BACK FROM TUSCANY!
CHAPTER 8 - MONTEPULCIANO
TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 22 - AFTERNOON
Last week i gave you a good overview of our morning in Pienza. After our quick and light lunch (it took over 2 hours and had lots of wine and food) we hit the road to visit our friends at the Corte alla Flora winery in Montepulciano.
Two years ago we had Andrea Cragnotti visit us for a wine dinner at Mezzanotte where we featured his wines. We stayed in touch over that time and when i was planning our trip to Tuscany I thought it would be a great thing to go visit him this time! So, like in every plan, something had to go wrong. At the last minute Andrea had to travel to the US and he would not be able to be our host. He said "don't worry Gerry, my father will take good care of you". No kidding... his father took real good care of us!
Lucky us: we were right in the middle of harvest season (which lasts only a couple of weeks) so we had a chance to see the entire process. We actually walked the fields and were able to pick and taste the grapes:
The great thing about visiting friends is that you get to do what no tourist is allowed to do. Here at Corte alla Flora we felt right at home and we explored everything we could. Here we are climbing the big crushing tanks:
and here we are at the top:
Here is one of the guys putting the recently harvested grapes into the de-esteming machine to separate the grapes from the leaves and stems:
Again; what a view!!!
And here are the fermentation tanks:
And the aging casks and barriques:
The most impressive thing is to see is art and technology working together. Cultivating the fields, knowing how to manage the vines and knowing when is the right time to harvest is an art. But once the fruit is picked then technology comes to place. Precise processes and techniques are used. As they say: "good wine starts with the grape" but then... if you don't have the precise processes you can damage a whole vintage! On the other hand, if you don't have good grapes it doesn't matter how much good technology you have - the final product will not improve!
After walking the fields, climbing tanks, visiting the fermentation rooms and the aging rooms we were very tired and ready for a "pick me up". Our gracious host treated us to a very nice cup of super strong espresso right outside his house (in his "backyard"):
And, of course, we had to try all his wines. Corte alla Flora makes beautiful Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Rosso di Montepulciano, Cabernet, Merlot, and a couple of Super Tuscans. All in all, just fantastic wines. Here we are doing what we do best:
After trying all the wines we went to the town of Montepulciano to walk around and make some time before meeting with our host for dinner. He chose a fantastic restaurant called L'Angulo in the town of Aqua Viva. Of course we enjoyed more Corte alla Flora wines which were paired with great Tuscan food. Here we are at the dinner:
This was a very long day! All morning in Pienza, long lunch, some wine; all afternoon at the Corte alla Flora vineyard, some wine; a walk around Montepulciano, some more wine; and a great dinner in Aqua Viva, with lots of wine. We happily jumped into our mini bus for the 40 minute drive to our villa. Tomorrow will be another day!
Cheers!
Gerry
