ALONG THE CHIANTI ROAD

This weekend's outing took us on a wonderful car trip through the Chianti region just north of Siena.  This region, famous for -- you guessed it --- Chianti wines, is actually only 30 miles by 20 miles, but it felt like we had zigzagged through a much larger area. The whole area is filled with vineyards, villas, little villages and castles. Oh, and of course, hills. Our feisty Ford Fiesta did very well on climbing all the back roads and getting us safely to yet another hilltop town.

The Chianti hills

Giuseppe, the stylist, cut Bob's hair

The Chianti Brand

We stopped in the first town to find a barber. Bob was in need of a haircut. The lovely Giuseppe did a great job, with me snapping photos and giving advise : "non molto corte".  Bob says it's his best hair cut ever.
Our villa for the w/e, was Villa Vignamaggio, a beautiful, old working vineyard made famous by being the set for the movie, Much Ado About Nothing, with Kenneth Brannagh. What a beautiful place for our w/e getaway. We went for a hike on the trails through the woods around the property. We saw many diggings from wild boars, and even heard some grunting sounds, but luckily we didn't come across any.
Back at the villa, the resident sommelier took us on a tour and explained all things "Chianti". 
Chianti wines are full, deep red with a robust taste,  best with food, sipping throughout the meal. We learned that only a few grape bunches are picked per vine plant so that only one bottle of wine is made from one plant. Now I know why all this wine is so expensive. It's specialemente! Chianti wines are carefully monitored by government organizations to ensure quality and the right mix of the Sangeovese grapes. The Black Rooster became the emblem of the Chianti organized vineyards.

The villa statues

Enjoying the grounds

We had lots of time to enjoy the beautiful grounds of the villa with the manicured english gardens and romantic statues. We could easily imagine the movie and are keen to rent it again to see the characters come bounding out of the house where we now strolled. We were feeling a bit like Florentine nobility.

We meandered back slowly to Siena the next day. But we ended up behind a cross country bicycle race. The Carabinieri were out at every big crossroads stopping traffic while we waiting for the bicyclists to pass by. Our 20 mile trip home ended up taking several hours. But the sights were wonderful and we didn't mind waiting and watching. I think we are getting more italian each week. We seem to be adopting the slow life.

Hiking Italian Style

Biking Italian Style 

Ciao for now!