Aug 9
So long charming beauty,
cobbled streets, steep, stone stairways and solitary cypress.
À bientôt windswept hill towns,
vast valleys, medieval ramparts,
and burnt Siena edges.
Ciao for now silvered olive trees,
Romanesque chapels, streaming sunlight and painted sunsets.
Arrivederci aromatic Brunello and salacious Chianti,
already missing the rustic Italian good life and countryside pace…
Aug 8
On my short visit to Tuscany I have discovered many things to love, not the least of which are the wine, and the lovely and genuine winemakers and sellers we have had the pleasure of getting to know. I have entirely enjoyed the Chiantis and the Vino Nobile de Montepulciano. I think what makes Tuscan wine so divine for me is the whole experience: the luminous young grapes, the tidy, leafy vineyards and the rolling vistas that scatter their blues and greens like waves breaking on the sand. It is nice to take the time to really taste and chat and feel the harvest’s link with the land—to be in the moment and greet the terroir.
Vocabulaire
terroir: the complete natural environment in which a particular wine is produced, including factors such as the soil, topography, and climate. “Literal-minded fundamentalists love to call terroir the soil and climate of a specific vineyard, but in truth it’s about husbandry, about sensitivity to place and its careful management so that the best of things can be delivered of it.”
365+ Things I Love About France 