Our first full day in Florence wasn't actually spent in the city. We
had pre-paid for a full day wine tour of the Chianti region so all we
had to do was show up at our appointed meeting spot to meet our tour
guide and our fellow wine tasters.
I really reccomend
pre-planning and pre-paying for day trips before you go anywhere on
vacation. We researched the best trips for what we wanted to do and paid
for them so far in advance that by the time we got to Italy, we didn't
have to worry about a thing. The tour we ended up booking was with a
company called
Tuscan Wine Tours and was worth every penny!
We
started bright and early at 10am and took a van to our first location.
Our tour guide Piere was extremely knowledgeable, friendly and really
funny which made being in a van with five strangers very comfortable
from the get go.
At
the first winery we not only got to try four delicious wines but they
paired it with some pecorino cheeses that they also make on premise. The
wine was incredible and after we tasted the wine we had the opportunity
to buy some from their little store. We left with a steady buzz, some
lardo and a jar of black truffle honey. Next stop was lunch!
We
drove up some steep winding dirt roads to a hilltop town where we were
having lunch at the local butcher shop. The butcher is pretty famous,
having been on shows like Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations on multiple
occasions and as such, wasn't there to meet us when we arrived.
Ironically, he was in the States at a Slow Food convention in Los
Angeles so we toured the butcher shop without meeting the "crazy
butcher" Dario Cecchini. After about five minutes there we no loner
cared that were weren't meeting the famous butcher and instead focused
on the delectible food being set before us. The meal was comprised of,
what else? Meat! Tender, juicy, fresh, grass-fed, happy cow meat.
At
the end of the meal we all had grappa and coffee which just increased
our buzz level to drunk and left us warm, boozed up and ready to drink
more!
Our third and stop for the day was to a small
independent winery run by a lovely woman who inherited the property from
her father. Another flight of Chianti Classico was served outside under
a pergola overlooking all her growing grape vines.
The
last stop of the day was some free time in the town of Greve in
Chianti. A small town full of shops, butchers, and cafes, Greve gave us a
chance to walk around and explore a little bit. Matt and I wandered
into a butcher shop and explored the walls of charcuterie for sale as
well as their cheese cave!
By
the time we had to head back onto the bus I was exhausted! I slept the
entire way home. It was such a magical day that even writing this I
can't believe it all actually happened. Just another day in paradise.
