Chianti

Today Chloe and I got up early (I dressed in the dark, which is why my socks don't match) and went to Chianti with Florence for Fun. We walked around an area called Panzano. We did a leisurely hike for 3 hours around the vineyards and then stopped at a villa for a tour of the wine cellar, lunch and wine tasting. The walk was so picture perfect. In the Chianti region there are two types of wine they produce - IGT and Chianti Classico. Chianti Classico is only made in ten villas in Chianti and is identifiable by a pink label with a black rooster around the neck of the bottle. 

The villa we went to was called Azienda Agricola Sala di Lorenzo Sassolini. For lunch we had appetizers of prosciutto, ham, white bean ragu and toasted bread with olive oil that was made at the vineyard. We then had two types of pasta, pesto and marinara sauce. We tried three wines, a dessert wine and grappa. The Chianti Classico was my favorite and I bought a bottle. We also tried two IGTs, both of which were great, called Granducale and Ferdinando III. The dessert wine, Vin Santo (Holy wine) Chianti Classico, was served with small biscotti. We ate it by dunking the biscotti into our shot glasses and then drinking the wine. I'm just going to say it - grappa is disgusting. Maybe it's because my palette isn't defined, but I hope it's a long time before I see that stuff again. I did find it interesting that grappa is made from the best dregs of pressed grapes through distillation. That aside, no grappa for me.

Both Chloe and I napped on the bus ride home (waking up early, heavy pasta and wine will do that). We're both exhausted, but it was such an incredible day. The hills of Tuscany are more breath-taking than I can describe. I'm waking up early tomorrow for another adventure!

Paws crossed!