Driving Through Tuscany
Montepulciano (our favorite region)
Montepulciano d'Abruzzo is a red Italian wine made from the Montepulciano wine grape in the Abruzzo regoin of east-central Italy. It should not be confused with Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, a Tuscan wine made from Sangiovese and other grapes (this may sound familiar from the previous post of our visit to the Poliziano Winery). Montepulciano d'Abruzzo covers a vast expanse of land in the Abruzzo region between the Appennines foothills down to the a few miles inland from the Adriatic coast. The region is one of Italy's most mountainous with more than 65% of all Abruzzo being considered mountainous terrain with the Apennines peaks reaching up to 9000 feet above sea level. The hillside vineyards planted on calcareous clay benefit from warm and significant sun exposure that is ventilated by dry breezes coming off the Adriatic.
Sunflowers bloom in Tuscany in the height of summer, anywhere from June to August, so we came during the perfect time! Our first glimpse of sunflowers during our road trip came from the highway as we drove from Naples to Florence. Although the views from the main motorway are limited by trees, off in the distance you can easily see acres upon acres of the yellow sunflowers. Even at a distance you know they are vibrant when they are these particular shades of yellow!! While our week wine tasting through the various regions of Tuscany we often drove through the back roads, which were covered in bright yellow sunflowers! During this drive through Montepulciano we decided to stop and run through the sunflower fields! This was one of our favorite memories & an item to check off the bucket list!
With All Our Love,
Anthony & Nicole
No comments:
Post a Comment