Chianti wine tasting at Castello di Verrazzano
28 February 2008
My school Linguaviva does a monthly visit to Castello di Verrazzano, a historic vineyard in the Chianti region of Italy, which I went on in February.
The castle is set on the top of a wonderful hill between Florence and Siena, in the heart of the Chianti Classico area. It was originally an Etruscan settlement, then a Roman one, until becoming the property of the Verrazzano family in the VIIth century. Giovanni da Verrazzano was a shipest who discovered the Bay of New York and the main part of east coast of America (the suspened bridge in New York with the longest span in the world bears his name) was born here in 1485. The Castle of Verrazzano has an ancient tradition of winemaking and Verrazzano's vineyards were mentioned as far back as 1170 (a manuscript kept at Badia a Passignano.)
**above is the paragraph is info I was told on the tour, but I still feel the need to verify some of it.... mostly the Bay of new York and east coast thing.
We took a private bus to the Castle on a very windy road. Usually if I listen to music through headphones it keeps me from feeling motion sickness, but this time it didn't work. We took an extremely narrow road into the Verrazzano property, and of course I was on the side of the bus that was looking down the steep hills. By the time we got off the bus I felt awful! It took a while, but after a dry cracker and some water I started to feel a bit better.
We got a tour of the grounds, where they also have "wild boar", which oddly are kept fenced in on large hillside terraces. I am pretty sure that is what they make their prosciutto from. The grounds, full of amazing stone walls, a fountain and terraces are beautifully taken care of. Next we got a tour of the insides of the castle where the wine is stored. I have never seen such huge barrels of wine in my life. The have these scary long poles with nails sticking out of them that hang from the ceiling, which during the season have the grapes for the Vino Santo hanging on them. The part of the tour was down in the dark stone cellars so I felt like I was back in older times.
Next we got to have our wine tasting. There were probably around 25-30 of us in the group all sitting at tables. There were 2 red wines for us to sample, with everyone trying one, then moving on to the next bottle. Also, the woman who was giving us the tour wouldn't let anyone hold their
glass by the cup portion. People who know wine know that with reds (and maybe whites, I don't know) you are not supposed to hold the part that actually holds the wine, because it changes the temperature of the wine and just changes things.... lol. so we all held our glasses by the stem. I think the real Italian way is to hold it by the base with 2 fingers, but we wern't allowed to do that (otherwise they probably would have had a lot of broken wine glasses!) Last we got to try the Vino Santo - holy wine, a sweet desert type wine that you dip biscotti in. Wow.
Along with the vino we had to sample there was of course dry Italian bread and we managed to get 2 plates of bread with the most amazing fresh olive oil and garlic dripping off them. My favorite part though, which is funny because I'm not a huge meat eater back home, was the meat. We went through 3 plates of prosciutto at my table and I think 2 plates of salami. Italian salami is pretty much one of the most amazing foods ever.
Naturally you can buy all their products; no postcards or tourist crap, just wine, Vino Santo, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey... that may be it. I think the most expensive item was one of the Vino Santos for around 78 Euro. I went with the honey--also one of my favorite foods. After we all made our purchases, we headed back for the bus. I was dreading the drive home....Who would have thought that lots of Italian meat and wine would be a preventative for motion sickness??
Want to see all my pictures?? Check 'em out here!
The castle is set on the top of a wonderful hill between Florence and Siena, in the heart of the Chianti Classico area. It was originally an Etruscan settlement, then a Roman one, until becoming the property of the Verrazzano family in the VIIth century. Giovanni da Verrazzano was a shipest who discovered the Bay of New York and the main part of east coast of America (the suspened bridge in New York with the longest span in the world bears his name) was born here in 1485. The Castle of Verrazzano has an ancient tradition of winemaking and Verrazzano's vineyards were mentioned as far back as 1170 (a manuscript kept at Badia a Passignano.)**above is the paragraph is info I was told on the tour, but I still feel the need to verify some of it.... mostly the Bay of new York and east coast thing.
We took a private bus to the Castle on a very windy road. Usually if I listen to music through headphones it keeps me from feeling motion sickness, but this time it didn't work. We took an extremely narrow road into the Verrazzano property, and of course I was on the side of the bus that was looking down the steep hills. By the time we got off the bus I felt awful! It took a while, but after a dry cracker and some water I started to feel a bit better.We got a tour of the grounds, where they also have "wild boar", which oddly are kept fenced in on large hillside terraces. I am pretty sure that is what they make their prosciutto from. The grounds, full of amazing stone walls, a fountain and terraces are beautifully taken care of. Next we got a tour of the insides of the castle where the wine is stored. I have never seen such huge barrels of wine in my life. The have these scary long poles with nails sticking out of them that hang from the ceiling, which during the season have the grapes for the Vino Santo hanging on them. The part of the tour was down in the dark stone cellars so I felt like I was back in older times.
Next we got to have our wine tasting. There were probably around 25-30 of us in the group all sitting at tables. There were 2 red wines for us to sample, with everyone trying one, then moving on to the next bottle. Also, the woman who was giving us the tour wouldn't let anyone hold their
glass by the cup portion. People who know wine know that with reds (and maybe whites, I don't know) you are not supposed to hold the part that actually holds the wine, because it changes the temperature of the wine and just changes things.... lol. so we all held our glasses by the stem. I think the real Italian way is to hold it by the base with 2 fingers, but we wern't allowed to do that (otherwise they probably would have had a lot of broken wine glasses!) Last we got to try the Vino Santo - holy wine, a sweet desert type wine that you dip biscotti in. Wow.Along with the vino we had to sample there was of course dry Italian bread and we managed to get 2 plates of bread with the most amazing fresh olive oil and garlic dripping off them. My favorite part though, which is funny because I'm not a huge meat eater back home, was the meat. We went through 3 plates of prosciutto at my table and I think 2 plates of salami. Italian salami is pretty much one of the most amazing foods ever.
Naturally you can buy all their products; no postcards or tourist crap, just wine, Vino Santo, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey... that may be it. I think the most expensive item was one of the Vino Santos for around 78 Euro. I went with the honey--also one of my favorite foods. After we all made our purchases, we headed back for the bus. I was dreading the drive home....Who would have thought that lots of Italian meat and wine would be a preventative for motion sickness??Want to see all my pictures?? Check 'em out here!
Labels: Castello di Verrazzano, Chianti
