Tuscan Winery Time

Before we came out here, Justin did a bit of research on wine country, the types of wine each region is known best for and the wineries available.  In our past winery touring, in other countries, we've been able to drive from winery to winery and walk in for a tasting or a tour.  This is not really the case in Tuscany.  Justin emailed a few to see what we could do in terms of tastings and we booked two on Tuesday. 

The first one we saw was Camigliano near Montelcino. This winery is in a tiny little town with total inhabitants of 32 people, one restaurant and a doctor that comes once a week.  Once again situated on top of a hill, the views were just as stunning as everywhere else we've been.  We got a private tour of the winery and afterwards had a quick tasting. This region in Tuscany is most well known for their Brunello wines, which is a bold red wine.  They had about three or four different levels of wine, from their basic Rosso to a higher-end Brunello Reserva.  We actually liked all of the wines we tried from this winery.  We ended up buying a case to bring back to the villa that we could drink the rest of the week! 

While Dave did the purchasing we walked around the corner to the only restaurant in the town in search of some food.  We had another tour appointment to get to so we did not have much time to sit down and eat.  Instead, Spencer and Bridget sweet talked the chef/owner into making us prosciutto and cheese sandwiches to go.  Once he finished up the sandwiches he handed us the bag of food with an uncorked, unmarked bottle of red wine with a huge grin on his face.  He gave us the wine on the house! Then, all together, the sandwiches were 17 Euro with a free bottle of wine! The sandwiches also happen to be superb and the wine was surprisingly excellent! We had a great lunch before heading off to the next winery.     

The second winery we stopped at seemed a bit more modern.  Certainly their tasting area was.  The wine however was not as good as the first place we visited.  We did not do a tour at this one, just had a tasting and walked around their grounds a little bit.  We opted not to purchase any wine, however, the guys all bought bike jerseys!

After our wine excursions we drove up, down, and all around to this little Abbey right outside Montelcino that was recommended to us by my Aunt Kim.  There are a few monks here that chant a few times a day, and I really wanted to see them. 

I have previously mentioned that my favorite church in Italy is in Florence, on top of the hill.  Well, this one is a close second, if not tied for first.  It's not a grand ornate church like most cathedrals in the area.  Rather, it is small, quaint and minimalistic.  It had this great, welcoming, homey feel and has to be in the most beautiful setting possible.  We happen to have the times wrong on the chanting, so we were unable to see the monks, but Justin promised we'd return later in the week. 

On our way back home we stopped in Montelcino to take in the little town.