Health, Hessen

Italian delicacies from Celpro Italian Supermarket…

This week, I had a very unpleasant exchange with an Amazon seller, who failed to send me Sperlari Candies I had ordered from Italy. I don’t want to get into the story of what happened in that situation on this blog, because I like to try to keep this space somewhat upbeat, when I can. If you want to read that story, click here. Suffice to say, I didn’t get my candy, and the seller was miffed that I left a low seller rating.

That situation made me remember visiting the Celpro Italian Supermarket, back during the height of the pandemic. I wondered if maybe they had some Sperlari goodies. I told Bill I wanted to visit, so off we went. We were definitely not the only ones who had the idea of shopping for Italian treats today.

It had been so long since our last visit, I had forgotten how small the market was. But for being such a small market, they offer a lot of Italian goods– everything from laundry detergent to fresh meats and cheeses. I couldn’t stand to be in there for too long, though, because it was pretty busy and crowded. We did manage to spend about 127 euros. It would have probably been more, if we could have gotten close to the meat counter!

When we got home from Celpro, I looked to see if there were any other markets nearby. I found one called Fornara, which is a small chain. Apparently, they are near the train station in Wiesbaden. They have another location in Taunnustein. I think we might have to visit there, too… although maybe not today, since it’s already getting close to 2:00 PM, and the store closes at 4:00. It looks like a much bigger market, though– at least the one in Taunnustein does. At the very least, we’d probably find more wines!

Yesterday was May Day. I completely forgot about it. I was too busy thinking about Bill coming home from his latest TDY trip. We had beautiful weather, though, and it’s pretty today, too. It’s also finally getting warm.

I got an email from the driver’s license people in Texas. Naturally, they need more stuff from me. I have to go get my eyes checked at an optometrist’s office, because they need a field of vision test (this is a new thing– never needed that in previous years). I also have to send a copy of my voter card, and complete a couple of items of the form that got overlooked.

I was actually pleasantly surprised by the communication I got. The lady provided everything I needed– from the information as to what documentation is acceptable to prove Texas residency, to the spots I missed on the form. I feel pretty confident that by June 20, which is my birthday, I will have an updated license. Kudos to Mary, handling the out of state driver’s licenses. She’s a professional. I just wish they’d make it easier for people in my situation to find them. It would cut down on a lot of stress and confusion.

I need to go see the eye doctor anyway. I need a new prescription, and perhaps to get myself some bifocals. It’s a pain to have to do it, but it does need to be done. I think we’ll go to a different provider this time, though. I didn’t like the place I went in Wiesbaden, last time I had my eyes checked. I just hope the person I see doesn’t piss me off. 😏

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booze tourism, tours

Food and wine in Switzerland, Italy, and Liechtenstein… part thirteen

Family vineyards and Montepulciano…

After we checked out of Hotel San Luca, we loaded up in Tom’s van and headed to our next destination, a beautiful family run vineyard outside of Cortona called Fabrizio Dionisio. The home is owned by a couple from Rome who work as lawyers. The beautiful young woman who took us on our tour explained that a lot of people in Rome own second homes out in the country– Tuscany, in particular. The estate where the winery is located is called “Il Castagno”, and it was originally purchased by Sergio Dionisio, Fabrizio’s father, in the early 1970s. The wines produced at this lovely winery are mostly reds made with 100% Syrah Cortona DOC grapes. The lone exception is the Rosa del Castagno, which is a rose produced with Syrah grapes. I love Syrahs, so I think this winery produced my favorite of the wines we tried… but to tell you the truth, we had so many wines, that it’s hard to keep them all straight! I should have taken notes.

I got excited during the tour, when our guide mentioned Georgia and Armenia, which are well known for using an ancient method to make wines. Wines made in the Caucasus region are often made with large earthenware vessels called Qveris (or Kvevris). I am a BIG fan of Georgian wines– and only slightly less so of Armenian wines, even though I spent two years living there. I go to Armenia for brandy, and Georgia for really nice red wines with leathery, spicy, bold flavors. Anyway, this winery in Cortona had qveris, which I thought was really interesting. Also noticeable in the winery are pieces of artwork obviously done by children. The artwork was used for the the wine labels! We got to hear the whole story about that, too. Below are some photos from our stop at Fabrizio Dionisio.

Below are some photos from the mansion’s awesome kitchen, which made me so jealous… I miss having a big kitchen, although our current kitchen is a huge improvement over the last one. This was where we tasted the wines.

After our visit to Fabrizio Dionisio, we continued on to the adorable town of Montepulciano. I love wines from Montepulciano, so this was a treat! I definitely would love to visit here again someday and go shopping. Some kind of festival was going on, which slightly complicated matters. Nevertheless, Tom knew where to park, and we had lunch at Il Pozzo, where we tasted more wines!

Finally, after lunch, we made our last stop on the tour, a winery called Talosa. This was located in the town, so we were able to walk there from Il Pozzo. I thought the winery was really interesting, with its “cave like” tasting room. I also remember liking the wines, but I especially like the guide’s Italian accent. She pronounced every English word with an “ah” at the end. It sounded very musical-ah. 😉 After we tasted wines, we visited the cellars. The smart ones also visited the toilets, since that winery was the end of our wine tour.

We immediately made our way back to Florence, where we were all to spend another night in Florence. The other couple stayed at Hotel Firenze Capitale; the lone traveler went to the airport to stay at a hotel there; and Bill and I booked a room at fantastic Hotel David. More on that in part fourteen.

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tours

Food and wine in Switzerland, Italy, and Liechtenstein… part eleven

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.

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