This was our wine tasting tour is the Tuscan country side - AMAZING! Castello di Verrazzano is nestled on top of a hill surrounded by incredible valleys of vineyards, olive trees and persimmons. The country is gorgeous and the wine was delicious. About 45 minutes of actual touring through the winery including lessons on what makes a REAL chianti, etc. were followed by a "light lunch" and wine tasting. There was nothing light about it but we couldn't have been happier. Seated with three other couples we enjoyed their table Red, Chianti, Chianti Reserva, Super Tuscan and Vino Santo. Unlike most wine tastings you find in the States, they poured us each our tasting portion and then left the bottles on the table for us to finish. Just look at the plate, too! After our tasting and more than an hour of trolling around the grounds making absolutely certain Ben was sober enough to drive the mountain roads, we headed for Pisa to check out the Leaning Tower. What we learned was that, unfortunately, while the tower is in an old, fortified town, there isn't much to see apart from the main attraction. So after a long day of drinking and touristing, we headed back to Florence for the best dinner of our lives at Cibreo.
This dinner deserves its own paragraph. Actually, it deserves its own Oscar. Our evening began as we were seated in a lovely dining room complete with high backed leather chair and an eclectic collection of tables. Rather than handing over menu and standing before us to rattle off a list of specials, our waiter joined us at the table by pulling up a chair. As the menu varies based on a combination of fresh ingredients and the Chef's whim, there are no menus. After chatting with the waiter on the evening's menu we settled in to await the three course meal we'd just ordered. And then the house antipasti arrived. This is served to every table, unbeknownst to us, regardless of whether or not you order another appetizer. Brined peppers, perfect pecorino cheese and fava bean salad, tomato/garlic aspic, homemade potato bread, chicken pâté, i've lost track there was so much deliciousness. We followed this with traditional parmesan polenta for me and ricotta and potato flan for Ben. Then perfect chicken ricotta meatballs with bone bread for me and a spicy fish dish (that I can't remember the name of because it's September as I write this) for Ben. Our dessert included a delicious flourless chocolate tart that has been a house specialty for 25 years and a bitter Sicilian marmelade ricotta and mascarpone cheesecake.
What can you possibly do after a meal like that except meander through the streets of Florence and marvel at its wonders which seem to be as well represented in the kitchen as they are in history!
One of the many olive trees of the Vineyard's property
Persimmon Tree
Wine barrels on our tour
The bottle room at Castello di Verrazzano
Our fantastic "light lunch"
The Vineyard
The leaning tower
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