Montalcino

Monday, September 9, 2013 (later)
Back to Tuscany we went. We did make a short stop in Pisa to see the leaning tower. We took the obligatory "holding up the tower" photos and hopped back in the car for the last leg of the trip to Montalcino. Again, the views from the winding country roads were unreal. We made it to our quaint little hotel around 6:30pm, quickly freshened up and headed out to dinner at Osteria di Porta Al Cassero...a few steps from our door. It's interesting how the restaurant menus change from region to region... Tuscany definitely has many more gamey options, such as wild boar and woasted wabbit.
Montalcino is known for brunello wine and now we know why. We ordered a few carafes of the house brunello and were blown away. We called it the laughing juice because everyone had the giggles for the rest of the night. Walking back home, we passed a local wine shop so we stopped in to pick up a bottle to bring back and sip on the balcony. We ended up staying for almost an hour! Enoteca San Giorgio was staffed by the friendliest people who offered us all a tasting and told us about some of the different wines they carry. My dad happily introduced himself to one of the staff members as "Richard" (however, for some reason, he pronounced it Reeeshard). Maybe you had to be there but it was a classic Red moment and it sent Emily, Marisa, and me into hysterics. We ended up bringing home a bottle or two to enjoy as a night cap on the balcony. Oddly, the only wine opener in our room was plastic and when we attempted to open the bottle, the handle broke, leaving the screw lodged in the cork. Eventually we muscled it out but it broke part of the neck of the bottle in the process. We got creative and decided to filter the wine through a cheese grater into a bowl and served it with an espresso cup. Where there's a will there's a way. I'm glad we didn't give up because it was the best bottle (or bowl) of the night!
We will try to add some pics later but I just wanted to catch up while we still remember it all! Gotta run- off to dinner! Ciao!

Tuesday, September 10, 2013
We got up and had breakfast at our hotel (not exactly a hotel, but a very quaint, old inn made up of about 6-7 suites). They had a great spread of eggs, pastries, and a DIY panini station. The cappuccino was fresh to order and the view of the Tuscan hills was incredible. After breakfast, we took some time to stroll around Montalcino and check out a few of the local shops. When reading about the town in our Rick Steves tour book, he described Montalcino as a town where everyone seems to have a slight wine buzz. It is true and it was great. Everyone was happy and moving at a great, laid back pace.

After making a few purchases, we walked back home and took a drive over to a nearby abbey set on a hill and surrounded by olive trees. I'll probably say this several times throughout this blog, but it was breathtaking. We walked around inside of the abbey, which was gorgeous, but when we got back outside, we experienced our first rain storm of the trip.
Don't worry though, it only lasted about 5 minutes and then we were off to the Barbi winery (Fattoria dei Barbi) just down the road. Once again the views were amazing. We found our way into the tasting room and were able to try four of their wines. All delicioso. The first was Birbone Toscana (translation: Naughty Boy), followed by a 2008 Brunello di Montalcino (wonderful), a 2004 Brunello (even better), and last but not least, was the 2004 Riserva Montalcino. This one was incredible. She told us that only about 8,000 bottles were made of the Riserva. We bought a mixed variety of bottles and headed

home.
It turned out that the wine store we had stumbled upon and enjoyed so much also ran a restaurant across the street. We loved the staff and had such a great experience at the store, we knew we couldn't go wrong at their restaurant. Ristorante San Giorgio absolutely did not disappoint. The meal was spectacular and they were generous enough to give us two complimentary (magnum) bottles of Brunello for the table. We will each be giving them some five-star ratings online. Our meal was topped off with a round of limoncello and grappa for the table.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013
We started the day with another great breakfast at our hotel. Once we rounded everyone up, we were off to Siena! The drive was about 20 minutes of rolling hills covered in neat rows of grapes and patches of olive trees. We timed this trip just right because the weather has been

nothing short of perfection. In Siena, after finding our way to the main piazza, our group split up. Emily, Marisa, and I were off in search of some fine Italian leather goods. We weren't so successful, but the walk was great and we met up with our mothers at il duomo and slowly wound our way back to the piazza to meet up with the guys.
We headed home, back through the gorgeous countryside to get ready for the night's event. Jim and Sandra Hodnett invited us to the farm on which they were staying. La Canonica is a farm between Montalcino and Siena. Donella and her family were incredible hosts and made us a beautiful meal, shared with the other guests of the farm. Somehow, we managed to have some pretty great conversation with her, though neither of us spoke more than a few words of each other's language. We started our night at the farm taking in the scenery and watching the sunset. Donella and her family then invited us in to start our meal - bruschetta followed by tagliatelli followed by

an incredible slow cooked beef (almost like a stew) and some roasted potatoes and salad...and homemade pastries for dessert. Everything was delicious. What a great experience!
The light of the moon lead the way back to Montalcino, and we knew the night would not be complete without a trip to see our friends at San Giorgio. Once again, we were welcomed in and they immediately poured us each a (complimentary) glass of wine. We wanted to pick up a few bottles to bring home, and he gave us an amazing price. While we were browsing the extensive vino collection, we realized the bottle of wine they opened for us was quite an expensive one! Gotta love Montalcino!!