Cortona, Italy - October 22, 2014, Wednesday

So ... we got up ...

Jean-Marie, Jan and Mary Ann read my blog.

This morning, we didn't wake up to Under the Tuscan Sun, rather Under the Tuscan Clouds.  A cold front was moving through and the wind was howling.  But soon the clouds gave way to an incredible sunny, cool day.


The girls wanted to read the blog first thing in the morning ... even before breakfast!!  What a compliment.  What pressure!  Thanks!

After a delightful breakfast, Sefano picked us up for vineyard tours.  Only an hour and a half away - which seems to be the standard distance for every town we've visited. Either one hour and thirty minutes or thirty minutes and one hour.  Doesn't matter where we go ... it's an hour and a half.

Our first winery tour.  

Beautiful view from Poggio Antico

We were off to Montalcino to tour the Poggio Antico Winery.  Meaning "ancient hill," Poggio Antico was a gorgeous setting on top of a mountain overlooking the Tuscan countryside.  

Olive trees to the left, grape vines to the right and huge cypress trees lining the road, led us to the winery.  The view from the winery was breathtaking.   Since the grapes are grown on top of the mountain, the winds keep the temperatures low, enabling the grapes to ripen in a temperate environment as opposed to the heat below.

Tasting Room at  Poggio Antico

Our guide at  Poggio Antico, "Miss. Speak-to-fast" was not the best guide.  We toured the winery and she showed us all the steps in the wine making process ... not much of which we could understand.  And then we went to the bar for the wine tasting.  

Sampling the wines with our guide

Only red wines were sampled, not my favorite, and these certainly didn't change my mind about red wine.   We sampled several Brunello wines, which are made from 100% Sangiovese grapes. Very expensive and not tasty wines do not warrant a credit card charge.  We were saved when Stefano came inside and told us it was time to go. Whew!!

Our next stop was the MastroJanni winery.  Another red wine stop. But this time, our really handsome Tuscan guide, Andrea, changed my mind about Red Wine. 
 

Our guide at MastroJanni, Andrea

This type of Brunello had a totally different taste.  It was light, yet rich, without an acidic aftertaste.  Very nice.  

Bought 2 cases of red wine.  

So I bought two cases and they're on the way to California.  Andrea served us lunch with our wines.  He made the most interesting dish called "Pappa."  A simple recipe of day old bread, sautéed tomatoes with garlic, salt and pepper and a touch of basil, topped with olive oil and it was delicious!!  I might even supervise the preparation of this dish!!  Very tasty!!  We also had Italian meats and bruschetta to compliment the wines.  The whole feel of this vineyard was much more fun.

Porcini Cheese

After MastroJanni, we made a dash through the town of Pienza, known for their Italian cheeses.  We bought cheese, checked out the view and left.  Enough said about Pienza.

Happy Birthday, Stefano

While at MastroJanni, we bought a bottle of Grapa for our driver, Sefano, for his birthday   He was so happy.  We had to make our own bow for the gift.  

After a quick stop in Cortona for more white wine, we retired home and waited patiently for our next feeding.

Dinner was awesome, as usual.  Thank you Lucia and Francesca.

Tomorrow is a big day, so I need lots of rest.  Good night.