Saturday, July 28, 2012

Wine in Italy - 63 bottles and counting

Here's a post for the wine enthusiasts out there.


Tenuta Forci
One day while returning from a visit to the beach, we decided to test a short cut through the Lucca hills that we'd noticed on the map, and see what the road was like.  Well, it turned out to be steep in parts, an unmade goat track elsewhere, and undulating to boot - all in all a bit of a struggle for Zita (she's only 150cc after all).  It was very scenic too, with both sides of the road surrounded by grapevines, which I noticed were signposted as a familiar winery 'Tenuta Forci'.

Unsurprisingly, this road soon led us to Santo Stefano Road, home of two good wineries, and as we rode right past Tenuta Forci, we had to pop in.

Zita awaits the winetasters at the front of Forci 
We'd tried two of their wines previously at home and had been impressed - one in particular was excellent value.  Like many Italian wineries, Forci's cellar door offers a tasting of whatever happens to be open, but primarily the focus is selling wine, rather than tasting wine.  Right up, I enquired from the friendly lady who had opened up the cellar door for us about delivery, which they offered, also it's free of charge to central Lucca - perfect!  (although the winery is in the hills, it's only 6km out of Lucca).








As well as wine, they sold quality and well packaged and presented grappa, honey, olive oil and marinated olives, all of which are made at the winery.  We passed on the tasting as the thought of riding even 6km home through the hills after a tasting didn't seem such a good idea.  The cellar door was functional but pretty, and set in grounds with surrounding stone buildings and fantastic views into the Lucca valley.  We rode home, lighter of pocket, but glad of our visit.
 
The next morning, a wizened old man rang our doorbell to deliver 2 dozen bottles.  We'd ordered 1 dozen of their Rosso 2010 DOC (see 'What We're Drinking') and 2 bottles each of the others in their range.  The one I'm particulalry interested in, but haven't opened yet, is the 'Cardinal Buonvisi' 2008, which is a blend of 35% Cab Sav, 35% sangiovese, 20% merlot and a small amount of malvasia nera.



Winetasting in the Palazzo Pitti, Florence

So where is that winetasting happening...
Last month, Melanie and I went to Florence…..for a winetasting (not long after, we went to Pisa to go shopping – cultured tourists, we are).  This Florence Wine Event, showcasing 45 wineries from various Tuscan regions, was held in the magnificent Palazzo Pitti, visitors to Florence may know it as the entrance to the Boboli Gardens.

The tasting had a start time of 4pm but when we approached the ticketdesk just after 4pm, the lady informed us the winemakers were running maybe 30 minutes late, which of course means in Italian, they ran an hour late.  Shortly after we saw a few winemakers stagger in, no doubt coming from a long lunch.





 
Melanie and I had set ourselves a mission – to find a Chianti Classico with good QPR (Quality/Price Ratio) and buy a half dozen to bring back to Lucca.  In the end, we had a look at 10 different Chianti wineries, many of which also made a Reserve Chianti, and selected the Santo Stefano 2008 Chianti Classico which is a modern elegant Chianti but still with some savouriness belying it’s heritage.  Medium bodied, it was showing plenty of black fruit, along with some well balanced oak.  And a bargain at just 10 euros..
Marino with all his friends….

Other interesting wines on show included a delicious Brunello di Montalcino, but outside our budget at 35 euros, a few organic wineries, and some reliable and always cheap Morellino di Scansanos. Interestingly, 3 of the Chianti wineries were making something different: one with a 2006 Cab Sav (which reminded me straight away of Australia), one a Pinot noir that was less successful and lastly a straight merlot that for my palate anyway, lacked character, as many straight merlots seem to do.
After a late dinner at a modern Florentine restaurant, we headed off home to Lucca on the last train, which of course ran 30 minutes late, meaning we straggled into bed just on midnight.







Vino di casa - What we're drinking at home....

Rosso 2010 DOC from the Forci winery, located in the Lucca Hills.
5.50 euros.

65% sangiovese based wine, with 30% canaiolo grape, and 5% colorino grape. In the glass, it's violet/dark red with brown bricking.  Red berries and brambles on the nose.  On the palate, this medium bodied red (of just 12.5%) exhibits redcurrants and brambles with a savoury profile.











 .....and Something Better
Chianti Classico 2009 from Fonterutoli, near Castellina in Chianti.
14 to 17 euros.

Being Chianti Classico, it's at least 80% sangiovese, with the balance being other local red grapes, usually canaiolo and colorino - it's not specified on this bottle.

In the glass, it's dark red/almost purple. Ripe redberries on the nose.  On the (medium bodied) palate, concentrated and intense fruit combine with silky tannins produce an elegance that continues on the after palate. At 13.5%, it shows that a classy wine can be made without high alcohol.

This is our favourite chianti so far, although we haven't yet delved into any reserve chianti classicos - might wait until cooler weather sets in for the serious stuff.


* 63 bottles and counting.... is the number we've consumed at home since arriving on 12 April.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Le Tre Cime (The 3 Peaks)


We’ve discovered there’s a Lucca chapter of the Club Alpino Italiano (CAI) a walking, trekking, mountain bike riding group, so we joined them the other Sunday for a walk. Walk is a slight understatement. It was graded ‘Expert’ with a duration of '8 hours' and summitting 3 peaks! Now, we are keen walkers but I would not consider us (well myself at least) an Expert! So off we trot to Pittarello (my favourite shoe supermarket) to purchase a pair of trekking shoes. €40 later and a couple of warm up laps of the wall early in the week and we are off by bike to meet the other 10 ‘expert’ walkers, on the outskirts of Lucca.


The ‘Expert’ Walkers


Marino immediately strikes an accord with our designated driver (whose name I confess I have forgotten) and busily commences a conversation. I sit anxiously in the back seat contemplating my fellow ‘expert’ walkers and what’s in store for us. We drive for an hour heading upwards to the hamlet of Alto Matanna in the Apuane Alps (1030m) where our ‘walk’ commences.

Our first peak Monte Matanna at 1317m was I admit a walk in the park.

I must be an ‘expert’ after all!






Mother and Calf
 Not long after commencing our walk we encounter a cow that has just given birth to her calf. What an amazing sight! The mother was cleaning her calf, which was only just able to walk. 












One thing I like about walking in Italy and conquering the peaks is that each peak is clearly marked with a cross, so thank God you know when you’re at the summit!

First Peak - Monte Matanna

Second Peak- Monte Nona


Third Peak- Monte Croce



The view is amazing, through the passing cloud we can see right across to the Tyrrhenian Coast.

There's actually coastline through those clouds!
Marino enjoys his mortadella panino



A quick refuel stop (only chocolate for us, as SOMEONE had left the bananas on the kitchen table) before we commence the descent. While descending from the first peak, heading back towards the car park where we began – I crack a joke (in Italian) and say “Guarda Marino, siamo finito!’ which translates to ‘Look Marino, we've finished’. I am quickly reassured that there is still more to come. Italian is so difficult – they just don’t get me! I then add ‘solo scherzo!’ (only joking). The second peak Monte Nona  at 1296m is as easy as the first – I am an expert!

 
Marino on the road to somewhere
That's my trusty stick Marino!























We descend to Callare Matanna at 1139m, which is a little trickier than our first descent. It's steep and slippery, the long wet grass hiding a very rocky ground. I find a trusty old stick to help me along the way. So now being the expert that I am, I think I’m ready for Everest!

Here’s where the fun begins! The third and final peak, Monte Croce is at 1314m!! The first 30 minutes are OK, a little climbing but quite manageable (at least for an expert). Then the real ascent begins. OMG!!! It’s seriously steep and I’m now running low on fuel How could I have forgotten those bananas?
But we push on and make it!! Yay! And it’s time for Lunch.

Now for the descent….  I must confess: the climbing is actually OK, it’s the descending that kills me (and my knees, thighs and hips) – thankfully the trusty old stick is still by my side, I’ll never scoff at anyone walking with sticks again!

We make it back in record time (6.5 hours) and finish our day at a quaint bar in Alto Matanna with a warming aperitif. Yes I know I’ve been rubbing in the fact in other posts that it’s 30C, but not in the mountains - it was cold!

Yay! We made it!

If you’d like to see a short video of the walk (and us), click on the below Youtube link. This was taken by one of our fellow walkers.


Monday, July 16, 2012

Natalie's Visit


Last week my friend Natalie and her travel buddy Melissa arrived in Lucca for a 3 night stop over. Natalie and I worked together in Melbourne, like me Natalie has since left and has the travel bug! Whilst I had many ideas planned for her visit (ie. a trip to the Villas, a day at the beach etc), she’d just moved on from 5 days with family in Marostica, where she rediscovered her Italian roots. What she really needed was a rest!  So we relaxed .............




.

‘LOOK MEL, YOU COULD WORK HERE’
NAT ON HER WAY TO THE GUINIGI TOWER






We dined in, we dined out; we rode the bikes around and around until our bums hurt. There may also have been the occasional gelati in there somewhere.

PASTA MAKING

LOOKS GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT



























It was also the week of the Festa di San Paolino, the patron saint of Lucca. We managed to catch a few of the celebrations being held in his honor. 



 

We cool our hot feet in the Serchio river after an 11km ride. Nat came up with the great idea to sit in the river on little beach chairs, an alternative to the 45min Vespa ride to the beach.




A great few days spent in sunny Lucca. It was lovely to see you Nat!