A vineyard in Tuscany...the Italian dream

Vineyards
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A few weekends ago my Food Cultures class took a field trip to a vineyard in Tuscany. We had been studying wine in class and were going to see first hand how the process worked. Early Friday morning we all piled onto a bus and started the drive into the Tuscan countryside. It was a crisp morning and there was fog all over the roads. In the valleys we couldn't’t see anything around the bus. It was as if this vineyard was hidden and we we weren't’t allowed to see where we were going.

Casks
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Finally we arrived and our huge tour bus created quite a picture driving down a road lined with ancient Cyprus trees and surrounded by grape vines. A young woman then proceeded to give us a tour of the whole vineyard. We learned about their planting techniques, drying methods, storage, and fermentation. The drying room was an old shed and I have never seen so many grapes piled up in my life! They were laid out on shelves that just seemed to go on into eternity. We wandered through the cellars which were filled with barrel upon barrel of wine. One room only had about twelve casks but each one held about 30,000 liters of wine!

Wine Tasting
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After touring the grounds we had a wine tasting in this huge and cozy room that overlooked the whole vineyard. It was absolutely gorgeous and the wine was fabulous as well. We tasted two reds and a white that are fully processed on the grounds. The white was fabulous and I bought a bottle as a souvenir. When we finished the wine tasting we headed off to have a traditional Tuscan meal in a nearby city. Along the way we stopped in a town that is the original creator of Pecorino cheese. The town was cute and is actually where they filmed some scenes from Gladiator. The cheese was well worth the visit. All of us left with a nice big slab to munch on until lunch.

The Tuscan meal was fabulous and I had a great time with my friends just sitting around at the table for a slow lunch. The meal included bread and olive oil, a delicious ravioli, veal…which I didn’t eat so I got eggs instead, and a fabulous chocolate mousse for desert. One of the best things over here is the relaxed air with which meals are eaten. The slow food culture really is a good thing because it makes people not only enjoy the food but each other. Of course I don’t want a three hour meal every time I sit down to eat, but once or twice a week to really connect with people it is fun.  When we finally finished our meal we were all stuffed and sleepy and the bus ride back to Perugia was the perfect time for a nap. Food, wine and sleep, I couldn't’t ask for a better day.