Thursday morning, we had a reservation for a tour and tasting at the Altesino Winery in the Montalcino area of Tuscany. The 45-minute trip took us through the rolling hills of Montepulciano, past Pienza, and finally to the Val d’Orcia, the UNESCO World Heritage valley of vineyards and cypress trees.
Altesino sits atop a hill with views through the valley and to the village of Montalcino. Maria Victoria took us on a tour of their modern winery set in centuries old buildings. We tasted three red wines, finishing with the world renown, Brunello wine.
Maria Victoria began the tasting by pouring a small amount of wine into each glass, swirling it around, and coating the glass, then passing it to the next glass. All this is done to prepare the glass for the wine, so that all you taste is the wine and not the glass!
After our tasting and tour, we sat on a large bench at the winery appreciating the view, the wine and the company.
As we drove back to the villa, we stopped in the very small town of San Quirico d’Orcia for lunch. This Medieval town was a stop along the Via Francigena, which was a route traveled by pilgrims, merchants and armies from Northern Europe towards Rome and the Holy Land. Lunch in the sleepy village cafe was of paninis and spritzes.
We finished the day at the villa playing ping pong and happy hour on the lawn. Later, we went back into Montepulciano and had dinner overlooking the amazing sunset and valley.
Friday is our final day in Tuscany, and we plan to take a leisure day at the villa, lunch in Montepulciano, some last-minute shopping, and relishing the family time together.
