Brunello … and more Brunello … we tour wineries in Tuscany and do some day drinking

We started our day with a great breakfast made by Marshall who is Cyn’s brother Robert’s partner. I normally don’t eat breakfast but I have been noshing on croissants on this trip because we are doing a lot of hiking and never know when lunch will happen. And in this case, I knew we would be wine-ing by 11 (day drinking, if you will) so … I thought a bit of sustenance was called for. Tuscany is home of the king of wines - the Brunello. And it would be just plain wrong to come to this part of the world without sampling as many as possible.

So, after breakfast, Cyn and Robert and Marshall and Susan (a long-time friend of us all) piled into an SUV driven by our tour guide Fabio.

All of our stops were in the Montalcino Region of Tuscany.

First we arrived at a castle that had been in the same family for 600 years. The charming guide showed us the vineyards and then took us to the cellars where they make and store wine.

Then it was upstairs to a castle great room for tasting of four wines, all made with Sangiovese grapes, that ended with the Brunello. The first two wines were a bit acidic but the final two were (in my mind) pretty good so I bought one of each.

We drove to a second winery and got a similar tour. But, this time, the wines (five in total) were even better. Cyn and I bought six 2015 Brunellos between us (2015 was an exceptional year) and we are having them shipped home.

Then we stopped at a quaint mountain village called Montalcino where we purchased some pecorino cheese and sausage for the evening charcuterie meal. Cyn and I did a bit of exploring before climbing back in the car.

Finally we went to a cellar in a town called Montepulciano where we climbed down and down. We saw where Jews hid from the Nazis during WWII, and we climbed into a real Etruscan burial chamber that was used as a Christian church as the war raged above.

We had a lunch of lasagna and meats and cheese along with a tasting of another four wines.

If you are counting, that is 13 wines that we tasted - many of them Brunello. The portions were small so we were not in our cups. But we’re were a little sleepy.

Cyn and I both snoozed in the back of the car in the way back to the villa.

Then we put together the massive charcuterie tray (and chocolate dessert platter) that was our dinner - washed down, of course, with fabulous wine we had gathered on out trip.

Tomorrow we explore the fabulous Tuscan countryside before packing for the trip home.