Day 4: Montalcino

After yesterday’s action-packed day, we knew we would take it easy today. The first item on the agenda was a winery tour with lunch. We didn’t need to leave until 10am so we were able to relax and enjoy the morning. Matt and Jo went out to the closest pastry shop to pick up a few things for breakfast. We got four flavors of cream filled little croissants: lemon, pistachio, cream, and eggnog. We also got a marmalade tart that ended up being fig (delicious).

I’ll take all of these

These too

After taking our time with treats and coffee, we got ready and left for the vineyard in the town of Montalcino — located maybe a hour or so southwest of Cortona. The winery is very small in comparison to other wineries in the area and family-owned. It is located in an old castle. We enjoyed the nice weather and views as the other members of the tour arrived.

Castle Tricerchi Winery

Contemplating vineyards

View from Tricerchi vineyards

Vineyard selfie

When everyone was there, Alessio took us on a tour of the grounds and shared a history of the winery. The name of the company is Tricerchi and their logo includes three circles to represent coins. The top half of the logo is a bull to represent strength.

Touring the castle

Castle courtyard

We overlooked the vineyard, which had already been harvested for the year. From there, we toured the fermentation room and where the wine is kept in barrels. Alesso told us that when the building was a functional castle, the barrel room was the dungeon with the prison below. We weren’t sure if he was joking, but seems plausible.

Big Barrel room

When the tour was done, we sat down for lunch and the wine tasting. All of the wines produced ant this winery are brunellos, which is made entirely with Sangiovese grapes and Italy’s highest wine classification. We started with an antipasto course of bruschetta, salami, prosciutto, cheese, and bread to pair with the first wine. We then had the second wine with stronger fruit notes and easy to drink that paired with our next course of pasta. Finally, we had the third wine with dessert.

Lunch — this is just the first course

Tricerchi selections

Selfie with Alessio

We drove back to the house in Cortona and hung out for a little while. We didn’t have any plans until dinner where a private chef was coming to the house. After regaining some energy, we went shopping in Cortona. Belinda had a pair of boots she was eyeing, so buying those was the first mission. We leisurely shopped and walked around as we made our way back to the house.

Heading back to Cortona

Tuscany sunset

Shopping

Back in Cortona

The chef, Christina, arrived at 6:15pm and gave us wine that we enjoyed as she prepared our dinner. The first course was toast with honey that we ate in the living room. We then moved to the table for the always present bruschetta course. There was sausage with melted cheese (basically pizza toast), blue cheese with pears and jam, and tomatoes. The main course was gnocchi in ragu (Italian for meat sauce — not the American brand name). Finally, Christina busted out a tray of tiramisu. Everything was delicious and we went to bed full and happy.