Wine-ing in Montepulciano

Breakfast at the house has been fairly substantial.  Yogurt, yes, if you want it, but also eggs, sausage, potatoes, polenta, juice, coffee, tea, toast.  And biscotti, of course.  You'd think we were all going out to work in the fields.

Wheels were up at about 10:00.  Our plan is to have a shorter day so we can get home to get the coals going and cook some great-looking steaks we bought at the Coop for dinner.

Italian butcher cutting our steaks.  (Tourists take pictures of everything!)

A little driving lesson is in order.  It seems, in Italy, as though cars just pull over, partly blocking the road in front of a store, and put their flashers on.  You'd think there was some emergency.  We think the emergency is really a coffee, cigarettes or a lottery ticket.  I don't know.  Maybe we could learn something from them.

And also, we began to notice a few women by the side of the road, in a wooded area outside of our little village, who seemed to be trying to attract some customers.  They had plastic patio chairs, but always seemed to be standing up when we drove by.  Very sad, but also intriguing.  We're not sure who stops for them.  We saw them every time we left town, and also when we returned each day.

The drive to Montepulciano took us through some pretty scenery, and the weather was great.  We got into town at around 11 and wandered up the street to the main square.

Marco and Catherina find the secret passageway into Montepulciano

One of our favorite experiences in past years has been to visit Contucci Cantine to taste their wine.  Rick Steves writes about the charming and charismatic Adamo who has been making wine there since 1953.  Adamo is semi-retired now, so we didn't get to see him, but the younger folks in the tasting room were very charming and friendly.  We enjoyed the wine - Vino Nobile de Montepulciano - and bought a few bottles to take back to the villa.

The group outside of Contucci Cantine

The wine cellars here were very fun too.  Oak barrels as tall as giants, in cellars that have been in use since the 1500's.

Marco and Catherina look like Lilliputians next to the wine barrels.

We went on to visit the cellars of Cantine del Redi.  Their cellars were ancient, and even included some Etruscan caves.  Hundreds of oak barrels lined the cellars.   We enjoyed their wine too, and bought a few bottles to take back to the house.

In front of the well in the Etruscan part of the caves at Cantine del Redi.

We were told that scenes from the Twilight movie were actually filmed in the caves here at Cantine del Redi.

We had a nice lunch on the square, and a few of the more adventurous in the group climbed to the top of the tower.  The view was wonderful.  The rest of us would just have to see it in the photos.

The walk back to the cars was easier.  Downhill all the way.

We got back to the house, and all 4 of the guys got busy lighting the coals for the barbeque.  It's always tricky on a strange grill, and it seemed like it took hours before it was ready for the meat.

Giovanni (John) prepping the steaks for the barbeque

Dinner was excellent.  We had nice wine that we'd purchased at the tasting rooms, instead of our usual, amazingly inexpensive stuff from the grocery store.  Not that anyone is complaining about the cheap wine and beer.

It was another great day in Tuscany.