Wow! What a beautiful time!
It was worth the journey and the rain to arrive here. Where is here? Chianti, at Fattoria Le Fonti, where the
friends Lorenzo, Paolo and Tony greeted me like their brother. We had a great dinner last night made by a
local man who did something wonderful with the pasta and then a superb
cinghiale, that’s wild boar, shot right on the property. With a wink Lorenzo said today it was probably
the one that was stealing all the best grapes in the vineyard.
There was a lot of people there that I did not know, but the whole
company was very jolly and nice. Tony’s
wife was there and their baby girl Martina, who was very happy and good. Maybe they
gave her some wine in her milk ;)
We had the Le Fonti wines from 2004 and 2005 (the simplest one), which I liked a lot. My preference was for the 2004 Riserva. Balanced, fruity, not extracted tasting, elegant even though quite young. We also compared Vito Arturo 2004 and 2003 – I know Terry bought the 2003 when he was here last summer. I’m sorry, amico, but the 2004 is much superior. Tannins are in check and it is less fierce on the palate even though the alcohol is about the same. I will have them send you some but I won’t pay, ah ah. [Ha ha.]
Paolo Caciorgna, maker of elegant wines that are always true to their terroir. And they don't all taste alike
Glass at Enoteca Pontevecchio, Florence
These are all views of the Enoteca Pontevecchio, Tony's shop on Corso dei Tintori, by S. Croce.
Today Lorenzo took me to places around Chianti that were so beautiful
they make your heart cry out. Yes, the
mythic Tuscan countryside but also tiny villages like Volpaia and especially Montevertine. Lorenzo said to me, “Vertine is like going
back to 1000. Mediaeval village.” But much cleaner, I think. No coaches can go
to Vertine, so it is very tranquil and has nothing to buy except at the only
café in town.
After a giant steak alla fiorentina for lunch – with S, the Le Fonti
basic Sangiovese, we went into the
vineyards where Lorenzo show me many interesting things. We say in Italian “in gamba” when someone
knows what he is doing. Lorenzo è
davvero molto in gamba. The vineyards of Le Fonti seem like they receive
manicures. Tutto in ordine – everything
in good order.
Tomorrow to Florence to see Tony Sasa and later Paolo
Caciorgna
Anyway, here is a photo gallery of some of the things I saw today. It’s so magnificent here that I understand why, after the peasants left the countryside for jobs in city, Germans and English bought all those abandoned houses for cheap. Land was so spectacular and unspoiled. Now of course they are worth 1-2 millions of euro. Not lire, euro. I wish I was one of them!
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