TUESDAY, JANUARY 19TH
Happy Birthday, Brandon!
Happy Birthday, Brandon!
Today, we scheduled the Chianti tour. Our logic was that it's a celebratory day, why not have some fine wines?! Although, that seems to be every day here. A girl could get used to this lifestyle - pasta, wine, more pasta, more wine, tiramisu. It's a wonder that I might actually get on a plane to leave this country at all really...
We woke up a little later than we had planned to, but remembered we hadn't capitalized on the free breakfast in the hotel yet and this was our last chance to do it. We made a brief stop to have a cafe latte and croissant before we set off to the meeting point, only about a 10 minute walk. You know we are all about getting the steps in to off set our carb intake! We were pumped to discover only Brandon and I would be the tour participants for the day. However, that quickly turned into panic once the drive to the Chianti region began.....
Our guide spoke English, but was super monotone. Emotionless even. He would point out some of the most bizarre things, such as a tree branch where the olives grow and dirt which the vines grow out of - I'm not even kidding.... I hadn't completely dismissed this experience, but it wasn't looking promising. "Just get to the wine," I thought. That would make everything tolerable.
Chianti region is a good 40 minutes outside of Florence's city center, so this was no short ride. Though I was a little taken aback when we pulled into a parking garage next to the town square in Greve, I went with it. The town is SO small within the hills of the region, I genuinely thought there may be a small winery hidden somewhere nearby. False alarm.
We stopped at the town fountain, where Gilberto told us the tale of the black rooster representing Greve and how it became a staple of the Chianti region overall. This as a result of trickery in a town "race" with Siena (whose rooster is white) back in the day. Long story short, both towns agreed that riders would set off on the one road connecting Greve and Siena to claim their territory, but not until each town rooster crowed on the morning of scheduled departure. The Greve town mayor (or governor or someone important) did not feed his rooster, therefore he crowed earlier than usual because he was hungry. The rider from Greve set off to take ownership of the Chianti land earlier than the rider from Siena - so team black rooster "won," and Greve's Chianti territory is larger on account of the early send off. Sound slightly racist somehow?! Maybe a little..... But Gilberto was on to something - that little guy is definitely a symbol of not only the Chianti region, but only Chianti Classico wine is stamped with the approval of the black rooster. Apparently that's how you know it's legit. Hmm. I guess I did learn something?!
From the fountain, we walked at the slowest pace of all time around the Greve village square. Gilberto pointed out a number of shops, among them where we could use the facilities, but only if we purchased a coffee first. We did choose to go into the olive wood store, where we purchased a miniature Chianti jug, custom with the black rooster on the side. For 25 EUR, it was worth the memory of this bizarre experience. Next door was the butcher and cheese shop. This wasn't open, but Gilberto knew the owners and insisted we go in and walk around. As if we had never seen meats and cheeses prior to this moment?! Forget the charcuterie, I was thoroughly impressed with this wine contraption. I'm going to look into the costs of this bad boy when I get home...
Since the tour of Greve's square took all of about 15 total minutes, we went back to the get away vehicle. I forgot to mention that Gilberto firmly believed I was unable to properly close the van door. A weak woman, I suppose. He was not yet around the van and back in the vehicle when I made eye contact with Brandon and we both lost it. I looked him in the eye and explained, "I see what you've done here.... You booked a Chianti tour, thinking it was a wine tour. This is a tour of the Chianti region!" We got it together by time Gilberto was in the ride, and off we went... Not to a winery, wishful thinking...now to Montefioralle.
What is Montefioralle, you may ask? A medieval castle that has been restored into 25 different apartments, where people actually live today. Did we get to see one of these apartments? Not a chance. BUT... Gilberto showed us not one, but TWO walkable pathway entrances to get into the center of the castle. I am poking fun, but this little village is actually pretty cool - they even have a lone restaurant and a lone bar within the walls of the castle! We saw a guy walk into his place, and I tried so hard to see in, but I got nothing. We walked around, received a few stares from the residence who were clearly wondering why we were there, and then walked back to the van. If nothing else, the views from outside the castle were definitely gorgeous. Worth the 15 additional minutes of killed time though? Meh. Where's the goddamn wine, Gilberto?!
At this point, Brandon and I are nearly in tears we are laughing so hard, but quickly pull it together when our dude gets back in the van. FINALLY, he tells us that we are going to a local vineyard. It takes about 20 minutes to get there, but we do make it to Podere Meriggio Alle Falcole, where owners Maurizio and Loretta, along with their dog Piuma, greet us with open arms. And we, parched throats. Gilberto had warned us that Maurizio spoke 0% English, but Loretta was able to communicate a bit. He wasn't lying. Yet, somehow, by the end of it I was looking at Maurizio and able to understand everything he was saying.
To say the day took a complete 180 would be an understatement. The "fluff" we had gone through up until now made this part of the day that much more meaningful. For the next 3+ hours, we spent time with Maurizio and Loretta, at their vineyard (which is actually their home), and learned all about their way of life, how they got into wine making and olive oil production, and then sat around their dining room table consuming lovely homemade bites prepared by Loretta (accompanied with their own harvested olive oil, which was out of this world)....and drinking their amazing wine.
Maurizio walked us through their basement, which is where the wine making and olive oil production takes place. At the age of 64, he has no employees to lend a helping hand. He and Loretta harvest each year by themselves, with the occasional help of friends, to begin the wine production of between 8,000 and 10,000 bottles annually. Maurizio hand presses the grapes, maintains the aging process in his own vats and barrels, hand corks every single bottle produced and also hand labels each one while he is at it. This is nothing more than a passion project for them - they distribute to individuals in various countries upon request, but never to a mass distributor. Even within the country, you can only find their wines sold locally in family owned restaurants or unique, boutique style stores. They truly have no interest in profiting off of this venture, it's for the love of wine and a retirement hobby. It's fascinating.
We learned that Maurizio is a retired mechanic who longed for an education in architecture, but did not have the money to get the proper schooling. He designed every inch of their home, which was nothing short of breathtaking - a modern design with rustic roots, placed beautifully within the hills of the surrounding vines and olive trees. He even went as far as to utilize the natural stone and various materials he found on the property, having the builders incorporate these natural resources within their home as they built!
By the end of our afternoon, Brandon and I had committed to shipping the homegrown wine and olive oil back to the U.S., but had to practically beg them to let us do it. We were never "sold to" by them in any way, making the entire experience that much more personal than any other wine excursion we have ever done. And we have done our fair share, in various countries - Napa and Sedona in the U.S., San Sebastián in Spain, Franschhoek in South Africa, and now Greve in the Chianti region of Italy. We love our wine and will use any vacation as an excuse for at least one stop for it!
Having totally redeemed himself, and a good amount of wine in our bellies to cut the tension, Gilberto was much chattier on the way back to Florence. We asked that he drop us off near the Galleria dell'Accademia as opposed to where we were picked up, and he agreed. We were bound and determined to see the original David before we leave Florence tomorrow!
You always hear about how impressive this marble being is, but holy shit. The scale, detail, everything. If you weren't completely convinced of Michelangelo's talent from the likes of, oh I don't know... The Sistine Chapel, any schmuck off the street could take one look at this thing and understand that he was kind of a big deal. It took no time for us to get in and out of the Galleria dell'Accademia, so guess what we did the remainder of the afternoon? WALKED!
It didn't take long before we were feeling a bit tired from the early start to the day, and mass consumption of red wine, so we made a pit stop at a cafe/gelateria spot. It looked legit, and with the "real" stuff as we had learned to easily spot on day 1. As I was waiting in line, the best street experience of the trip came to a head... I was asked for directions, in Italian, by a real life Italian woman. Success - I look native!
We continued to work up an appetite right until having to shower and start getting ready for the ultimate Florentine steak night. We had done some research on authentic places to get the best Florentine steak in all of Florence and settled on Buca di Lapi. With the help of the front desk of our hotel, we were able to get in.
We had read that locals at Buca di Lapi really go for it when dining. Antipasti, primi, secondi and dolci. We were ready. Apparently, they serve a very specific type of spaghetti that a number of articles rave as a must - I knew exactly what my plan of attack for the evening was going to be. After hearing the special, Brandon went rogue for his primi dish. I think we were both pleased with the outcome, but I do think mine was the winner!
We were really on a high during our walk home. As if we hadn't consumed enough wine for the day, we swung by a local wine store and bought ourselves a celebratory bottle. Brandon's birthday ended up being such an amazing, unique experience. 33 is one he will definitely never forget!
What a beautiful trip!
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