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| montalcino |
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| We had a difficult time deciding which towns to visit in the Tuscan region since every description in the guidebook sounded better than the next. So taking an almost dart board approach (well, maybe their wine-making skills had something to do with it) we found our car veering off the road toward Montalcino. A traditional Tuscan hill-town set high on a mountain and encircled by protective fortress walls, Montalcino is home to one of Italy’s finest wines, Brunello di Montalcino. A deep, rich red wine with an alcohol content high enough to make you blush (and literally you do), we spent two days in a wine stupor gorging ourselves with Tuscan salamis, various cheeses, wild boar sausage, olives and peasant breads. |
| 2002-2003 |
| > a gastronomic tour > cinque terre > via dell'amore > marnello > spilamberto > bologna > lasagna in florence > siena > san gimignano |
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| > italy |
| > home |
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| We checked into the Albergo Il Giglio, a three-star hotel overlooking the Montalcino valley. At 80 Euros for a quad (budget travel means cozy quarters), our expectations whispered “hostel-like” living. We couldn’t have been more wrong. Set in an annex from the hotel, and outfitted with Tuscan antiques, comfortable beds, quilts, dishware and TV, our 80 Euros actually bought us a two bedroom apartment. |
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| While wine was our main focus for the Tuscan region, we did find a few restaurants to continue the feeding frenzy and found that just about anywhere you go you can find great parmesan cheese, hearty meat dishes, fresh pasta and incredible pizzas and breads. We thought there would come a time when we would feel overly indulgent, but that was usually when Flavio would scrape the table’s plates clean and Ashley would drain the sixth bottle of wine and ask “what’s next?” |
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| Since it was the off-season, we had a difficult time locating wineries within the Montalcino region that were open for tasting. However, we still made Steve drive up dirt road after dirt road until we were all finally convinced that they were indeed closed and we would have to resort to an Enoteca (wine store) for any tastings. |
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| Fletch looked as if he were about to cry until we came across a small shop on the edge of town appropriately called Brunello di Montalcino where Steve and Fletch spent the next hour discussing wines with the shop owner and tasting the various Brunellos of Montalcino. We left triumphant with a case of wine, the sun overhead and the open countryside spread out before us. We left giggling like little kids. |