Dear Cha-Wel-Dor-Sue,

Wine is the elixir of life; it enhances sociability, it encourages conversation, it melts away shyness, and adds gaiety to all occasions.
Archles Sonobjac

Pat and I thoroughly enjoyed our two previous trips with Vin and Roz Marotolli to Bordeaux and Alsace and Trier, and couldn't resist his invitation to join him and some old friends on a trip to Tuscany, Italy to taste its wines and foods and to see its lovely countryside. Arrangements were made for us to fly Delta (Sabena) to Brussels and Florence and to reside at the Executive Excelsior Hotel in Sienna, an old walled medieval city south of Florence. While at the JFK airport we recognized some friends from a previous trip and later met other familiar traveling companions. We all had an interest in wine as a common denominator and it was the usual topic of conversation. Two of the group had wine shops and planned on tasting Italy's wine and introducing them to their clients in their retail shops.

Our headquarters was a Best Western chain hotel and was located on the periphery of the city. We would have preferred to be in the heart of the old city as it had so much charm and historical interest, but economics dictated our place of abode. All of our travel was by a large well equipped bus and riding was comfortable. Prior to leaving we knew the wine estates were not too many miles apart, but we had not figured on the winding roads and the vertical distances as we moved from one hilltop to another! Traveling from one site to another consumed much more time than we ever imagined. However, Vin kept us busy learning the Italian language and playing us some popular Italian music. All in all our time spent in the bus was enlightening and entertaining. The weather throughout our entire stay was pleasant and enjoyable.

Our itinerary was as follows:

Tuscany Grand Tour 1997 Wine Lovers International

Friday, July 11	Arrival in hotel; evening get-together at Castello di Fonterutoli
Saturday, July 12	11 am - Brolio: visit and tasting at Castello, followed by lunch and afternoon tour of Siena
Sunday, July 13	All day visit to Florence with a half day guided tour
Monday, July 14	11 am - Tour, tasting & lunch at Casteilo di Banfi, Montalcino
	4 pm - Tour and tasting at Avignonesi
	7 pm - walking tour at Montepulciano
	8 pm - dinner at La Grotta in Montepulciano
Tuesday, July 15	9:30 am - Tasting at Baroncini
	11 am - walking tour of San Gimignano
	1 pm - Lunch, tour & tasting at Badia a Coltibuono
Wednesday, July 16	11 am - Ruffino: tour, tasting & lunch with a visit to olive oil facility
Thursday, July 17	Depart for Rome with stop in Orvieto & lunch at Tenuta di Salviano, check into hotel, followed by tour of "Rome by night"
Friday, July 18	Half day tour of Rome, balance of day free, final evening dinner at hotel
Saturday, July 19	Arrivederci Roma!

Neither Pat nor I had any detailed knowledge of Italian wines but by and large considered them less than spectacular. Years ago Soave Bolla was a favorite white wine of mine and Chianti Classico was a red wine I ordered if in an Italian restaurant. Today I am more familiar with their better wines and learned that volume or mass produced wines are no longer their first priority. It is interesting that formerly wine was a product of the feudal system, or that system in which a few large landholders would lease their land to sharecroppers who raised the grapes and made the wine in return for half of the production. It was only natural that the farmers main objective was to make as much wine as possible and quality was not his chief concern. In addition the farmer was also concerned in raising other foodstuffs for his family and his entire time was not given over to the production of superior wines. Today, with the flight of the farmer to the cities where the pay scale is better, the landholders must now hire workers and their interests are centered not only in producing good wines for the local market but more importantly in producing superior wines for the international market. In the future we can expect more fine wines to come from Italy.

The great advances in the technology of wine production were apparent everywhere we went and on several occasions we would learn that a member of the family had been to the University of Southern California at Davis and had taken their courses there. Stainless steel tanks and oak barrels made of French, Slovenian and American oak were in evidence in most places. The most common grape was the Sangiovese but we learned about the virtues of the Malvasia, Trebbiano Nebbiolo, Barolo, and Brunello. Italy is best known for its reds but it also produces some fine whites as well.

The Italian Wine Industry has a classification for its wines much as has France and Germany. In Italy the ordinary table wine is called Vino de Tavola and the better wines are rated as (1) Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) which meets specific government standards of quality in terms of maximum output per unit of land, methods of production, proper aging, and adequate records (2) Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Guarantita (DOCG), the top ranked wines which carry a seal of government approval. A new category of wine is emerging in the Tuscany region that is referred to as Super Tuscan, and these are usually blends with our better known varieties such as cabernet sauvignon, chardonay, pinot noir, etc. The great variety of Italian wines testify that Italy produces and consumes more wine than any other nation on earth, including France. In fact, France is a great importer of Italian wines.

Pat and I were tremendously impressed with the natural beauty of Tuscany, and I cannot express it better than Hugh Johnson does in his book entitled The World Atlas of Wine. "The hills between Florence and Sienna are as near to the Roman poet's idea of gentlemanly country life as anywhere on earth. The blending of landscape and architecture and agriculture is ancient and profound. The villas, cypresses, vines, rocks and woods compose pictures that could be Roman, Renaissance, Resigorimento. . .there is no well of telling. In this timeless scene vineyards and olive orchards grow lovingly together." Whereas in New England the towns are formed in the valleys, the reverse is true in Tuscany. There the towns are built on the highest peaks of the hills and resemble fortifications or walled towns which indeed they were. The streets are narrow and sometimes no more than alleys.

The cities and towns we visited, in their order, were Florence, Sienna, Montalcino, Montepuiciano, Avignonesi, and San Gimignano. A few words regarding each:

Florence was not unfamiliar to us as we had been there on two previous occasions. Initially it was with the Pilpels and we covered the sites quite comprehensively. We began then with an overview of the city from the Piazzale Michelangelo, located on the heights overlooking the south side of the city. On this occasion we viewed the city from the same spot but at night! The city has so many historic sites that it would take weeks to do it justice. Everyone usually visits the Cathedral or Duomo, the Baptistery with its world renown doors and particularly the East Doors known as the "Gates of Paradise" by Lorenzo Ghiberti, the Piazza Della Signoria with its city hall or Palazzo Vecchio and Michelangelo's statue of David, the Loggia Dei Lanzi with its beautiful allegorical reliefs, the Gallery of the Uffizi, the Ponte Vecchio, the Palazzo Pitti and the Church of Santa Croce. We did these again a third time though not as comprehensively as on our two previous trips.

Sienna is truly one of the finest examples of a medieval city with its walls surrounding the inner city, and with its alleys, narrow streets, airy squares and large central Piazza del Campo and city hall or Palazzo Pubblico. It is here that its famous horse race is held each year attracting thousands of visitors. It is called the Palio and the central area is covered with dirt and ten of the seventeen districts race in teams three times around the course. The race takes only a little more than a minute, but the victory is celebrated all year. It is interesting that all of the districts are named after real or imagery animals. The event is grandiose with a procession of standard bearers from all of the communes, trumpeters, and palace musicians. One of the most interesting places we visited was the Enoteca or government subsidized wine museum and sales office. It is housed in the beautiful Fortezza Medici, a fine example of medieval military architecture. We had a champagne reception here and had an opportunity to see virtually all of the wines produced in Italy. The building was built in the 16th century and has an extensive cellar in which over 800 wines are stored. There is a permanent display area, tasting rooms and lovely terraces for social gatherings. The Enoteca was created in 1950 by decree of the president of Italy. It is one place in Italy where one can most easily learn most about the the country's wines!

The Cathedral dates back to the 13th century and with its Bell Tower is Romanesque in structure. It encloses an incredible number of works of art. Nearby is the Museo del'Opera with its collection of art works. The exterior of the cathedral is made of alternating stripes of black and white marble and is striking in appearance. There are also many other churches with their individual histories and unusual features.

Montalcino is a small medieval town that is known for its Brunello del Montalcino, a very fine wine for which the city is famous through out the world. Terry Robards in his book "Book of Wine" says "a man with a cellar full of Brunello di Montalcino from Tuscany owns a much more valuable supply of wine than a man with a cellar full of the first growths of the Bordeaux Medoc! Hugh Johnson says the Brunello grapes are picked late when they are very ripe from well established vines and small crops. The strong dark wine is fermented long and slowly on its skins to extract the maximum of color and flavor. Then it is aged in big Tuscan barrels for four years. The result is a wine for heroes or for heroic millionaires, supercharged with flavor, extract, tannins, acidity and impact!

Montepuiciano is an old town dating from the Etruscan times and is still medieval and renaissance in appearance. It has its cathedral and several churches. It is a hill town of great charm surrounded by Chianti style vineyards of Sangiovese grapes. It is noted for its Vino Nobile and for its Vin Santo, orange colored, smoky scented and very sweet. The best of the Vin Santos we had was from Avignonesi.

San Gimignano is a small city, noble and concentrated, and with a unique collection of towers rising above the town. It is well known because in medieval times it was on the Via Francigena, the most important trade route from Italy to all of Europe. The two most scenic sites are the Piazza Duoma and the Piazza del Cisterna. This town has to be seen and not described! At the base of the hill is a small restaurant where we had a delightful dinner and wine.

One of the highlights of our tour was a visit to the Castello di Banfi, one of Italy's largest producers of wine and the largest exporter of wine to the US. It may be the largest wine producer in the world! Its plant was tremendously large and equipped with all the modern technology available. It was very impressive! To top this visit off we had a most exquisite lunch magnificently served in a traditional Italian villa setting. No one could fault this luncheon. The grapes grown on Banfi's 1700 acres are Brunello, Moscadello, Chardonnay, Sauvignon, Cabernet, and Pinot Grigio.

On our last day in Tuscany, and prior to leaving for Ovieto for lunch, we visited an olive oil factory and saw all the modern equipment required to compress the olives and their pits. It is acknowledged that the "Olio Extra Vergine d'Oliva di Toscana" is the country's finest. The yield from each tree is small and they are hand picked and not collected from the ground or shaken loose from a tree. After the fruit is washed it is ground to a pulp and the olive paste is next layered between matting and cold pressed only once to extract a mixture of oil and juice, which is subsequently separated by decanting or in a centrifuge, resulting in pure unfiltered olive oil that is stored in terracotta urns. It is described as lean and elegant, peppery when new, and wholly ungreasy or fatty. The olive oil is sold in small containers and is quite expensive. Ordinarily it is not used for cooking but rather served on a plate in which one would place their bread. It is also recommended as a flavoring for soups and grilled meats. Olive oil, unlike wine, should be consumed young as its quality diminishes with time. The freshest oil is green in appearance and its color lightens with time.

Prior to leaving for Italy I was not familiar with Grappa, or the Italian equivalent of brandy. It is distilled from the left over mash from wine production and its taste will vary with the variety of grape used. It is local fire water, and I thought it reminded me of the Chinese embalming fluid called Mai Tai, the Chinese brandy. Some was offered at the end of most of our dining experiences. Some of our group held their noses as they sipped it.

At the Avignonese vineyard we learned of a very special wine vinegar that takes ten years to produce. It is stored in small barrels and carefully plugged to prevent rapid oxygenation. Vinegar, as we know, results from the oxygenation of wine but if it proceeds too quickly it may spoil. The taste of the vinegar also depends upon the variety of yeast used in the fermentation. It was also very expensive!

I should mention that on the night of our arrival we took our bus to the Castello di Fenterutoli where we were greeted by a young man who escorted us through his cellars and explained all the features of the making of a good wine. He comes from a long line of wine masters, and he said that one of his ancestors was invited by Thomas Jefferson to come to Montecello Virginia to start his vineyards. This job took many years to accomplish. Following the tour of his facilities we were driven to his tavern and we enjoyed a fine get together dinner with his wines.

Our last two days were spent in the Eternal City and during this time we had both a daytime and nighttime tour of the city. Recently the city fathers decided that all monuments should be illuminated at night and so we had the pleasure of seeing Rome's historic sights from a new perspective. Free time was available to do some shopping, to cast some coins in the Fountain and to ascend the Spanish Steps. We wandered around the old Forum and again marveled at the Coliseum which reaffirmed for me that the Romans were the greatest builders the world has ever known. Their structures are still standing everywhere they had established a colony.

Finally one of the most pleasing and satisfactory features of Vin's tours is our fellow travelers, all of whom without exception would be welcome in our home. To be sure all of us had a common interest and love of wine, but beyond this they were all interesting, friendly and helpful people. Over 80% were repeaters, and this speaks volumes for Vin's popularity and integrity. One assumes no risk in joining Vin and his lovely wife Roz on one of their adventures in Vineland.

Love,

DAD

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