Dreaming of Tuscany

The sun was shining brightly, but the air was still cool and fresh, a result of the recent rain still visible in some distant slowly vaporizing clouds. Our cozy wrought iron table was set on perfectly mowed green grass adjacent to a small restaurant built with rough bricks, wooden beams and glass walls embellished with every possible wine décor both inside and out. A rough wooden railing separated our outside table from gentile rolling hills planted with perfectly lined stocks of vineyards stretching as far as we could see. Every so often they were flanked by long rows of Italian cypress along both sides of narrow dirt roads leading to wineries mostly situated at the top of the hills. The wife of the owner came with peculiar beige paper table covers that looked and felt like linen. 

A carafe of local Cassero white wine from nearby Monterosola vineyards and a bottle of water followed. She showed us a menu but suggested the same lamb cutlets her husband was presently grilling for other guests. 

We readily agreed and were presented with lamb cutlets served on hot slate stone boards with wooden frames. At first bite we thought we had gone to food heaven. 

The lamb cutlets were perfectly prepared brushed with extra virgin olive oil, black pepper, crushed garlic, rosemary, chopped oregano, basil, and mint. One side on the very hot grill is just slightly charred and flipped for a minute more before serving. In Italian they sometimes refer to these lamb chops as Agnelli Scottadito, or “burned fingers.” We now understand that term!

It was one of several great lunches and dinners during our short week of touring around a tiny area of Tuscany. Leaving Rome Airport, we drove roughly twelve miles on the famous Italian Autostrada, where I almost lost my credit card in an automated toll booth, while a line of impatient Italians was forming behind us. For the rest of the week my telephone GPS, but mostly an old-fashioned Michelin road map, guided us along small and sometimes very narrow roads and even some dirt tracks to thoroughly enjoy the stunning countryside of the Tuscan vineyards. Over a period of many years, I have been fortunate enough to visit wine regions in all parts of the world from France, Portugal, Spain, to Australia, South Africa, and the United States. Every region has its own charm and outstanding wines. Italy has several wine producing areas and we previously combined Tuscany with visits to the spectacular cities of Florence, Siena and Orvieto. However, this time the most touristic areas we visited were only San Gimignano and Monteriggioni. The first originally is an Etruscan hill town built above Tuscany’s scenic Elsa Valley and was constructed during the 12th and 13th centuries. In 1348, pest, often called Black Death, struck much of Europe and killed over half of the citizens here.

Surrounded by walls and seventy-two towers, the city named after the bishop of the city of Modena further north in Italy controlled the surrounding countryside. 

Today those awe-inspiring walls still amaze visitors from all over the world, although time has taken its toll and the number of towers has been reduced to fourteen. The Duomo di San Gimignano houses original frescoes from painter Domenico Ghirlandaio, who is said to have taught fresco painting to Michelangelo before he painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

In Italy it has pretty much become the norm that vehicles are not allowed into many cities, except for those with special licenses. However, like almost everywhere in the country, San Gimignano is surrounded by multiple parking lots. We thoroughly enjoyed people-watching from a café on the Piazza della Cisterna right in the center of town while enjoying a carafe of Vernaccia white wine from the surrounding vineyards. The demographic of tourists was mostly Italian, but I am sure that with Covid slowly, but surely, disappearing all the world’s nationalities will soon descend on the famous European spots again. 

Monteriggioni is another medieval fortification, albeit much smaller, consisting of one main square entered from the monumental Porta France Gate. This fortress was built in 1213 for the former Republic of Siena, the charming capital city of Tuscany. Its strategic position assisted in protecting the original Roman Via Cassia leading to the city against invaders from Florence. There is a small hotel and several excellent restaurants located in the original buildings that are part of the wall.

We had booked a small apartment at Agriturismo Biologico Novelleto, a two-mile drive from Monteriggioni, half on a local road and the last part on a dirt track through the vineyards. The stone structure is situated in the middle of the family’s wine farm of just under sixty acres. Our accommodation in one of the hundred-year-old farm buildings was a little less than hoped for, but certainly adequate. Owners, Gianni and Carla, retired some thirty years ago from their lives as a commercial sea captain and teacher, respectively. After originally working on giant oil tankers in the Far-East Gianni ended his sea-going career as captain of the very first Carnival Cruise Line ship: the Mardi Gras. Without any wine growing experience they bought the old farmhouse and have worked on it for the past 30 years. For our planned touring, the location was ideal. Just outside town was a mini shopping mall with a grocery supermarket. My wife is always drawn to such stores in any country we visit to stack up on spices she has become accustomed to using but can’t get at home or simply to discover new ones. I should add that I am fortunate enough to have a spouse who is a gourmet cook. While she was roaming the aisle for spices, I discovered one area the length of the store was devoted to every possible form of pasta one could ever dream of. We are now eating “Trofie,” which neither of us had heard of before.

Our goal was to enjoy the spectacular countryside in this small part of Tuscany and find small hidden restaurants for long lunches and inexpensive local wines. One can find astounding Sangiovese-based dry red wines - which dominate output. 

To mention a few, these include Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano among many others. Since 1932 the Italian government has promoted a system to control quality and output of their best wines with specified limits.

DOCG stands for Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita. Until 2010 the rulings and quality control were decreed by the government, but that year, control and judgment of quality was transferred to the areas producing the wines. 

On a previous journey quite some time ago I was introduced to seven different amazing wines during a five-course luncheon in an impressive castle cellar from the famous Banfi Brunello di Montalcino Vineyards. That was not in the planning this time as the better-known Italian wines have become as expensive as the best of the best in the world. 

During one of our meandering driving days, we came upon the Abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore. We made our way over the moat, across an old wooden bridge through the fortified entrance gate into gardens lined with towering cypress trees. As we walked down a cobblestone path towards the actual abbey it was as if we had moved back to the 14th century where the silence was broken only by the whispering of the wind through the trees. In the inner court of the abbey stunning murals decorated the walls. We encountered no other visitors and only saw an older priest dressed in his rustling cassock flanked by the cypress trees in the distance.

We discovered the city of Volterra quite by accident as we tried to drive to another very small spectacular hill town called Colle di Val d’Elsa. We thought we had found an “out-of-the-way” route via some very narrow roads almost too small for our little rental SUV. A sign warned us that the road up ahead was closed for repairs. From previous experiences in Italy, I knew that most likely we could still get by there. However, this time we did indeed end up in front of a fence, a huge hole behind it, not a person to be seen and virtually only enough space to back up. Lesson learned, yet we were forcibly directed through even more picturesque scenery.

Volterra at an elevation of 1,750’ is another spectacular walled city. A square called Piazza dei Priori is the center of town with shops, cafes, and museums. It is dominated by City Hall in the Palazzo dei Priori, reported to be the oldest in Tuscany, built in 1200.

Once again, we were sipping local wine accompanied by a delicious charcuterie board,” salumeria” and mesmerized by the medieval frescoes around us. Historic buildings overlooked the ancient water spring in the center of the square. There also is a marble entrance and a gilded coffered ceiling in the cathedral. Located not far from the city center are the ruins of the Etruscan acropolis and the Roman theater where baths dating back to the third century were only excavated about 70 years ago.

To end our last day, and before returning to our winery, we enjoyed another outstanding dinner at a cozy restaurant in the central square of Monteriggioni to wrap up an enchanting week of touring the beautiful backroads.