Montepulciano (Nobile)
The sun was up later due to Day Lights Saving. I took a short stroll around town after getting up. These roads are really steep and narrow. It was a good morning work out just walking around.
During my walk around, I came across a number of interesting wells used to provide water for the residents.
The well of the Griffins and Lions (16th Century Renaissance)
Talosa Winery
We had a reservation for a wine cellar tour at 11:00 at Cantina Fattoria Della Talosa (Talosa for short). This is a 16th century underground winery located in the heart of Montepulciano, about .3 mile from our Airbnb. It is located beneath two of the city’s oldest buildings, right next to Piazza Grande. The cellars date back to the 1500’s and even have older Etruscan ruins (5th century BC tomb).
There were a lot of steps once we got in to reach the main cellar. This area had massive oak barrels in the ancient vaulted ceiling. It was originally a cave, and you could see the cave walls and ceiling mixed into the brick structure. Our guide explained the different barrels they used and how they affected the wine. Then he took us deeper into the cellar where you could see old marine fossils in the walls. Even further down was the Etruscan tomb. It was classed off, so we could not see it, but there is a lot of history in this cellar.
Stairs into the cellar.
Stairs going deeper into the cellar to the Etruscan Tomb
Barrels of wine!
the winery has only been around since 1972 and they only work with Sangeovies grapes. Like France, the wine is based on region. Montepulciano is considered the Nobile region, so all wines from here are called Nobile wines (like Chianti or Boudreaux). To get this designation, all the grapes must be from this region, processed and bottled in this region as well. Sangiovese grapes and grown here, so most of the wines are of this variety.
Our tour ended with a tasting of four of their wines. It also included a plate of cheeses and meat to pair with the wine. The wine was fantastic, and I ended up buying a case and having it shipped home.
Wine tasting time!
We asked our guide for a recommendation for another winery in the city to tour. He told us to checkout De’Ricci Winery.
Everything here closes from 12:00-2:00, so I stopped by the De’Ricci Winery and got a reservation for 3:00 later in the afternoon. We went home to take a nap and get ready for another wine tour.
De’Ricci Winery
The Cantina de’Ricci is called the “Cathedral of Wine” because of its massive, vaulted underground chambers that look like a Gothic cathedral. The Talosa cellar was deeper, but this cellar has grand architectural scale.
The cellar has soaring brick vaults with enormous oak barrels. The size of the vault is very impressive. At the lowest level there is a circular cave and well dating back to the Etruscan period around 400-500 BC.
Etruscan well in the bottom of the cellar.
There is also the legend of the hedgehog. In the 12th century, Riccio de’ Ricci was a young boy who forecasted the weather based on the behavior of a family of hedgehogs that lived in the cave. If the hedgehog looked up at the sunlight in the cave, the next day our be sunny and dry. If the hedgehog did not look, it would not be sunny. Apparently it was pretty accurate. However, this is not go well at this time. The church had started the inquisition and word got out about this boy. He was taken to Rome to face his charges. The pope sent a bishop to verify the boys story, and found it to be true. The boy was allowed to return. (No sorcery was shown, only nature). To this day, the winery features a hedgehog looking at the sunlight on its label.
Hedge Hog carved in the cellar
Our tour included a tasting of six wines. This tasting included a Rose (this made Sandy happy). They also provided meats and cheese with the tasting and even recommended which food to paid with each wine.
Wine tasting
Osteria del Brogo
We were able to get a reservation at the Osteria del Brogo. This family run restaurant makes traditional Tuscan foods and has an amazing wine selection. We ordered the Ribollita (Tuscan bread-and-vegetable soup) and Florentine Steak. The waiter took me to the cooler to show me the cuts of steaks and had me choose what I wanted. You pay by the gram, with a minimum 1 kilogram. It came out to be about 1.5 inches of steak.
Cooler where the steaks are kept.
Our steak! It was cooked perfectly, but was more than the two of us could eat.
The owner came to our table and chatted a bit. He has a wine club that will send two cases of wine a year from all the local smaller wineries in the area. It also includes locally made olive oil. We tok his card and are planning on joining!
