She gave us a tour of the city from the perspective of a local emphasizing the importance of the annual horse race between the 7 Sienese Contradas. We also toured the magnificent Sienna Duomo.

Although some of us would have liked to stay and shop in the Sienna boutiques, we then were whisked away to have lunch in the tiny but historically important town of Monteriggioni.  After lunch, we headed back to Panzano, skipping the Lilliano winery tour so those who bought leather items from Carlo and Karina could pick up their made to order pieces.

Our final night together was spent at the villa with another meal prepared by Marisa.  This time we asked her for only two not three courses and supplemented with leftovers from all of our other meals.  Highlights of the evening included slides shows of photos we all took and a vertical chianti blind tasting of 1994, 1998, 2000, and 2007 vintages from Villa Cafaggio.

We did keep the appointment for our winery tour, wine and olive oil tastings at Villa Cafaggio after a nice lunch at La Rignana.  Our guests commented that it was nice to visit one of the local wineries after passing so many on our way out of town to other larger wineries.  Each of the wineries was so different – and it was interesting to sample the wide variety of wines they each produce along with the different styles of each of the guides.

Thursday evening was our Tuscan cooking lesson.   A local chef, Mimmo Baldi, owner of the Enoteca Baldi in Panzano, came to Ripertoli and showed us how to make delicious zucchini flower fritters, homemade tagliatelle with shrimp and asparagus sauce, roasted pork with fresh rosemary, and finished us off with an amazing lemon custard tart topped with fresh strawberries.

He regaled us with his stories of the local area, local characters, and local culinary habits which we enjoyed almost as much as the cooking lesson!

First she took the group to L’Accademia to see some stunning sculpture including Michaelangelo’s David.   After a tour of the architecturally and artistically significant Duomo and Michaelangelo’s Square  near the Pitti Palace and the Uffizzi museum, Laura led us to the Ponte Vecchio and Florence market where some of us did a little shopping.

We walked from there to the beautiful Sante Crucis church and had a light lunch at David Gardener’s Trattoria Baldovino.

Some of us went on to visit the magnificent Firenze Leather School and we all met back at the Savoy Hotel for our trip back to the villa.

That night we had a wonderful dinner at David Gardener’s luxurious Villa Bordoni starting with Prosecco and appetizers in the garden.  The weather couldn’t have been nicer this week!  David Gardner gave us the royal treatment, decanting a fabulous red for us at one point, and this restaurant experience became one of the meal highlights of the week.

We started with a Nobile wine tasting and winery tour with Julia at Poliziano,

and then spent some time with our guides  in the beautiful cities of Montepulciano and Pienza.

In Pienza we had a wonderful Pecorino cheese tasting.  It was interesting for us to see how much care and pride they take with their cheeses, all aged differently, wrapped in ash or grape leaves to enhance their taste.

We finished the day in Montalcino where we sampled some delicious and quite affordable Brunellos (unlike the expensive ones we find in the US.)  Then it was back to Ripertoli for another enjoyable dinner prepared by Marisa.

Marco gave us insight into what it’s like to be part of the Querceto family, history on the region and the winery, stories about the cinghale and what happened there in WWII, a tour of the castle and grounds as well as the winery itself.  After the tour, we had a four wine tasting of some of their best chiantis and super tuscans and then one of the best meals of the trip complete with homemade lasagna and wild boar (cinghale.)

That night we got dressed up and went to Osteria di Passagnana for a fancy meal across the street from some of the Antinori family’s Tignanello vineyards.  By this time, we were all sharing meals as many were already in what our guests said could only be described as a food coma.

Since the trip we have been excited to find Castello di Querceto wines in some of our local stores.

A little shopping helped shake the jet lag, and we had our own Arianna Baldi as a guide to the butcher. Jamie Oliver raves about this shop in Panzano, and we were greeted with a little Chianti and bread.

We returned to Ripertoli for lunch feasting on the finds at the market. An afternoon nap was in order to gather energy for the evening. We traveled to Ristoro di Lamole for a sunset dinner.

Phillipo and Paulo worked hard to make sure everyone had a good time. Lamole is one of the oldest wine producers in Chianti and they use the high altitude to craft light smoothe wines that everyone seemed to enjoy.

About 100 years before the French implemented wine laws related to quality, the Italians had a law regarding the varieties of grapes acceptable for use in wine, defining the geographic boundaries of the Chianti wine region, and forbidding the export of wine made from grapes farmed on the flat land. While the focus of French wine is Terrior, the focus of Italian wine is that it represent the wine typical of its locality. The local nature of the wine means that it goes well with the local food.

After the wine tasting at Enoteca Gallo Nero, we returned to Ripertoli for an evening meal prepared by Marisa. It was fabulous as always.

From Blog Photos

It turns out the David and I are related by family … at least we are both clan Sutherland, and we both wore Sutherland Ancient kilts at our weddings. The food at dinner was superb and the wine list is extensive. I can’t wait for all of us to return!

Finally, the vineyards of the Tuscan countryside …

Osteria di Passignano

Originally uploaded by dkjacks

Last night (May 4) we enjoyed the paired tasting menu at Osteria di Passignano, the Antinori restaurant about a mile from Ripertoli. There were five courses each paired with a wine from the Antinori family. We had Cod fish starter with Vermentino, Taglierini with Conte della Vipera (from Orvietto), Tenderloin with Passignano Chianti Classico riserva, Roast Pigeon breast with Tignanello, and finally, a cheese selection with Solaia.

The Osteria offers many programs for winery visits and cooking with the chefs. We plan to add these to the options available on your adventure to Tuscany.