I will preface this with the fact that I hate the keyboards here in Italia and take no reponsibility for punctuation or grammar errors.  Note the photo is from 2007, I dont have access to my photos now.

IN THE BEGINNING…

My trip began in Baltimore last Thursday with a flight and short layover to NYC and then a flight to Milan.  I arrived in Milan around 8 am on Friday…after a bus ride, two train rides, and a long wal, I found myself at a bed and breakfast in the beautiful city of Lucca in northwest Toscana.

A night in Lucca was a lot of fun, there were many bars and restaurants that were active until the wee hours of teh morning (as heard from my window!).  The city itself is surrounded by a 30 foot wall that is large enough for a running path, trees and benches.  Dusk brought out hundreds of walkers and runners taking advantage of the beautiful Tuscan night.

SCIENCE AT IL CIOCCO

On Saturday May 16, I rented a car in Lucca and made the hour drive to Barga to stay two nights at il Ciocco resort.  The resort is truly amazing, perched near the top of a small mountain with views of the Alps in teh distant horizon.  My stay here was focused on my research, and both my talk and poster presentation, as well as acting as a session chair, went great.

A DAY IN BARGA

Sunday was highlighted by a visit to Barga with my new friends Adriana, Alice and Georganne.  We sat outside and had a bottle of prosecco, then walked through the narrow, windy, steep streets again enjoying the perfect weather.  The best part of this day was without question our private concert.  As we came around a corner we began to hear traditional Italian music playing off to the side of  a house.  When we got closer, we realized that it was a band of older locals playing classic Italian music on their terrace for a group of friends and family (think a scene from Godfather!).  We stopped only for a second to respect their privacy, but we all agreed that all the elements together with the town, the vistas, the weather and the music was absolutely perfect.  I wish I could have taken a photo to take all that in.

LUCCA THEN CHIANTI

Monday morning I left for Lucca again, this time with my new friends.  We had lunch and wine at a Pizzaria then parted ways (they back to the conference, me south to Chianti).  The drive was breathtaking and I have many photos to share when I return.  I made it to my destination, Castello di Fonterutoli around 7 pm.  A quick nap and a walk across the street to the Osteria brought about a fantastic meal of pasta with a rabbit meat sauce and fried lamb chops served on mint peas.  The wines of Fonterutoli were perfect for the meal, which was one of the best and most simple meals I have ever had.

I stayed in an apartment of Fonterutoli for the night, which was huge.  The next day I spent 5 hours with their export manager, Givanni, including another great meal (lunch) at their Osteria…this time it was an artichoke salad and a veal plate.  Amazing.

OFF TO SIENA

After our meal, I left for Siena which took about an hour.  I stayed at hotel Minerva, ate in the Piazza del Campo, and sat in the Piazza and enjoyed a couple Italian beers surrounded by hundreds of people taking in the gorgeous night.  The night was simple, but very relaxing as I had been doing a lot of driving up to this point.  I had a great nights rest and woke up this morning and drove to Montalcino for a 10:30 am meeting at Molino di Sant Antimo.

HERE IN MONTALCINO

I will get into the details of my vineyard visits with photos and tasting notes when I return, suffice it to say I am drinking some great stuff.  I had a great lunch with Nicola Giannetti of Col d Orcia, followed by visits to Argiano and Valdicava.  I missed my meeting at Fuligni which I regret as its one of my favorite producers.  The highlight of my tastings today were sampling Brunello and Brunello riserva directly from the barrel and steel tanks at Valdicava…all of them from 2005-2008.  It was a great learning experience and was of course delicious.

I checked into my apartment at Altesino, which is huge.  I took about one hundred photos of the estate near sunset and went for a 3 mile run which was a killer after a day of wine tasting.  I drank 2 liters of water and headed into town for a meal at Al Baccanale.  Kim and I ate here in 2007 and it was one of the more simple and great value meals we had in town.  The result was the same, 24 Euros for the best chicken liver crostini I have ever had, followed by a pappardelle with cinghiale and a glass of brunello.  Suffice it to say that I am stuffed right now having at 30 minutes ago.

Now  I am at the same internet wine bar I was posting from in 2007.  I enjoyed an espresso and am excited to finish the night with a glass of wine and cheese plate at the wine bar down the street.

I suppose that is enough rambling and incoherent updating for now.  I have a long day tomorrow-  1030 am at Lisini, lunch and tasting at Poggio Antico, tasting at il Paradiso di Frassina and then a tasting and dinner with Guido Orsalesi of Altesino (my host in Montalcino).

Im heading to the coast for the weekend, then Piemonte for next week…it really is a ton of driving but its the kind of driving that is actually fun to do! I will try to update again in the next few days and have over 1000 photos already to share when I return!

Until next time…CIAO!