A Chianti Experience

If you have ever seen the film Under the Tuscan Sun, then think of the most beautiful scenes from the movie that come to mind. Hold those images, hold them so that you can truly seen them, the paintbrush trees, the stereotypical sun drenched hillside, carefully drawn vineyards, and every other beautiful thing you think of when you think Tuscany. Then imagine waking up from a nap (because bus rides always make you sleepy) and instead of seeing the tightly packed city of Florence you have become so accustomed to, you see this and you know it’s not just in a movie. And then you remember how lucky you really are.
Our study abroad program offered a free trip to have a “Chianti experience” and though we were sure it would be nice, we were hardly prepared for what a gift they were giving us. An hour by bus outside of Florence we arrive at the Castello Verrazzano for a “food and wine experience.” We toured the wine cellars and were in a room that is one thousand years old, making Castello Verrazzano the oldest wine cellar in Chianti region on record. One of the barrels we saw holds so much wine that you could have one bottle every day for 30 years before it was empty. Smaller barrels are saved for the reserve wine which can only be made in smaller batches. Our wine education had only begun.
We learned not all wine is for saving. A table wine is intended to be enjoyed every day and even the best table wine reaches its peak after about two years. The Verrazzano Rosso is a classic table wine we tasted that uses both red and white grapes and is a traditional recipe. Apparently 2006 was an excellent year for wine. After the tour of the cellars we entered the spacious dining room with impeccably set tables and huge picture windows looking out at the rolling Tuscan hillside, vineyards, and the first sunny day since four days ago. We indulged in pasta, garlic bread with olive oil produced on the grounds, wild boar sausage, sheep’s cheese, and tastings of Chianti Classico 2006, Chianti Classico Riserva 2005, Vin Santo (holy wine) and biscotti. We learned that the proper way to hold a wine glass is the stem so you don’t alter the temperature of the wine. That if you tilt your wine against a white napkin and there is an orange glow (on red wine) around the edge then you know that the wine has reached it’s peak.
D.O.C. (denominazione di origine controllata) applies to “agricultural and food products whose properties are essentially or exclusively derived from their geographical environment, inclusive of natural and human factors, and whose production, transformation and processing are effected in the place of origin.” This means that for Castello Verrazzano to get the pink D.O.C. seal on their Chianti then not only do all steps of the wine making process need to take place in the designated Chianti region, but they can also only use specific grapes, process, etc. A inspector must come to the grounds and make sure that everything meet the standards, the wine must go though a taste testing, and then it can be given a seal. This is somewhat similar to what a product in the U.S. need to go though to get a U.S.D. organic seal on it.
The man who took care of our group for the afternoon was passionate about his love of not only wine, the area, and food but also sharing his passion for these things with others. Before we started on our tour he said that we were going to have a true food and wine experience. “Without food there is no wine and without wine there is no food.” He said that even a child can get drunk. He challenged us to not get drunk but to “get happy.” To "get happy and stop there and enjoy that feeling as long as possible." He wanted us to achieve happiness, a balance of food and wine and the joy that comes being in a beautiful place. Later that afternoon when we all climbed back on the bus to go back to Florence, we all agreed we were happy.

If you are interested in trying wine or other products such as their Vin Santo, Grappa, and olive oil, they export to many major suppliers in the U.S..