Today was a fairly uneventful, but fun, day. We had breakfast at the apartment and then went into Greve so Greg could get his daily cappuccino and then did a bit of souvenir shopping. We then jumped in the car and drove back to Castello di Gabbiano for a wine tour and tasting. The guide was very friendly and was explaining to us about the Gabbiano vineyard and wines and why they plant roses at the end of each vine. We found this interesting since we were curious about it. He said that roses and vines catch the same diseases but roses will always catch them first, so if there is a disease in that row they will know based on the roses state of being. So, they are there for a reason and not just to add color. Anyways, Greg and I were the only ones on the tour for the first 15 minutes and then a couple from NC showed up, so it was actually nice to have someone else there. We then went down to see the wine cellar that was dated from around 4th century or so before doing a bit of tasting.
Gabbiano property:
We were able to taste 4 different wines, 2 grappas, and olive oil, all which is made on this property. If you have never had it, grappa is very strong and harsh. However, the grappa that they made and aged on their property was much smoother, almost like a whiskey, so we ended up buying some, along with a bottle of wine and olive oil. As we were heading to the car we saw the big white dog that we had seen a few days prior and gave him some loving as well. We were going to have lunch here but it was still too early (only around 11:30 am) and so we decided to go back into Greve and just get some pizza.
Gabbiano plate:
In the cellar:
The pizza place we wanted to go to doesn't do pizza at lunch, only dinner (doesn't make any sense to me either), so we found another place at Casa del Popolo, that definitely catered to locals. The pizza was good, the service was not. As it was our mid point of our trip we decided to do some laundry. We found a place, and it didn't take too long so we were able to get back on the road and actually visit some other areas in Tuscany.
We drove to Castellina in Chianti, another small hillside town, and walked around town for a bit before grabbing some gelato. This town is very cute and has a thing with odd female statues. Before getting back on the road we decided to stop into a cafe and grab a coke and small snack. As we were leaving Castellina we stopped by and saw an Etruscan tomb. We started to walk into it (it is completely underground) but it was so dark and creepy and there were warning signs torn down that we opted NOT to go any further. It was neat to see how these tombs were built under hills though.
Looking over Castellina in Chianti:
The main church in Castellina in Chianti:
The Etruscan Tomb:
Greg entering the tomb:
We still had a bit of time when we headed back to Greve so we stopped in to Vescine Vineyard and had a tasting with another family from Chicago. The guy doing the tour had a really good personality and we tasted about 7 different wines from their estates all over Italy before purchasing an excellent bottle of Prosecco and Chianti Classico before getting back in the car and heading towards Greve. We tried to go to another vineyard in Radda but they were closing up. We then drove through Radda (a different way back) to get to a recommended restaurant that is considered very rural. They weren't lying, the restaurant is completely off the track and away from everything, over 2 miles down a dirt road, and sits on the side of the mountain so you have spectacular views. We got there about 6:30 pm and they didn't open until 7:30 and we didn't want to wait that long, so we got back in the car.
The Chianti Classico label at Vescine:
After driving around for a while we settled upon going back to Castello di Gabbiano for dinner. This was our favorite meal of the entire trip, quite unexpectedly. Most places that you eat at in Italy charge you a cover charge AND 12.5% gratuity, so definitely watch your bill. Also, they will leave a basket of break on your table and if you eat from it they charge you per person on that too. Well, Gabbiano was not like that. We sat down and they immediately brought us a glass of prosecco and a small appetizer. We then ordered crostinis and chianti beef for additional starters. For our main meal Greg had a pork fillet in rose sauce that was very good but didn't touch my meal. I ordered rissotto with pigeon (yes you read that right), and it was out of this world. The two chunks of pigeon on the side were not great, it is all dark meat and a bit chewy, but the rissotto with small shreds of pigeon in it had the best flavor of any rice/rissotto meal I have ever tasted. We both devoured as much of it as possible before calling it quits.
Greg & I with the big white dog at Gabbiano:
As we left the restaurant the white dog was lying close to the car so we gave him some love before heading back to our apartment to play a few rounds of cards with our newly bought wine and then calling it a night and heading to bed.
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