We arrived in Tuscany this evening after a beautiful, albeit extremely curvy road through the Italian country side. We decide to go the local restaurant Norcenni which proved to be an incredible choice. The food was excellent. The best I've had so far. The food was reasonablY priced and the wine list just incredible. This proved to be a great place to begin an educational process on the wines of the Chianti Region. After looking over the wine list, I began to realize there are many choices when it comes to wines from the Tuscan region. We chose a wine from the one that simply stated, by its name on the list, "this is it". At only 19euro a bottle, I took the bait. This one bottle changed my thinking on Chianti. I could have swirled this wine all night. The depth of flavors took me by surprise. I instantly got excited about the prospect of finding more Chiantis that fit along this flavor profile. More on this particular wine later in the blog.
Bottle of the Night: Tonight's bottle is the Villa Cerna 2004 Chianti Classico Riserva. This was a good wine at a really good price. At only 11 Euro, it out-performed it's price point. Sweet cherry, tasty raspberry, tangy strawberry flavors, and an understated elegance made this wine a winner. In my opinion many Chiantis come best to life when paired with food, especially tomato based dishes. However, I found this wine very pleasing as a stand alone.
After a great breakfast we headed out under the Tuscan sun to the area of Greve, a capital of sorts for the Chianti region. I had visited Greve 3 years ago and had fond memories of the town and especially a Mom and Pop restaurant where I had eaten. I was eager to revisit the little town. We walked up a steep hill, past tan and terracotta buildings, into the heart of the town. Just as our thirst began to kick in, we walked by a wine shop, Del Buon Gusto. As we stepped inside we were greeted by our host, Salvadori. This shop specialized in great Chianti wines as well as wine education. They offered a generous free tasting in a low-key inviting atmosphere. We tasted through quite a few wines, including grappas and olive oils. Our host was very knowledgeable and more importantly passionate about wine. His passion for wine was contagious and we all enjoyed the experience and left with a few fantastic bottles and quite a bit of knowledge.
After our fantastic tasting experience we found the Mom and Pop place that I had visited 3 years earlier. A very unique restaurant with a small indoor eating area inside but as you walk through the establishment and onto the back patio, it opens up with views of rolling vine covered hillsides bordered by precisely lined olive groves as far as the eye could see. The food was good and reasonably priced, but the views and the quiet atmosphere were the reason to visit The nice part is the restaurant was only 25 meters from where we had earlier tasted wine.
Wine Factoid: Chianti Classico is roughly the region from Florence south to Siena. Sangiovese is the work horse wine of the region although other varieties of grapes are grown here as well. As of late, blending with Cabernet has become fashionable and this can produce some very elegant wines as the fruitiness and color of the Cabernet blends well with Sangioveses.
Bottle of the Night: Tonights' bottle is the 2003 IL GRIGIO San Felice Chianti Classico Riserva. WOW! This wine single- handedly turned me into a Chianti fanatic. I've always liked Chianti but the high acidity kept me from loving it. That all changed with one glass of the San Felice. Although fairly light in color the nose packed a seductive punch of cherry liqueur, berries and even a bit of tomato and olive oil. On the palate it was balanced and the flavors were well integrated. It was very food friendly, but more at home with the tomato based entreés we were enjoying.
Today we took the scenic drive from our campsite to the hill town of Siena. The drive to Siena has everything a romantic would expect from Tuscany, Olive groves intermingled with rows of fruit laden heavy hanging vines, Tuscan villas arising from the hills, and small villages with charming atmosphere.
Tuscany was at one time the cultural and artistic center of Italy. The Italian language developed here and it's literature is some of he most admired in the world. Although Tuscany isn't a big political center, with Florence as it's capital, it seems to remain Italy's cultural center.
From the Gothic Duomo containing art from Michealangelo and Donatello to the enormous Piazza del Campo, Siena is a must see for anyone visiting the Tuscan region. We spent a part of the afternoon at the Duomo. It's an impressive building housing world renown art work and took hundreds of years to build. We had lunch along the Piazza del Campo. This giant square is almost the size of two football fields. Locals and tourist alike, sun out in the piazza as though they were sunning on a wide beach. With it's numerous cafes, restaurants, and shops, it's a great place to kick back have a glass of vino, some bruschetta, and watch the world go by.
Italy has so much to offer, world class wines, great scenery, fantastic people, and most importantly the food. This is the perfect time to introduce my alter ego, Bruschetta Jones. My Italian dream consists of having my own television show aptly named "Bruschetta Jones", where I travel through the Italian country side in my souped up convertible Mazeratti seeking out each villages' own special bruschetta. With 007 type music playing in the background, I search for cucinas and restaurants til' I find a Bruschetta that meets my approval. Once I've found a crusty treat that meets my strict standards of ”mmmm this sure is good”, I would look into the camera and give a double thumbs up and exclaim” Bruschetta Jones”! This would bring smiles and sighs of relief to the cooks as they now have the famous Bruschetta Jones' seal of approval. It was brought to my attention that the show would probably only be interesting for one episode, or two episodes at the most, but I can still dream.
How to pronounce Bruschetta correctly : brusket-ta
After the ride back to camp we decided to 'threepeat' our favorite dining spot Norcenni. Another great meal, another great bottle of Chianti. Tomorrow we are off to Venezia(Venice) , the canals await.
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