Jay had tried to prank me this morning by turning the shower head to the body spray which would spray directly at you when you turned on the water, standing outside the shower. But he gets so excited when he goes to prank that he tells you he's done something and giggles. So I knew to watch out for something and found it.
When he came home from his run he went and had a shower and I asked if Sarah and Anthony were up yet, he said he thought so, so I cleaned up the wine glasses from the night before and checked on our laundry (which was damp so tried to figure out how to dry it more in the washer/dryer contraption).
Finally at 8am (the plan was to leave the apartment at 8:15am so that we can go get a coffee and pastry in the morning) I knocked on their bedroom door and they were both still sleeping. They didn't think they would need an alarm so didn't set one! So we were out the door in about 20 minutes and walked down for breakfast. We ordered, I got a decaf cappuccino and a croissant. Sarah and Anthony both had macchiatos and ordered a flat pastry filled with rice and a donut and something else. Jay got a chocolate croissant - we were in too much of a rush for photos. Then we were waiting for our coffee and I saw people who ordered after us with their coffee. You have to give the barista your receipt and then they'll make it, so then we had to take it to go.
We had 2 minutes to get to the meeting spot which is 8 minutes away. So I emailed Donatella to tell her we would be 5 minutes late and we booked it. Thankfully we found it right away, I emailed her to say "We are here" and she popped her head out of the car (a little pissed) and was like "We are here!? I am here! Get in the van". There was a couple from DC in the van already, so we made introductions.
Anthony forgot to take his Gravol this morning and Donatella is a wicked driver, so at the first stop (a pick up of the final 2 passengers, also from DC coincidentally) he hopped in the front seat with Jay. So Donatella drove, Jay sat bitch and Anthony sat by the window (because Jay didn't want to be between Anthony and the window).
Donatella told us a lot about the Brunello grape (this is the same region we did the tour of last time I was here, we were the first to book so I requested to do it again) on our way to our first winery. In the Brunello region (maybe all of Italy) they can't water their grapes, the vines are naturally irrigated by the weather and if it is too dry or too hot it really affects the season. Only wines in the Montalcino area can be called Brunello, they have to be 100% sangiovese grape, aged a minimum of 5 years from harvest with a minimum of 2 years in an oak barrel. To make a Brunello the vine has to be 10 years old, so it is 15 years before you can sell your first bottle of Brunello. Sangiovese is rich in tannins which allows you to hold it for many years before drinking it but can make it sharp, acidic, it becomes smoother as time goes by, which is why a Brunello has to be aged 5 years.
Montalcino is the name of the town and has only about 5000 people in it. The region is about 1000 acres. If you want to make Brunello you have to buy the rights, which for the last 11 years have been closed. You can not plant more sangiovese grapes for Brunello, what is planted is planted and that is currently it. The right is currently about 800,000Eu. Also the yield is controlled, if you have too many grapes in the summer you have to reduce the quantity by cutting the grapes, which increases the quality of the grapes remaining. If you buy a Brunello look for the DOCG label on it that means the batch has been approved for bottling and sale.
In 1985 there was a big frost which killed all of the olive trees in the region, which is when many farmers turned to growing grapes and the production of wine.
The first winery we stop at is San Guilia, its a 15 acres of grapes, 10 of sangiovese and 5 of merlot. Kai is the owners daughter-in-law, she came from Japan and met her husband here. Donatella, to save time, tells her we will just do a quick tour, skip the cellar and go straight to drinking the wine. Kai shows us the traditional way they prepare dessert wine, hanging the grapes for 3 months, until about Christmas, so that the sugar content increases and then they will store it in a chesnut barrel.
Its now a little before 10am I think, our wine is served with cold cuts that are homemade, they have pigs on their property and slaughter them and make prosciutto and salami in the winter. They have 8 pigs at this time.
Jay found a car to play with.
The wines, and the cheese and cold cuts, are delicious and we buy a bottle of the Brunello.
Back in the car and off to the next winery. At one point, driving, Jay turned almost sideways in his seat saying "whoa, whoa, whoa!" as we turned a corner and came upon some riders. Donatella said "Jason (like a Mom would do a child)...how many points if I strike one?" haha. "They are like mosquitos to me". Waving her hand away like they're annoying (later Jay said that when we saw her hand waving it was actually both hands and she was 'ghost driving' - terrifying). Jay said "I would never bike in Italy (after this drive)" and she said "I Thank You for that!".
We got out for a quick look at the Fortress in Montalcino, last time we had no time for this and just drove through. We literally had 7 minutes to go in, look, take a photo and get back in the car.
On our way to the next winery there was a bus parked at an intersection, Donatella honked at him but then stopped when she noticed he was reading the sign and had a map in his hand, she said "He needs directions.." Anthony said "Let me give him directions". haha.
The next winery was San Lorenzo, you would never find these wineries on your own, and if you did they likely wouldn't give you a tour! Donatella meets them at wine and cheese festivals and chats them up to be a contact for her tours. Harvest was done last Tuesday here, all of the wineries that we went to will have just finished their harvesting. The harvest is down 30% this year because there was so much rain, last year it was down 30% as well because it was too hot. The stainless steel drums contain 50% juice, which sits at the bottom of the tank and 50% skin which floats on top, twice a day the juice is pumped from the bottom to the top of the drum so that the juice can soak the colour from the skins. After 10-15 days they separate the wine from the skin and transfer to the barrels. Each drum contains about 5000 litres. The capacity is for 6500 but during the fermentation process the two will expand. They have 5 drums here but only 3 are full. The winery is family run by the son, his sister and father. The skins don't go to waste, they are sent to a distiller who will make Grappa out of them. Grappa can't be made at the winery because its controlled, as a spirit, and because it off-gasses methanol so has to be done under the right process.
This is the history of his grandfathers grandfather.
This uses water to seal the pressure in the barrel.
Here we tried a Rose which they take out the juice from the skins after 12 hours.
Jay drew this on the back of Donatella's van, which she calls Sandy because she takes a bath every night but she always ends up dirty.
A few of the people were walking across the yard to take a photo of the scenery and Donatella yelled "Take a picture at the next place", as she pointed into the car. I said "Go quick. RUN!" So they all started running down to the end to get their photo. Less than 30 seconds later she was standing by the side of the car whistling for them. haha.
We went from here to Talenti, which is what Donatella would refer to as a medium size operation and was way more sophisticated than the others.
On the way here Donatella was stopped by the police to check her permits, etc.
Jay wanted to prank Donatella so stole her keys and moved the van. He was disappointed that she didn't notice, but I'm not sure she would have been happy about it. By this time its likely a little after noon and we have tried at least 3 glasses (not full ones but not tasting pours either) at each of the wineries we've been to.
Here, instead of pumping the juice up and over the skins in the drum they use this contraption to push the skins slowly down into the juice, its less aggressive and leaves the wine less acidic. They have the pumping style on the other side which they use for second selection or blends. Each tank will fit approx. 1 acre of harvested grapes.
Once they separate the new wine in this machine from the skin the skins come out dry, like coffee beans. He also sends his skin out to make Grappa but he gets it back once processed, the last 2 wineries just gave their skins away.
This cellar was built in 2006. It naturally regulates the temperature and humidity. When it rains the water will flow through the stone at the end of the cellar.
After the tour we go into the tasting room which holds his private collection, about 100 bottles of each vintage. He pours us each olive oil from their olives which is delicious, very flavourful and very peppery. Everyone bought the oil and didn't necessarily buy the wine. I wouldn't have bought any of the wine here but Jay bought a Brunello. We had 3 more half glasses of wine here we tried a blended wine, a Rosso de Montalcino and then a Brunello de Montalicino. The difference between a Rosso and a Brunello is that the Rosso can be aged just one year in oak and then bottled and sold immediately.
I think, so far, my favourite wine was at the first place, where we tried their Merlot (which I didn't care for) a Rosso and a Brunello. And at the second place we tried a Rose, a Rosso and a Brunello, which would be my second, very close, favourite. So far the bigger, more impressive place I didn't love their wine but we bought 2 oils, one to eat with bread and cheese and the other to take home.
From here Donatella took us to lunch, as we arrived she said that he doesn't like photos so I left my phone in the car. We went into a small out building that had a kitchen, dining table and bathroom and were served lunch by the owner and his wife. This is their home and he is a retired chef from Florence. We had antipasto to start, pickled zucchini, an eggplant in garlic that must have been in some kind of brine and bruschetta. Then we had a spaghetti pasta with herbs that was so amazing. After that was served thin slices of turkey in a light gravy and a side of cabbage stewed in tomatoes. It was all excellent and we needed food after all that wine! Oh, there was also wine on the table. Our group of 4 didn't quite finish our wine, the other end of the table finished their second bottle of wine!
The next winery I don't know the name off. The owners name is Jessica and she runs the property herself. She came up to our group riding her mini excavator. Her dog, Saphira, was the hit here, very cute. She didn't speak a lot of English so Donatella translated, but she did speak some and better than I think she realized because everything she said was witty, she's just not confident in the technical wine terms maybe. Here we got to drink her Brunello right out of the barrel, which won't be ready until 2020 as it was harvested in 2015. We also tried her Brunello that will be ready for sale in January 2019 and a Rosso. Donatella tried to get her to limit our pours, but she gave us each more if we wanted it, lol. We bought something from her but I can't remember what! lol.
She was telling the story of how she got Saphira, another dog had died and her daughter was telling her to get another dog get another dog. But she was saying No and her daughter brought her Saphira one day, she was 52 days old and stayed for 2 weeks in her pocket. Sarah then told a story how she thinks Jessica is like our friend Sarah Acorn, she's not a super lovie person, like when Sarah gives her a hug she tolerates it but when it comes to animals, she's like "Shit, the love just comes out!" And then Will said "I don't even know her and I know that she's drunk".
This was the end of our day, we have a little less than an hour drive back to Siena but no one seems to care about Donatella's crazy driving anymore. We invited the rest of the group to drop their wine at our place and go grab a drink, which no one needed, but I think they thought we were going to steal their wine because they all quickly disbursed when we stopped in the square, lol.
We dropped our wine and sat in the living room for a bit chatting before deciding we really should get something to eat, so we went out in search of food and ended up walking down a 200 ft hill and straight back up the 200 ft hill at the end of the next block. My bad. When we got to the top though there was a little pub so we sat in there and had a beer (they did, I didn't, I had too much wine and it was a little warm in there and even though there were no smoking signs everywhere there were ash trays on every table).
We all commented how we felt like we've spent all day in the sun, tired and kinda groggy. After drinks we found a place to eat down and alley. There are 2 restaurants, we were going to go to the second one but looking at the menu I said "It looks a little froo froo", Sarah immediately said "Yup" so we ate at the pizza place next door.
I ordered Osso Bucco, Jay got a Calzone and Sarah and Anthony got pizzas, though probably should have shared one. We opted to have water and diet coke with dinner, no more wine today.
I ordered Osso Bucco, Jay got a Calzone and Sarah and Anthony got pizzas, though probably should have shared one. We opted to have water and diet coke with dinner, no more wine today.
Back to the house and its about 8:30pm I would stay and everyone went right to bed, I stayed up and wrote a bit of the blog, Jay went pretty much right to sleep. I set the alarm for 8:30am tomorrow, just in case. We check out at 11am and head down the coast to La Posta Vecchia Hotel in Ladispoli, its our 15 year anniversary tomorrow! I chose the hotel because its essentially half way between here and Sorrento, which is where we go after Ladispoli for 3 nights before heading to Sicily.
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