Wine Tour in Tuscany

On our first full day in Italy, we went with a driver for a full-day tour of the Tuscany wine region. Funk and I love wine tours and this one did not disappoint. Our guide, Suzanna knew the region and wine information inside and out. She was such a wealth of knowledge! And she handled the curvy, tight roads like a pro. If you ever go to Florence, you must use Suzanna! Thanks for the recommendation, Jaime!

On our tour we went to Fattoria Di Montecchio for a guided visit, lunch and wine tasting. It was a semi-private tour of the old winery that is known for its Chianti Classico. Did you know Chianti Classico is government regulated wine with specific bottling standards and can be spotted by the symbolic pink label and black rooster stamp?  Since we’ve been  home, we made sure to pick up only that variety of Chianti.

Having lunch with our wine tasting was key, as wine tastes better with food. Our lunch was so simple, but I will never forget it. We started with bread (unsalted, in the Tuscany region), olive oil to dip, a bowl of white beans, and bowl of crushed tomatoes. So simple, but it was an unbelievable meal. The tomatoes were so incredibly fresh and flavorful, I couldn’t get enough. The beans were perfectly seasoned. The olive oil tasted great drizzled on everything and the wine we paired it with was the best red wine I’ve ever had (multiplied by the 6 glasses she poured for us, which I could not keep up with!).

Our meal was a simple bowl of pasta and tomatoes, followed by a green salad and plate of Pecorino cheese (When in Rome…).

We ended with a sweet sliver of biscotti, which was better than any dry, scratchy, tasteless biscotti I’ve ever had here, eaten alongside a shot glass of a dessert wine that tasted more of a liquor.

The Italians dip the biscotti in the dessert wine, just like cookies dipped in milk! We were full, happy, and buzzing off Chianti (good thing we weren’t driving the Tuscan hills!). I don’t know if it’s possible to recreate the flavors we had at this meal, but I’m sure going to try soon.