Author: Chris

On our third day of “Discovering Tuscany” we got a late start.  The hotel we are staying at is directly adjacent to a very popular hunting area, so at 0700 we starting hearing gunshots go off….lots of gunshots….like the Italian Civil War had started!  They are apparently hunting wild boar.  We put in earplugs and fell back to sleep and the next thing I know our phone was ringing!  It was 1000 and the group was ready to go but we were dead asleep!  I hate it when that happens!

Kim had not been feeling well the night before and that added to our broken sleep before the guns showed up.  She decided to stay behind while I got dressed in record time, and our group was off to the gorgeous family-run Grattamacco winery.  Our host Vivianna gave us an intro to the wineries history from their stunning patio!  Have I mentioned how amazing the weather has been??

Their vineyards lie amongst the incredible landscape of the Bolgheri wine region.

Grattamacco differentiates themselves from other local winemakers by using these open-top small-batch fermentation tanks that they have had for decades.

They then age in traditional tanks with very odd looking storage racks?  Unsure why each tank has so much separation.

I did like the artwork in the aging room.  Not sure if it was stained glass but it was eye catching!

Our tasting area took advantage of the stunning views!

We had 4 wines that were all good, but none of of them worthy enough of an individual photo (my marker of a “buy” wine).  Regardless, Vivianna was excellent and the beauty of the property was worth the visit alone!

Kim showed up with our driver Max just as our tasting was concluding and we made our way towards the Mediterranean coast and La Pineta Restuarant.

They have one well deserved Michelin Star!

We had the best table in the restaurant!  They even made name-tags for us!

The meal was incredible, by far the best food of our trip.  This fried cod morsel and associated sauce was to die for!!  I could have eaten a dozen!

This is the view of the Mediterranean just outside the restaurant.

William and Myra had to step into the Med.

Our day concluded with a short visit to the tiny town this region is named for, Bolgheri.  It almost looks like a set from a medieval movie!

Just outside the city walls.

We walked the city in about 15 minutes, that’s how tiny it is. William and I did find some t-shirts that will show up in the next blog post.  Kim saw this statue and had to get a photo.

Short post!  Up next, we depart the Bolgheri wine region and drive east towards Mantalcino.

 

 

 

On our second full day of tastings we visited two wineries in the Bolgheri wine region of Tuscany, known for their French varietals and referred to as “Super Tuscan’s” after the term was coined in the early 1980’s by Robert Parker of wine rating fame.

Our first stop was Tenuta Meraviglia, with the winery building built within a former quarry, with one side of the building actually built against the quarry wall.  The building was like something out of Architectural Digest!

This is the view as you enter the lobby area.  That wall alone had to cost a million dollars!

We went down some stairs to visit the fermentation and aging area, and this is the view from the stairwell.  It’s obvious that no expense was spared on the building!

They had plenty of these concrete fermentation eggs, which are much larger than I’m used to seeing in wineries in the US.

On the bottom floor is the aging area.  Again, their aging barrels are much large than I’m used to seeing, and this would be the norm in Tuscany as we continued our tours.  They had some nice mood lighting for photographs.  That is the quarry wall behind us.

I found the structural supports interesting.  It looks like something from a old maritime dock project we had in Oakland, with piles installed slanted sideways to supposedly help support the dock during an earthquake.

We then ventured back upstairs and headed toward the incredible views.  This is the tasting area!

The view from their deck overlooking the vineyards and the Mediterranean Sea cannot be beat!

Truly a stunning winery building in every aspect!

We had to get a group shot.  This building just opened last year.

This is where my infatuation with the architecture ended, and the wines were poured.  Our host poured 3 wines, a white (I forget the varietal) and two reds (both Cabernet Franc) from their estate.  They were so blah I didn’t even take a photo of the lineup, which is unlike me.  Regardless, the building is the draw here, not the wines.  Here is a model of what the building looks like nestled in the quarry.

We did have a pretty good lunch at the wineries original building down the hill, but again the wines poured there were mediocre.  I did see this interesting lizard hanging out next to our table.  If I didn’t take a photo of a single bottle of wine that’s pretty telling.

We then ventured towards our next stop, but first drove along the iconic “Viale dei Cipressi”, the famous Cyprus lined road.

It was surprisingly not very busy, so we were able to get a group shot in the middle of the road.

Our wine expert for the trip, Alessia Canarino, took a selfie shot.! She has been instrumental in providing plenty of information on the wineries we are visiting as well as the particulars of the various regions.

Our second stop of the day was the famous Ornellaia winery, known around the world for their Super Tuscan wines.

We joined a tour that started in their wine production facility, which was another expensive architectural project.  I’m sensing a theme here.

Just inside the building is artwork that any modern art lover would ohh and ahh over.  Just to be clear, we are not modern art lovers.  It didn’t make it any better that our host was about as wooden as it gets.  She’s done this tour about 1000 times too many!

The fermentation area was about as clean as it could possibly be since we are still in the thick of this years fermentation.

Ornellaia was one of the few wineries that actually uses what I refer to as traditional barrels.  They paint the middle of each barrel red to hide the wine stains you typically see on the sides.  In the middle of the aging area is some more modern art.  The painted floor makes the entire room look like one huge murder scene?

In their wine library our host advised this photo was taken with an “upside down camera”.  I didn’t want to tell her that they just mounted it upside down.  The tree in the photo is apparently very famous in Ornellaia lore.

We then had a sit down tasting of 5 wines.  This was one of my favorites from the tasting.

This was most of the lineup.

They also poured a wine from 2017 that was excellent, but they weren’t selling any of it.  Why pour it if you can’t sell it?  The future vintages were a completely different blend so no way to know what they taste like.  Our host advised the blend changed because they “ex-planted” (as in removed) the main vineyard used in the blend.  We have been using “ex-planted” in a variety of ways over the last few days!

Our second night at our hotel gave us an excellent sunset, with just a hint of a new moon!

Our driver took us into the small medieval town of Suvereto that night for dinner.

Here is the entrance to the walled city.

Everything inside the small city is lit up for us tourists.

They definitely like their wild boars here!

While dinner that night was just ok, we ordered a local bottle of Vermentino that was excellent!!

Up next we visit a small family run winery and have lunch on the beach at a wonderful low-key Michelin Star restaurant!