. More house wine-made from the local grapes. Olive oil made from the local olive trees. Apple cake. Mmmmm. Three kinds of grappa (45% alcohol), Juniper, plain and strawberry. I made a wish, downed mine in one gulp and had "no drop" from the glass after 3 seconds so it'll be coming true. Elaine did her's too but didn't swallow and spit it back out. We also tried the fermented lemon drink "for ladies" but it was too strong for our tastes. Had a nice aroma though. We bought 2 bottles of the olive oil. Then we walked down the hill to the Villa owned by "the Noble", Sveva Rocco di Torrepadula, who also owned the land the restaurant was on. She is a Marquis' daughter. She was married to a Italian/German millionaire, Cosimo Gericke. You could tell she got a lot of respect because of her lineage. They were restoring the property which included a chapel built in the 1700's by the ex-bishop Scipione dei Ricci. He spent the last years of his life here after his excommunication. He's buried there in the chapel floor. Once a year or so they open it up the local public and hold a service. The living quarters which was being used as a B&B (16 person capacity) had very old interior doors. Four bed rooms upstairs, four down. Frescoed walls in the living room that gave you the feeling you were still outside. We were shown the wine making area. Stainless steel, oak kegs. She gave us a taste of some young wine. We bought 2 bottles of 1999 then she drove off in her Volvo to pickup her daughter from school.
Next we drove over to Antonio's best friend's(they met in the Army). It is a resort type place. All very modern, spread out, high class and very nice. Not quite open yet. It would be a nice, quite, peaceful place to stay. Then we drove back to Florence to Piazzale Michelagiolo, a park on a hill overlooking
the city from the south. Very pleasant. Next we drove to the north side to the city of Fieza to see the view from the hills there.
Narrow streets and the head of Fiat's weekend place on the very top of the hill. Finally we went home. It was a great day but I need some rest. All that drinking isn't sitting well with my stomach. Elaine's already asleep and it's only 9:15.
