Continuing on to Cortona and wineries…

On Saturday morning, after breakfast, we checked out of Hotel Firenze Capitale, and met outside the hotel to load up for our night in Cortona. Before we would arrive in Cortona, we would be touring two beautiful wineries and tasting some very nice wines. Tom’s van is large enough to transport eight people. I believe he told us that another couple was supposed to come with us, but they canceled. I’m actually glad they canceled, since the number of people in the van was just about optimal. Bill and I sat in the middle row; the other couple was in the back row; and the solo traveler was in the front seat.

We didn’t know how big the van would be, so Bill and I decided to pack a small overnight bag for our night in Cortona, and for our Sunday night stay at Hotel David, in Florence. We were going to take the other bags to our car in the parking garage, but Tom told us he had plenty of room. He wasn’t joking. Once we were all loaded up, we headed out of Florence, with Tom pointing out some sights on the outskirts we might not have seen during our visit.

The first winery, located outside of Greve, was called Montecalvi. Jackie, the woman who showed us around, is the daughter of the winery’s original owner. Jackie owned the winery for some years after her father died, but she later sold the winery to an Australian businessman, who asked her to stay on and run the winery in his absence. I really enjoyed meeting Jackie. She is a very engaging speaker. But what really made visiting Montecalvi special was meeting Jackie’s adorable cocker spaniel, Millie. Millie is very friendly and is obviously well loved. More than once during our tour, she jumped on her hind legs and put her paws on Jackie, just begging to be picked up and held like a baby. It was just darling!

We enjoyed tasting three beautiful Chianti Classico red wines made at Montecalvi Winery, as Jackie explained how it was all made and the history of her father’s vision. We also learned a bit about Italian laws regarding wine productions. We tasted a vermentino followed by the three reds, one of which was a rare wine made from grapes from a single vineyard dating from 1932.

After the tasting, we had the opportunity to order wine, which Bill did while I hung out with Millie. Below are some photos from our tour of Montecalvi.

After some time at Montecalvi Winery, we moved on to our next Chianti Classico destination, Villa Le Corti, owned by the Corsini family. We had lunch at this winery after Tom took us for a tour through the vineyards, cellars, and grounds. I appreciated learning more about organic farming, as well as the different wines made at this winery, which is also a wedding and event venue. It was interesting to to compare the two wineries. Montecalvi is a lot smaller. Below are photos from this part of the tour.

Tom frequently includes wines from Villa Le Corti in his monthly wine boxes. I have always liked them, and it was great to see them at their source.

Our next stop, after a brief stop to pick up some wines, was the lovely town of Cortona. More on that in the next post. Below are a few photos from the villa where Tom made his pickup.