Second Half of Our Tuscany Trip

Monday was a big day, we ventured all the way to Bolgheri to try some fantastic wines.  First stop, was Ornellaia. What a gorgeous facility, and of course the wine is very memorable. They offered a special wine for direct purchase, and we were sure to pick up a case. It was delicious!  Next we popped over to the sea for lunch at a nice seafood restaurant, sadly I can not recall the name. Another fabulous meal. It was a 2.5 hour drive back and we were all exhausted.  And we arrived just as our little old lady chef was serving our dinner back at the villa.

Tuesday Toby & Vik left in the afternoon, after a tour of the Brolio Castle and a wine tasting at Castello de Brolio (yes, this was our 2nd tasting here). They had lunch at the villa and make their way to Milan for business.  Tuesday evening our other friends Andrew & Marion arrived just in time for dinner at La Botte di Bacci. Another excellent restaurant in Radda in Chianti.  The 4 of us shared a HUGE steak Florentine, which was absolutely unbelievably tender, tasty and amazing!

Wendesday was another lazy day around the villa.  This day, the boys ventured off to Parma to visit the Dallara factory (F1 manufacturer). So the girls had a lovely afternoon together, and visited Radda in Chianti for another spectacular meal (yes, this entire trip revolves around food & wine).  This might have been my favorite meal of the trip, here at Al Chiasso dei Portici.  I started with a mache salad, which had medallions of rotisserie chicken served with thin apple slices, walnuts and a foamy, creamy orange sauce (UNREAL doesn’t even begin to describe it).  Then we all shared the mains: Ravioli with truffles, ribbon pasta with Tuscan herb pesto with pistachio (another HOME RUN!) and ricotta and spinach dumplings.  I finished off the meal with a gorgeous pannacotta and my day was complete!

Thursday the group went into Radda for lunch and a few errands.  I decided to enjoy the gorgeous weather and lounge by the pool.  I was very pleased with my decision until the gardener decided to mow the lawn all around the pool.  Oh well, I had my rose wine to keep me happy and was still able to enjoy a little sun.

Friday was our last full day at the villa. We mostly spent it cleaning up, packing, and making our plans for Florence. Friday evening was a very special dinner at Borgo San Felice. What a spectacular dinner. Since we were a large group of 8, I had picked out a preset menu and we were seating in a private room.  Each of the 4 couples ordered wine for the dinner, and each was unbelievable. We selected the champagne to start with, a Billecart-Salmon Rose.  It was ok, but definitely not my favorite.  We were originally going to take the Krug, and I immediately regretted not ordering it after my first sip.  For the wine we started with Madonna Nera, then enjoyed a 2001 Massetto, and ended with a Sassiccaia (each was spectacular!). Not sure which was my favorite of the 4 courses, but I know that I left happy, full and a little tipsy!

Saturday, we left the villa for Florence in the morning.

First Half of Our Tuscany Trip

We drove over from Monaco on Saturday and drove directly into Milan so that I could pick up my Fendi bag, which I had left for repairs.  Unfortunately they weren’t able to repair it, but I’m convinced that a good cobbler can mend it properly. It was 3 hours into Milan, and we had a quick bite and then got back on the road. After 3hr 45 min we arrived to the villa Le Pratola. It’s absolutely stunning, with ridiculous views from the pool!

Sunday we woke up & ventured into town around lunch time….of course it was 2pm and everything was closing for lunch. We ended up finding a nice spot & enjoyed lunch and good wine. Unfortunately, I was quite sick with a cold/flu/tonsillitis.  At this point swallowing was extremely painful, so life in general was unpleasant. I took some DayQuil and tried to make it through dinner that night, which was amazing!!!

I put on my finest dress bought in Milano (one of my favorite 30th birthday gifts from David) and we ventured into a small town called Colle di Val d’Elsa. It was about 1 hour from the villa, and just on the other side of Siena. Gorgeous small restaurant at a Relais & Chateaux called Arnolfo. Here are some pics from the dinner:

The following days we explored the area. Saw the Meleto castle, and then went to Vistarinni where we incidentally had a wine tasting ( I say incidentally, because it wasn’t planned..and it happened that we knew the woman who was the manager at the villa).

For dinner we dined at Osteria del Castello (just below the Brolio Castle) and enjoyed pigeon, quail & other amazing foods. David had ordered the wine & was trying to wine produced by owners of the restaurant.  It was amazing & turns out we were sitting by the wine maker, owner & sales person for the US and Canada. They were impressed by the wines that we had ordered & invited us to come to the winery to do a tasting & visit the grounds.

Next day we did some more exploring and ended up in a small, teeny, tiny village called Starda. Here we found a sweet little Osteria tucked away into the village and enjoyed the local dishes here.

Wednesday, we did a wine tour in Chianti with an amazing guide…Phillipo. He was knowledgeable, friendly & spoke perfect English. We went to a winery called Casalvento, where the owner performed the tasting.  She was sweet and turns out she was from Florida…Palm Beach, in fact! And it also turns out that mom & dad also belong to Ocean Reef which she’s a member of as well.  We had great conversation, and really enjoyed their wines and they eventually invited us to their restaurant for dinner on Sunday.  After that we lunched at a great little restaurant called Osteria del Panzanelle. The guide ordered all the food and all the wine, which was amazing! We finished up the day at a more traditional, smaller winery called Montevertine.  I wasn’t a fan of the wine as the last place…but of course to each their own.

 

Thursday was a lazy day, which was quite welcome! We decided to take the Brolio wine maker up on his offer of a tour, and went in for a tasting and tour.  What an unforgettable experience!  He took us on the most incredible tour, first of the castle and then of the winery where we watched the machine crush the grapes and even got to taste some of the wines straight out of the metal vats.  The wine was just 2 weeks old, and tasted very strange, but very interesting none the less. The wine maker and the tour guide, Simona were very kind and I learned a lot from the tour.

Friday was another wine tour, this time led by a sweet woman named Alessandra. We started this day in the village of Montelcino, which was just as cute as can be (just about 2 hour drive from Gaiole in Chianti).  Definitely worth a walk-through. After that we stopped at a winery called Fanti, where we enjoyed lunch and a tasting of their wines.  It was all locally made & home cooked…and so tasty! Next we went to a small winery called Santa Giulia. After that we headed back to the villa where dinner was served by our sweet little chef who’s 78 years old and only speaks Italian. As we were starting our dinner our friends from Zurich, Toby & Vik arrived.

Saturday we ventured into Siena. What a cool, place on a hill. It’s a bit tricky with the parking below and the city above, but we managed to figure it out. We found a lovely restaurant on Il Campo & spent most of the afternoon lounging and eating and of course drinking. After that we walked to the duomo & had a gelato, with the most perfect weather, it was a stunning afternoon! We then came back to the villa & David cooked chicken on the grill. It was another perfect day in Tuscany!

Today we’ve been lounging around again, and we’ve had a bit of rain. So it’s been a nice & sleepy day. We’re preparing for dinner at Livernano with the couple who owns the winery we visited on Wednesday.