Chianti Wine excursion!

This morning we all met at the bus station at 9:45am to go on a Chianti wine tour! The bus ride there was pretty terrifying because the roads up to the Tuscan hills were very small and windey and I felt pretty sick, lol. Once we finally got there, it was beautiful. It is a castle called Castello del Trebbio. It's a 900 year old castle that was once occupied by the Medici family and is now owned by a local woman named Anna. We got a tour of the castle and it was absolutely beautiful- complete with 40 rooms! Anna and her family still live there today and the house is unheated- but has a lot of large fire places, thank goodness. The family also has on display 1 of the only 2 of a particular 500 year old Leonard painting, unbelievable. I believe the other is located in the Louvre.
We then went down into the wine cellar where the huge vats of wine are made and stored. The family owns 800 acres of land, and produces both wine from the vineyard, and oil from its 10,000 olive trees. We are in Chianti region so this family produces mainly red Chianti wine. We learned that Chianti wine, per Italian law, needs to be made with atleast 80% Sangiovese grapes, but this particular vineyard makes their's with 100% Sangiovese grapes. So it is stronger than most in taste and you can really get the sense of the flavors.
We then moved to the area where the oil is made and storred. We learned that in Chianti, people pick their olives in the months of November and December to get the most olive oil from the olive trees. At this vineyard, they pick the olives in October because there is a lower acidity level in the, at this time. If you pick them in November and December you can get about 5 bottles of oil from each tree, whereas in October, only one bottle per tree. But the lower acidity level leads to better quality. Also, there are 4 types of oil (in order from best to worst): extra virgin olive oil, virgin olive oil, olive oil, and the forth she said we don't talk about. haha
Oh also, there was a dungeon down in the wine cellar- creepy!
After that, we went up into the main dining room to of course, have a Tuscan feast. We tasted 2 of their different wines. The first, which sits in stainless steal vats for only a few months. And the second (a little more expensive) sits in wooden vats for 3 years, and then in a seperate set of vats for 3 more years. They were both very good but very different in taste. The feast included: slices if provolone, salami, bruschetta, bread with their extra virgin olive oil on it, pasta with basil, tomato and cheese, and a new dish that I am absolutely making when I come home. It is called papo e pomodoro. It looks like a puree of sorts or mashed sweet potatoes but is actually just pureed tomatos and bread with some spices and parmessan cheese on top- it was delicious!
After lunch, in an attempt to walk off the food, we literally went galavanting amongst the Tuscan wine vineyard. This was truly an amazing experience I will never forget. There were hills all around and we walked in between the olive trees up and down the terrain. It was an unbelievably peaceful feeling and an immense sight to see.
After that we bought some of the wine (only 6 euro a bottle and very tasty!- I bought one to bring home, now worries everyone, you will get to try it too :))
I was truly under the Tuscan sun today!
xoxo
- Amanda