SAN GIMIGNANO ESTATE: TUSCANY, ITALY

The road trip continues ... Tuscany here we come!

"Road Tripping Italy"

"Stunning Drive"

"San Gimignano Estate"

"Loving the shops"

"Stopping for some much needed morning coffee!"

"The tasting begins"

"Delicious Cheeses"

"A beautiful hidden path"

"Absolutely love this moment - so happy it was caught on camera!"

"Breathtaking" 

"Driving has never been so fun"

"Off to the next region & vineyard!"

Hello From Tuscany

We made it to Florence for the sunset, after only a short one hour car ride from Pisa.  It has been a peaceful road trip, and the view was spectacular (as you may have already noticed).  Once we were settled in we enjoyed a delicious dinner and a bottle of much needed red wine in Florence, Italy.  

I often find myself asking ... How did we get so lucky?

Our alarm clock was set and the next thing we knew it was time to get up to watch the sunrise before heading off on a new adventure.  As I have previously mentioned, we love watching the sunrise and the sunset ... these two moments are simply beautiful.  Each and every single day is a precious gift.

This next adventure through Italy is one that we are excited for ... seven days wine tasting through various regions.  Today we first made our way to San Gimignano Estate.  

The day was beautiful, the scenery was stunning and the wine was simply delicious!

Enjoy our pictures & scroll down to read more about San Gimignano Estate.

The History:

The foundation of San Gimignano dates back to ancient times. According to legend, in 63 B.C. two brothers, Muzio and Silvio, two young patricians escaping from Rome after their implication in the conspiracy of Catiline, sheltered in Valdelsa and built two castles: the Castle of Mucchio and the Castle of Silvia, which would develop in the future San Gimignano. The first historical document mentioning the name of the town is dated 30th August 929, when Ugo di Provenza donated to the Bishop of Volterra the so-called Mount of the Tower "prope Sancto Geminiano adiacente" (next to San Gimignano). The name of San Gimignano probably comes from the bishop of Modena. According to legend, during the barbaric invasions the saint appeared miraculously on the city walls, and saved the town from Totila's threat.

San Gimignano rises on top of a hill 334m above sea level, clearly visible in the distance with its many towers. Today 13 towers remain of the 72 towers of the fourteenth century, when every well off family built a tower to show its economical power (many of them are still visible in the buildings, even if they were cut off).  The first towers rose wide apart in a rarefied urban fabric looking very different from the nowadays compact centre. Towers were used in a different way. Rooms were very narrow, generally 1x2m; there were a few openings, and the walls, about 2m thick, assured cool temperature in summer and hot in winter. Almost all the towers were built next to other buildings in perishable materials such as wood and earth. In medieval times the tower was the higher symbol of power, mainly because the building process was not simple or cheap at all. Materials needed to be dug and transferred to town, and the building site arranged. Only the richest families of merchants and moneylenders could afford the works of construction.  The house occupied just part of the tower. The ground floor consisted of workshops, the first floor of bedrooms, and the higher level of the kitchen. The destination of each room followed the simplest security rules. The kitchen, where a fire was usually lighted, was located on the highest live-in room, to escape in case of accidental fire.

The Wine:

Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG
Vernaccia was first mentioned in 1276, when the Commune of San Gimignano put duty on this precious wine both for imports and exports. The origin of this vine is uncertain, but its cultivation quickly spread all over Tuscany, in Liguria, and in many other regions in

Italy. The production in San Gimignano was renewed for its excellent quality. Medieval Vernaccia was probably a white, sweet and alcoholic wine, very similar to the "Greek" wine, so popular at that time. Vernaccia was much appreciated by important personalities, such as Pope Martin IV, poets like Dante Alighieri and Giovanni Boccaccio, powerful governors like Ludovico il Moro and Lorenzo il Magnifico.

In the seventeenth century, the poets Gabriello Chiabrera, Francesco Redi, and Michelangelo Buonarroti "il giovane" celebrated again Vernaccia di San Gimignano. "It kisses, leaks, bites, pricks, and stings ("Bacia, lecca, morde, picca e punge") wrote Michelangelo in his "L'Aione", in 1643. After a long period of decay, Vernaccia di San Gimignano is today back to its excellent standards, thanks to the commitment of local vine-dressers which joined in a Syndicate obtaining the first DOC in Italy in 1966 and later DOCG in 1993. Today Vernaccia is one of the best white wines in Italy.

Vernaccia has a typical straw-yellow colour with golden nuances enhanced by ageing. Vernaccia boasts an elegant and delicate bouquet, with fruity and flowery notes.
After Refinement and ageing it develops its typical mineral nose of flint. On the palate it is a dry, harmonious, sapid wine, with a typical almond after-taste.  Perfect foil with fish, white meats, vegetables, Tuscan ham, "ribollita" soup and many summer dishes..

For further information please visit: www.vernaccia.it

The Extra-Virgin Olive Oil:

During the Middle Ages San Gimignano was well-known for the production of Vernaccia and saffron and olive trees were not cultivated on a large scale in the area. Oil was considered a luxury product and featured on the tables of the rich only, whilst

peasants commonly used lard, much easier to find and cheap, therefore more suitable to feed their families with limited costs. Oil was rather used for oil lamps and in wool industry. In the late Middle Ages, with the increase of sharecropping and mixed farming, olive trees started to play a prime role in local agriculture, as they still do today.

In the area of San Gimignano there are more than 800 hectares of olive trees shared among moraiolo, frantoiano, and leccino varieties. The extra-virgin olive oil of San Gimignano has a gentle taste and a fruity aroma with notes of artichoke, cardoon, freshly-cut grass, and almond with bitter and spicy notes.A fundamental product in the Mediterranean diet, olive oil plays an important role in both Tuscan and local cuisine. Among the local specialties to be mentioned "bruschetta", a slice of grilled Tuscan bread (with no salt), rubbed with garlic and brushed with olive oil.

The Cheese:

Tuscan cheese is traditionally produced with ewe's milk. Just a few cheeses, mainly underripe cheeses, are produced with goat's or cow's milk. The most typical Tuscan cheese is ripe or underripe pecorino. Each producer obtains a different cheese according to the local peculiar features. Every pecorino cheese varies and has different nuances according to the season it is prepared, to the pasture, to the clay and to the flavours and wild herbs of the area: wild mint, catnip, radicchietto, crescione (Lepidium sativum). These herbs perfume the milk, making it less fat, and give the cheese a fresh and typical aroma. Flavours become more marked with ripening: the sweet taste develops in a spicy note, colour becomes more intense, as well as consistency.

Pecorino Fresco (Underripe Cheese):
Sweet and fragrant, is the less matured cheese and it can be consumed a few days after processing. Underripe pecorino has a delicate aromatic flavour, a yellow rind, a compact semihard texture, with tiny straw-yellow holes, a fresh, strong, fragrant flavour. It is typically accompanied with the "baccelli" (fresh bread bones).

Marzolino (March Cheese:
Marzolino is a spring cheese with a typical oval shape, weighing 6-700gr. It is obtained by processing the milk coming from the first milking and is to be consumed a few days afterwards. Sweet and fresh, it is available for a few months a year.

Pecorino Semistagionato (medium matured cheese):
Pecorino semistagionato is a cheese that has been aged for at least 40 days. In some areas it has a typical red rind. It has a strong, particularly aromatic flavour.

Pecorino stagionato (matured cheese):
Pecorino Stagionato is the typical matured ewe's cheese and it is prepared in 2.5kg wheels. After 120 days of aging, when maturation has exalted its intense flavours and its mild spicy notes, Consorzio di Tutela del Pecorino Toscano inspects the cheese and wheels are heat brand the rind with its logo. It is easily identified thanks to its dark rind and to its rich, velvety flavours, with spicy notes. It is perfect foil with San Gimignano Rosso Doc.

For further information please visit: www.pecorinotoscano.it. 

Stay tuned for our next post!

Lots of Love,

Nicole & Anthony