Rebecca Wine in Tuscany

The new Tuscan Food & Wine Map finally ready

info@tuscan-wine-tours.com (Rebecca Christophersen) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:47:14 PST

The cold has come to Tuscany as it has come to the rest of Europe. It has snowed so much that the country was half blocked for a few days with trains suspended, schools closed and general problems of missing electricity or water in people's homes. Now it's just the ice which is hanging out and making mornings an interesting challenge....especially for myself, now more than 7 months pregnant - so I can't even see beneath my belly to check if I'm treading carefully!!!
Anyway, we're being blocked by a country that isn't at all used to handeling such cool temperatures and this has meant that we're being slowed down in our preparations for the opening of the new wine school in Florence. However, head strong against the arctic cold, we're working on it....and hopefully I'll soon be able to pronounce the word "open" officially.
But I'm really taking this occasion to tell you about our new (and most beautiful) Tuscan food & wine map which I've just got back from the printer. It's been a few months of work to change and better the old one, add the main foods and updating all the info on the Italian wine regions (believe me, it's been quite a task!). But the harder things are, the more satisfactory they seem when once accomplished and so I'm super happy to show you our Tuscan Wine & Food map - the first of its kind!

If you want to have close-up look, take a look here. I haven't posted the backside online, but there's an extensive list of descriptions of each region and product made. If anyone's interested in having the map sent home, we can ship it anywhere for 10 euros, just follow the link to paypal that you'll find on this page: http://www.tuscany-wine.com

Half empty or half full?

info@tuscan-wine-tours.com (Rebecca Christophersen) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 09:25:39 PST

When you go to wine bars and restaurants in Italy (but I think in most other places also) and you ask for a glass of wine, the portion you get often looks like half a glass. If you receive more, you're either in an unclassy place where people have no culture for wine or you are just bloody lucky!

Having served tables for years in restaurants I've often got the dirty look from a client who maybe thought I was cheating them or being cheap! In fact, it would be completely unthinkable to serve half a pint of beer or a half a glass of coca cola - I mean, could you imagine the barman giving you half a cocktail Martini? Wouldn't you complain?

It's hardly the case to explain why wine glasses are not filled up to the rind, or simply why wine glasses have gotten bigger and the amount of wine served is no less than before. We all know it has to do with the pleasure of moving the wine around in the glass and benefitting from the aromas that are released thanks to the aerating done by swirling. So logically the explanation is that wine is a beverage that we enjoy with our sense of smell as much as with our palate.

So I smile when the question is asked by aspiring wine drinkers. But fact is that of course the first time you see a half a glass of wine you do wonder....

And that got me thinking of the more figurative "half empty or half full"...and how it applies to myself and the ones around me. Especially today - the last day of 2011 and we are looking back on a year either contently or thinking we could've done better or thinking perhaps that the world could've done us better. I think we all have a portion of each in us - it's all a matter of how you look at it - and essentially what you make of life.

I am so grateful for the events of 2011. My son was born. I married the most wonderful man in the World. Our business is surviving despite hard times. We and our families are healthy. My glass feels full if not overflowing...

And so this was a short and a bit unsignificant post, but I felt like saying a little something to toast to the beginning of a new year. Let's all set out with great expectations and goals for 2012 - hoping it be as full as we wish and doing our best to always see it that way anyways.

Cheers!

Winter in Tuscany

info@tuscan-wine-tours.com (Rebecca Christophersen) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:00:47 PST

This year has been in the sign of the Tuscan Sun - I'm starting to understand why the Sun is particularly famous in this region. Born in the wet North and being rained on for more than 20 yrs of my life, the lack of rain this year has almost bothered my sun-longing being! The harvest of both grapes and olives was anticipated, the produce lacked water, no mushrooms have popped up in the surrounding forests and the few truffles that have been found are at sky high prices. Mistakingly I took my family to one of the Tuscan truffle festivals only to find that there was everything but truffles present at the festival. I was lucky to get a picture of the only truffle stand - and it wasn't exactly a bountiful find!

Our busy season is now over and we are enjoying a few weeks of relax and contemplation before the start of the new year. While the olive harvest is over in these parts, and our Olivoglio shipped and delivered for the most part, I attended a super interesting olive oil course in the town of Imperia (on the Ligurian coast, up by the border of France) which was week long and I've now become an official olive oil taster! If I were an olive oil lover before, now I'm probably an olive oil fanatic!

In fact, my idea is that we will create some special olive oil classes at the Tuscan Wine School for 2012:

While waiting for the cooler days to come and maybe even a few dark clouds, we're enjoying the wonderful weather and will be visiting wineries during this month to search out great wines for the wine school and to add the wineries that are great to visit to a second edition of the APP for touring wineries which is doing really well on Itunes. Here's a picture from last week that I have to share from the winery Montechiari in Lucca.

My project for this month is to work on an updated wine map of Tuscany as we've done in the past, but changing it considerably to make it hopefully easier to read and adding also the typical food products of Tuscany. Wine and food go together after all...especially here in Italy! But I won't preview you on that one yet...
What you can view is my friend Raffa's new logo for our www.tuscany-in-a-bottle.com web-site where we sell some of the wines that we love from the small producers around Tuscany:

Time to round off because I don't really have much more news (that I can share with you now!).
Happy holidays to all of you and see you in the new year with whatever the future will hold!!!

OLIVOGLIO IS HERE!!!

info@tuscan-wine-tours.com (Rebecca Christophersen) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 07:05:42 PDT

I'm SO excited! Our olive oil is being made in these days and the labels will be printed in the coming week. So basically our Olivoglio should be ready by the end of this upcoming week.
For anyone coming to Tuscany this time of year Montisi in southern Siena has a lovely olive oil festival with colorful street vendors and olive oil floating onto toasted bread for the visitors.
Anyway, no need for long scribblings this time around - I would be happy if you have a look at my little video of the process filmed yesterday morning.

PS. In the video I forgot to say that the yield from 100 kilos of olive oil is about 15 liters of olive oil!

Vernaccia di San Gimignano - Tuscany's only DOCG white wine

info@tuscan-wine-tours.com (Rebecca Christophersen) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 10:44:24 PDT

Vernaccia is a white grape varietal from Tuscany protagonist in the Italian denomination system as it starred in the country's very first DOC in 1966. The region is San Gimignano, a town notorious for its history and beauty and consequently it has become a tourist destination in Tuscany.

The town itself contains one too many souvenir shop but the hundreds of thousands of tourists that flock to the town keep them alive. What few people may notice coming to the town is the Vernaccia wine (even if sold in most of the shops). Right at the highest point of town you'll find the Vernaccia wine museum (providing you can climb to the top) consisting of a few rooms dedicated to the exposition of this ancient wine and the products produced by all the different wineries in the region. Here it's possible to taste the widest varietal of Vernaccias in town.

Even if Vernaccia is a medium aromatic varietal (so not as aromatic as for instance a Riesling or a Sauvignon), this grape which apparently is related to the French Grenache Blanc is slowly gaining more notoriety nationally as it is being interpreted better and better by the serious producers of the region. The best Vernaccia's are fresh when young, and develop more complex flavors when aged. You may also find a reserve version which is barrel aged and undergoes malolactic (usually) and consequently is spicy and buttery with less freshness and more depth.

In the 1990'ies Vernaccia di San Gimignano was "promoted" to DOCG which makes it Tuscany's only white DOCG (there are now 10 red DOCG). And various wineries are gaining fame for this white varietal - as for example Mattia Barzaghi, a young and very nice wine producer who we visited yesterday. Look our for his wines as they represent some of San Gimignano's best! (soon available on the wine list of the Tuscan Wine School in Siena!)

Introducing our own brand of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

info@tuscan-wine-tours.com (Rebecca Christophersen) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 07:03:09 PDT

I have to share a joke with you which I first heard the other week:

A Tuscan kitchen chef asks his eager students at a cooking class: "tell me what does extra virgin olive oil really mean"? There is a bit of embarrassing shuffling around as no one wants to say the wrong thing... The chef continues to answer by himself and exclaims: "It's logical! It's the oil that comes from the ugliest olives!!!"

Of course, the reality is completely the opposite and many a joke has been cracked about the word Virgin in the olive oil context. In my classes and on my tours I often ask the question "what is extra virgin olive oil?" and I'm baffled that, in fact, not a lot of people realize what exactly it is and what the differences could be between the different qualities of oil - in fact, I myself believe it is quite ambiguous all together because there are a wide range of olive oils that can classify as extra virgin and there is just as huge a range of qualities between great and mediocre ones in that same classification.

What I’m trying to say is, maybe there's something wrong with the classification system?!

So, let’s see…to be an extra virgin olive oil there are 3 requirements that have to be met:

1) mechanical press (as opposed to chemical)

2) oleic acidity content less than 0,8% (0,1% being excellent quality and 0,8% quite scarce), and

3) Taste: no defects should be present and it should be fruity

So all in all the requirements are quite average and suit the big industries very well.

But what about the small producers of really excellent olive oils, who take extra care of taking their olives down from the trees un-bruised, who take the olives to the mill within a few days of picking (the fresher the better), and who get a "cold pressing" done as opposed to a more economically interesting warm press?

There is just no official commercial category in which these olive oil makers can make themselves noted, if not because of passionate consumers who go and seek them out and try to spread the word (which is what I’m trying to do here). These oils are not just super-delicious but they are also extra healthy because of the vitamins and antioxidants that they still contain. But they are hard to get because made only by the smaller producers and in limited quantities (for the few lucky who know about them), so not exported in large quantities to other countries nor availble on larger supermarket shelves....

In Tuscany we like to claim our fame to the World's best olive oil. Maybe a bit pretentious…but there's something about it... The climate is just right for a late harvest in November when it is cooler and because of our long growing season the varietals of olives are small and lean - but the flavor that we get is fresh and spicy.

So now you may ask yourselves, why am I so passionate about this argument (wasn't I supposed to be a wino)?! Well, to tell you the truth I had no clue what olive oil really was before I settled here. Since then, a World of flavors have revealed themselves, and the most choking difference to me was the one that I find in olive oils. And once the understanding for this wonderful product comes across, there is just no going back. My food deserves the very best olive oil!

Ok, this little write-up got a bit longer than I intended it to. The point of it all, I have searched out my favorite olive oil and it will be available not just here but you can order it online on the site www.olivoglio.com that I’m slowly writing for it. By the end of October we’ll be ready for Xmas orders – so you can start planning who to give this unique present to.

If I've opened up your curiosity about the olive oil stuff, read on in this very interesting article from the New Yorker in 2007: Slippery Business.

Sì, Oui, YES!

info@tuscan-wine-tours.com (Rebecca Christophersen) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 05:59:56 PDT

Exhausted and with a bad cold, I'm now relaxing after a wonderful but stressful weekend with family and friends from multiple countries.

Saturday was the day. We got married by a civil ceremony in the town hall of Colle di Val d'Elsa by the mayor who is also a professor of Oenology at the University of Siena, so very appropriate for us!

What an emotion it was to say yes for a life-time to the person you love! "Sì, Oui, Yes" in the 3 languages that we speak...

Later the Prosecco Cartizze bottles popped and we had a light lunch and then it was off to the party where we were to meet with everyone invited. Our dear friends Ilaria and Matteo from Officina della Cucina Popolare in Colle donated the whole organization of the evening as a wedding gift (thank you!) and arranged for live cooking an unforgettable evening all together. So we could just enjoy the perfect settings with a beautiful San Gimignano in the background and the wonderful guests who had come from close and far to celebrate us.

I would like to extend a big thank you to all the guests who contributed to a delightful evening, and in particular to my sisters who made my heart melt with their songs....

Vendemmia 2011 - from plant to barrel in a few hours...

info@tuscan-wine-tours.com (Rebecca Christophersen) — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 11:51:12 PDT

This morning we harvested. Or should I say "they did", because I was leisurely carrying around the baby while documenting this culminating moment of the year with my camera, being nothing more than a moral support (and hopefully not a nuisance) to the hard working harvesters.
The harvest moment is truly magical as it is not just the picking of the fruit, but the togetherness and result of all the events through the year; so the pruning, the selection, the green harvesting, the weather conditions, the wild boars, and what not... That's what makes it so important and such a joyful moment - especially if the year is a good one like this one has been.
The most relaxing moment is lunch under a tree consisting of simple panini (sandwiches) with porchetta and a glass of red. Nothing tastes better and no moment is more peaceful. A few Tuscan jokes are thrown around between the elder and the younger and lunch finishes with a classical schiacciata all'uva (grape cake only prepared this time of year).
We follow the grapes to the cantina (cellar) where they get destemmed and then are hosed into the barrels. Finally these grapes will start braking and the natural yeast will start to eat the sugars....can't wait to see the quality of the wine over the next few weeks.
Enjoy this 3-minute video of our morning....

App on Tuscan Wine Touring is available on Itunes for Ipad and Iphone

info@tuscan-wine-tours.com (Rebecca Christophersen) — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 02:03:36 PDT

It took a little while to write the App, but I'm proud to announce the release of this first version. Please check it out and tell wine friends who are planning a trip to Tuscany. The App is intended to help the individual travelers heading to Tuscany and wanting to go visit the Tuscan wine regions. There are tips on which wineries are the best to visit with info about where they are located, when they are open to visit, whether you need to take an appointment or not, and price per person for tastings and tours.
Happy travels with Tuscany Wineries with Rebecca Wine!

A wine for a son

info@tuscan-wine-tours.com (Rebecca Christophersen) — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 05:25:13 PDT

And so it happens when you don't expect to become a parent and then suddenly the blessing hits you. Your life suddenly extends further than yourself to a future that you will not even be part of... And actions are hence done not just for yourself but for that generation that will carry it all on.

Our project of the wine started in this manner with the birth of Julian. It seemed only obvious to make a wine that he would be able to celebrate with when he reaches adulthood, especially because we have a wine maker in the family. The idea would be to call the wine SuJu which in phonetic Italian would mean UpDown, symbolizing life's path, and the importance of the vineyards elements; sun (up) and soil (down). Too deep?! Never mind....the wine will hopefully be great.

Right now the grapes are benefitting from a hot summer with numerous hrs of sunshine. The wild boar and deer have also found out how delicious the grapes are so we have a little problem of grape reduction :-(

Harvest is predicted to the second half of September. Let's just hope it'll be before our wedding and not on the day. Otherwise all the guests will have to help picking!!!

Isola del Giglio - for the food and wine lover

info@tuscan-wine-tours.com (Rebecca Christophersen) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 07:02:24 PDT

Isola del Giglio is a tiny granite island outside of the Southern Tuscany half-island called Monte Argentario. It’s a touristy place in the summer but apart from the summer months it’s a local community of a bit more than a thousand people that live in harmony with their isolated island culture.

The reason why the island attracted me wasn’t much the sandy beaches or the clear blue Mediterranean Sea, but more so the ancient grape native to the island called Ansonica.

This grape that resists warm and dry temperatures along with salty winds from the sea, turns out to be the same as the one in Sicily called Inzolia. Sicily has recently got a better reputation for its deep reds, but prior to this the ancient Inzolia was the queen of the island – going into for example Marsala.

So to get to this marvelous island, one needs to take a small ferry over from Porto Santo Stefano. The ferries depart every hour or so, and it’s possible to bring a car if you think you’ll need it (probably not as the public transportation on the island is great). The distance covered in one hour is no more than 15 km, but it’s enough to feel far away from the main land and you find yourself tuning into lazy island mode.

In fact, the very first thing we did when we arrived at midday was to find our lunch restaurant. La Paloma was right on the harbor so we went straight in and placed ourselves in the comfortable courtyard. This restaurant is rated in the Slow Food guide as a good spontaneous kitchen. We couldn’t wait for an unpredictable meal!

In fact, the menu seems to be non-existent – just what the chef has found fresh on that day.

See some of the pictures to see how wonderful it was…

Later I read on Tripadvisor that the place is criticized for being expensive. I would probably agree of the fact that it’s expensive, but on the other hand it’s not a place I would go to fill my tummy. It’s a place that tells the story of food culture of an island. Everything is locally sourced and home made. That’s already what makes it totally worth it for me. And I have never had such delicious fish! So, expensive is relative...

After a very filling lunch and some wonderful wine (Senti Oh! – means Listen Up!) we went up the island to the Castello (medieval town on top of the island) to walk the lovely streets and do some souvenir shopping. Here we met up with Francesco who is one of 3 wine makers in Isola del Giglio.

We hopped into his truck and headed South on the island down a highly improbable road. At the end of road (which ran along a cliff) we had to climb down a rocky path and there were the Altura vineyards. The sun was already heading for the horizon and the light on the vineyards was stunning. Francesco showed us his vineyards with mainly Ansonica but also varieties of red native grapes. They are all grown to Alberello (Gobelet) because of the hefty winds and dry climate. Very extreme vineyards in my opinion because grown on terraces and would have to be looked after entirely by hand. Each vine carried just a few bunches of grapes.

The sun headed further down the horizon and we sat and enjoyed some fresh Ansonica. The table was dressed with tomatoes and home made olive oil. We made bruschette and then came the calamari...

We were there till midnight in great company until the fresh winds told us it was time to go to bed. We headed back on the scary road and by a miracle we found the hotel on the other side (the inhabited side) of the island. By this time we were all completely in love with this wonderful little island – and so, of course, I felt it was my duty to share the place with you!

Rick Steves at the Tuscan Wine School

info@tuscan-wine-tours.com (Rebecca Christophersen) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 07:00:04 PDT

Life in Tuscany is rather unpredictable, but it doesn't happen every morning that Rick Steves calls and says "hey Rebecca? - This is Rick Steves calling". Of course, right at that moment my little one was having a fit and was screaming his head off so I could hardly hear what Rick had to say. Luckily Rick had time to come to the wine school, so I packed the little one up and got into the car as soon as I could and drove into Siena just in time.
How exciting! Through all these years in the wine tourism sector I had always hoped to meet Rick one day...and now the day had come!
The Tuscan Wine School is already in the 2011 guides, but he had come to verify all the inserts in his book.
Rick sat in on a little part of our Italian Wine Class and tried some Prosecco di Valdobbiadene that we serve as a welcome to the school. Of course, he couldn't stay for the whole deal as he's a busy guy. But I dare say that he was very enthusiastic about our wine school initiative so I believe we are confirmed for next year's edition when Rick Steves readers will also receive a special student discount at our school!
Viva Rick Steves!!!

New Logo! For application coming up about Tuscan Wineries...

info@tuscan-wine-tours.com (Rebecca Christophersen) — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 22:56:22 PDT

Isn't this "ape" cute??? So, I'm happy to announce that I am working on an I-phone / I-pad application to the very best Tuscan wineries....After more than 15 yrs in Tuscany, touring the country-side learning about the local products, getting to know the colorful characters behind the scenes...I'll now finally be sharing my Tuscan acquaintances with all of you! So check back soon for the final result! The application will give access to all the special Tuscan places with a lot of advantages that I can't reveal yet...

A future winemaker is born!

info@tuscan-wine-tours.com (Rebecca Christophersen) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 07:03:41 PDT

Just a short announcement of personal character to introduce you to the recent addition of a new family member, Julian. He's really fond of milk at the moment, but we are definitely hoping he takes a liking to wine (much later on) as he may follow in the footsteps of his father and become a winemaker!? Too early to suppose, but one may have ones dreams...

Free guide to touring the Chianti Classico wine country!

info@tuscan-wine-tours.com (Rebecca Christophersen) — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 09:48:46 PST

The days are getting longer and the sun is getting warmer...spring is on its way...and so are the 2011 wine tourists!
The vineyards are still standing bare and leafless, but within the next month the plants will awake and start the growth that by fall will turn into the 2011 harvest. Wineries are still hibernating, but also they will start opening up to the curious wine tourists within the next month.
A lot of people choose to come to Tuscany for its wine wonders and to do some wine wandering...and so I have started writing a mini guide to wine touring on one's own. A bit self-destructive, one should think, since my livelyhood involves selling guided wine tours - however, I'ld rather share than keep it for myself.
All depending on your timing and disposition, you can easily rent a car and drive through the wine country on your own. But it's good to get some hints on where to go. So here it is...hopefully it will be of good use to some of you out there! Let me know if you have modifications to make or other comments!
http://www.tuscany-wine.com/images/GUIDE%20TO%20WINE%20REGIONS%20OF%20TUSCANY.pdf

New Year - New Projects... Making our own wine...

info@tuscan-wine-tours.com (Rebecca Christophersen) — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 09:39:04 PDT

Time for a little update on what's going on in our lives... 2011 will be very special for us as we are about to grow in a family member (little boy expected any time now), so we've decided this would be the perfect year to start making our own wine!!!
Together with Dante and Helena of Colombaia, Pierre has started pruning the shared vineyard in the red soils of Pievescola. The plot is only about an acre, but the vines are around 30-40 yrs old and should give some very good fruits.
The future wine is going to be made according to organic standars, so everything will be hand-made in the vineyard.
And since I'm currently not in the state to help actively I thought it would be fun to film the others working and share how to prune a vine with you!

Baking Cantuccini di Prato

info@tuscan-wine-tours.com (Rebecca Christophersen) — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 21:05:16 PST

Cantuccini di Prato
1 kg white flour
800 gr sugar
500 gr almonds (slightly roasted in oven)
30 gr baking yeast
The peel of one lemon, grated
A pinch of salt
6 eggs
6 egg yolks
and 1 egg yolk to decorate

Throw together flour and sugar and add the 6 eggs and the 6 yolks. Stir together and add the grated lemon peel, a pinch of salt and the yeast. Add the almonds and work them into the dough to form a uniform mass. All this is best done by hand.

Roll out dough into long sausages and put on paper on baking tray. Pencil with egg yolk.
Introduce into preheated oven at 190 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes approx.
Take out and cool down for 5 minutes. Then cut into pieces, slightly tilted. Reintroduce in oven for 45 minutes at 110 degrees.

You now have lots of cantuccini, commonly called biscotti in the US. Put into bags and use as Xmas gifts.
Traditionally served with a glass of Vin Santo. If you want to buy one, go into a specialty store and make sure to get a “DOC” quality (not the “liquoroso” kind which is a poor imitation).

Beautiful September

info@tuscan-wine-tours.com (Rebecca Christophersen) — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 00:34:13 PDT

Beautiful September has come and the hot months can be forgotten until next year. My first reminder of September in Tuscany, is the hunters who wake (us) up early on Sept 1st inaugurating the hunting season with one too many a gunshot. They are hunting for small creatures at this time, like birds. Big game doesn't become huntable until November.

Apart from that, September in Tuscany is magical. The air is clear and clean, the fruits are maturing on the trees, especially the figs look so delicious. A local tradition is to serve Tuscan salami with fresh figs (one of those classical sweet and savoury combos like prosciutto and melon in the spring). The local cuisine this time of year is full of fresh vegetables, the tomato conserves have just been made or are in the making. There is abundance in every sense and it is wonderful to be part of.

Usually in September starts the grapeharvest. We're a bit behind this year due to a strange climate this summer. If you are planning a trip to Italy to see the harvest, my guess is that you're better off coming in mid October...

Northen Italy

info@tuscan-wine-tours.com (Rebecca Christophersen) — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 11:42:50 PDT

One of the less travelled areas by Americans is Northern Italy. Travel plans may include Venice, Milan and lake Como, but that's usually as Northern as it gets. This summer's vacation we dedicated to the regions Veneto, Trentino and Alto Adige - on the discovery of the land, food and wines. Another good reason was to escape the grand heat of the Central and Southern parts of Italy...

We started in Northern lake Garda (Italy's largest lake), a place called Riva di Garda. Garda starts at the level of Verona and then ends up in the alps and Riva is the Northernmost point. The lake is beautiful and clear, the water cold, but some people swim in it. We took several walks by the shore and enjoyed the fresh breeze, and took a boat ride to get a feel for the water.

And the lake fish, of course, need to be mentioned...served especially good at the restaurant Alla Terrazza which I can highly recommend.

It's nice to spend an afternoon in Verona, there's some very good gelato to be eaten :) and of course Verona is a charming city with a good story for the kids (Romeo & Juliet), a Roman Arena and lots of nice places for window shopping. Just North of Verona lies the Valpolicella region, famous mostly for the intensive Amarone wine made with dried grapes, less famous for the masses of less interesting Valpolicella Classico or non Classico. We did a drive-thru and, not surprisingly, compared to scenic Chianti that I'm used to visiting, I wasn't awfully impressed as it is definitely more industrial in it's outlook.

This part of Northern Italy is also exceptionally good for it's olive oil, a special varietal Casaliva gives a very nutty flavored oil. Lots of vines grow around the Garda lake as well, and then the wine region continues North of the lake, up towards Trento and all the way beyond Bolzano. We followed this route to see how the grape varieties change as we went North to the training system, that became Pergola between Garda and Trento and then partly back to Guyot in German speaking Bolzano.

One day we went to visit a beautifully restored castle Thun in the Valley of Non, which was surrounded by apple trees.

In fact, the fruit plantations are just as spectacular and widespread in the valleys as the vineyards. And the result in the kitchen is fabulous!:

Trento and Bolzano are lovely towns, both worth a stroll around. Trento is the more Italian of the two, with larger streets and nice restaurants. A favorite to us became "Scrigno del Duomo" where we returned 3 times! The ambience was beautiful, the service a bit slow, but the food homemade and excellent. Also a lot of local wines by the glass...

Of course, this was only one of the restaurants we visited...but don't want to make you too hungry by posting too many reviews!!!

We visited a few vineyards as well. Pojer & Sandri in the Trentino region where we got a tour of the highly technological winery by the wine maker, and tasted something like 10 different wines. Our favourites were the whites Muller Thurgau, Sauvignon Blanc and interesting of course to try the more local varietals like Kerner.

And then on our way to Bolzano, we stopped in at Franz Haas to taste their very nice wines. We already had a premonition which was confirmed, the Pinot Noir rocks!

We stayed in a few different places, including the tower of a castle built in the 1500's!!!

Overall impression, Northen Italy is really a great place to visit, ideal in August - perfect for foodies and nature lovers!

Selva won the Palio in Siena

info@tuscan-wine-tours.com (Rebecca Christophersen) — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 02:41:12 PDT

The "Palio" horse race is more than just a simple medieval feast as there are many others around Tuscany, many of which seem to be more of touristic events to generate more visitors.
Of course Siena is mobbed during the week of the Palio by curious tourists, but the Palio is strictly a Sienese tradition for the Sienese people.
The race takes place twice a year on July 2nd and August 16th. The week that precedes the Palio is a week of anticipation in the Contrade neighboorhoods that will run the race, where the Contradaioli (people who belong to the neighboorhood) will socialize in the evenings with common meals in the streets decorated with the flags and colors of their Contrada. It's very colorful to see and the atmosphere is festive and exciting.
There are daily trial runs in the Campo before the actual race that are nice to see, because it is less crowded that the actual Palio.
The winner of the Palio receives the "Palio" which is a flag especially made for the occasion by commissioned artists. In this video you will see the Selva Contrada marching the streets the day after the Palio, showing off their winning horse and the Palio flag:

Le Cinque Terre

info@tuscan-wine-tours.com (Rebecca Christophersen) — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 13:08:26 PDT

Ok, guys, finally time for a new posting. I have to admit that I've been extremely busy this season juggling my time between the wine tours, the restaurant and the brand new wine school in Siena.

But since the kid's school is out, we finally found time for a week-end out. And, I'm almost embarressed to admit this, but finally (after 15 yrs in this country) I've got around to visiting the natural reserve of Le Cinque Terre - the land of the 5 towns: (from South to North - arriving from La Spezia:) Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso.

This is the land of pesto and fish (not necessarily together, if not anchovies). On the menus, very commonly you will find Lasagne either classical "bolognese" style or with pesto on the menu. Anchovies are also really common, and of course fish, fish, fish. So expect grilled or oven-baked sea-bass, branzino, orata and what not fresh from the sea (check menus for fresh fish).

Wine??? Well, the 5 Terre has it's own DOC - Cinque Terre DOC in which the grape vines Bosco, Albarola and Vermentino are allowed (the latter which is really famous in Sardegna) the other two rather local.

To tell you the truth, we were not utterly impressed with this wine. Maybe we weren't the luckiest in finding the best producers?!

The most famous wine from the 5 terre is the Sciachetrà (you must drink it to be able to pronounce it - LOL!). It's a naturally sweet dessert wine, produced with the same grapes as the Cinque Terre DOC, but obtained by drying the grapes prior to the fermentation (appassimento - a typical procedure to obtain Italian dessert wines like e.g. the Tuscan Vin Santo).
There's a little wine museum dedicated to this type of wine in the second town, Manarola, for those particularly interested.
For the curious, the bottle of Schiachetrà can run from the 20 euros a bottle that gives you an idea of what this wine is about to around 70 for the best ones...
We're talking half bottles, of course :-)

However, take a look at this picture and see how the terraces of vines are steep - all work here is done by hand (and is dangerous?)

So, it was an early Sunday morning in June...
The June sun rises really early in this part - especially on Sundays, it seems! You think you might have the chance of sleeping in one morning, but - alas - that's probably not going to happen if you have kids. In fact, we were up by dawn. Not even the local cafes had started serving breakfast by the time we arrived. Not that Italians have a great deal for breakfast - it's usually reduced to a cappuccino or caffe latte with a brioches (plain pastry or with cream, jam or chocolate).

We only had this one day to roam around which turned out to be sufficient to get a taste for the area. We resided in Manarola and took the boat from the one end to the other - from Riomaggiore to Monterosso - in the early morning. After a quick dip in the water on the only beach in Monterosso, we backtracked with the train, taking a stroll in each town. We encountered many an enthusiastic hiker and considered doing one of the tracks, but we kept our energy for roaming around the towns.

Lunch was in Corniglia - the only town that requires a hike anyway - more than 300 steps even if you take the train from town to town. However, it was well worth it. It proved to be a little less touristy and we ended up in a great local osteria called Cantina di Mananan, where the food and service were straight forward in true Slow Food style!

All in all, our 5 TERRE trip was a great experience both for big and for small. I would highly recommend a side trip from Florence out there to anyone visiting Italy.

Opening the Tuscan Wine School in Siena

info@tuscan-wine-tours.com (Rebecca Christophersen) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:03:57 PST

Finally, after several months of preparation, the opening of the first Tuscan Wine School came along on the 3rd of March. The school is situated in the heart of Siena, right inside the historical Panther district.

The school will be run by myself, alongside Eli and Riikka. The latter are both sommeliers and have been in Italy at least as long as I have, if not longer.

For me this means an actual point of reference, as being bound to a place and not just to a van. But I'm excited about it and to get to know Siena from the inside!

Lastly, I am happy to introduce this new event for tourists in Tuscany. Having lived here for a while, and having snug my nose into tourism (not just glasses of wine!) and having noticed a slight lack of informative places for the wine tourists, I am hoping to create just that: a helpful place for any sort of tourist to pop in and learn about wine, get information about the wineries and the wine regions of Tuscany. By the way, for those of you who might be interested here’s a great blog post about the faults of tourism in Italy: http://www.athomeintuscany.org/2010/02/06/10-things-i-dont-like-about-italian-tourism-promotion/

http://www.tuscanwineschool.com/

Opening of the Tuscan Wine School from Rebecca Christophersen on Vimeo.

St Emilion panoramic and wine class

info@tuscan-wine-tours.com (Rebecca Christophersen) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 01:20:44 PST

St Emilion is probably one of the most picturesque towns in the Bordeaux region. It is placed among some of the most famous vineyards of the right bank that specializes in the growing of Merlot. See the video above for a panorama of some of the wineries surrounding the town.

In December the town is a typical ghost-town with only a few tourists and lonely shop-keepers. However, it could be a good time to visit, too, as there is definitely personal attention. No need to say that the town is packed with wine shops, a useful tourist info, nice little restaurants, etc. Personally, I had a lovely lunch at L'Envers du Décor which offers a nice variety of local dishes(from cheeses, meets & omelettes to tripe sausage) and a wine list to make the richest of us feel poor! I recommend taking wines by the glass in France and try different varietals, vintages, regions. They are numerous and fun to discover!

One afternoon we had a wine class scheduled with Jean-Louis of http://www.ecole-vin-saint-emilion.com/. A two hour presentation of the wine regions of Bordeaux and explanation of the appellations and cru systems. The class includes tastings of 3 wines and with them, an guide to how to taste wines. I would highly recommend beginners and intermediates to do something similar in loco as it promotes the general understanding of the region, and its a fun activity! The cost was very reasonable, 29 Euro per person.

Wine tasting in Paris, London, & leave a review for Tuscany Wine Events

info@tuscan-wine-tours.com (Rebecca Christophersen) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 05:44:39 PST

If you are reading this blog, there's a probability that you might be a little bit like me...

Where ever I travel I try to weave in a couple of wine related experiences - just to get a flavor for the place that I'm visiting.
Lately, I had the opportunity to revisit Paris and London, and I'll tell you about my best experiences (and worst), and finally I would like to encourage any one of you to help me create a

- Tuscany wine FORUM -

for travelers who are headed to one of Italy's most accredited wine regions. So if you have any experiences to share, or a review of a hotel, an event, a tour or anything else, please take a few minutes out of your day to share it with others on the forum "WINEINTUSCANY" http://wineintuscany.forumattivo.com/forum.htm

Paris
Since I started to do wine tours in 2004, I have followed fellow initiater Olivier Magny's start-up in Paris through his excellent web-site and blogs. Finally, a few months ago, I had the opportunity to try one of the classes offered, the "Tour de France". The class takes place in a historical cellar underneath the busy Paris streets, in a very central location and is very easy to find (once you locate the right door within the courtyard).
We sit down in a medieval cave, scarcely lit, at class tables already set up with glasses, spittoons and crunchy French bread. About 20 people from different nations show up for the tasting, and the class begins on time. With just a map as a reference, our wine professor, a fluent English speaking French Canadian wine maker, starts explaining the regions of France, and the educational entertainment carries on for about 2 and a half hrs. Each region is demonstrated with a tasting of a typical wine of the area, starting with Champagne and covering both the East, the West and the South of France. The class was interactive with comments and questions always welcomed by our "wine professor".
All in all, I can highly recommend the experience. Here's the link to the class we did: http://www.o-chateau.com/select-your-tasting.php#TDF

Sorry, I forgot to take photos of this event...

London
Ok, so you might be bewildered by the fact that I wanted to do a wine event in London... The UK is not really famous for wine making - at least not yet! But the Brits are big wine affacinados, so the culture of wine has been present in their own culture for hundreds of years.

In going to London, I had heard of Vinopolis, a huge exposition building on the South bank, close to the renowned Tate museum. I don't know exactly what I was expecting, but in retrospect I thought it would be a series of halls of quite interactive and informational activities and tastings related to the World of wines and wines of the World. In fact, I was hoping to have fun and learn something - perhaps by having an expert of the museum show us around or something like that. But, on the contrary, the experience was quite the opposit of expected. The base ticket was around 20 pounds per person, to include a 20 minute tasting session (of 1 obviously sponsored wine) with a lady who sounded more like a tape than a person (!), a free tasting of 5 wines to choose from either Old World or New World to be done at tasting tables served by personnel who didn't have a clue of what the wines were (no kidding!), and a general walk through (not accompanied) the halls, each dedicated to a different wine producing area of the World, but with very scarce information if any.

I kept thinking all the way through, "had I known nothing about wine when I had entered, I would probably have exited even more confused!", so how insignificant and confusing the whole experience would have been. Perhaps I'm penalized by not being very easily impressed, but the whole setup seemed to me much more commercial and only beneficient to the few commercial producers actually publicizing their products there - than actually a true educational experience for the visitor. At the end of the visit (we stayed no more than an hour, because it was agonizing), it was obligatory to pass through the wine shop which I'm sure is placed to tempt the unaware visitor with the wines for tasting in the museum part - providing that the visitor might comprehend what he or she has been tasting...

So, my question is, what is the London Vinopolis really about??? I thought that nowadays the matter of wine was to be demystified with endless information to the consumer in an educative way, not just made more fashionable through cool images and so forth...

I suspect that Vinopolis is about something else...

And so, in disappointment of having spent a few hrs of the holidays, we went to a recommended wine bar, Gordons.

This time around I was pleasantly surprised. Lots of wines by the glass, no explanations here either, but at least you don't expect it to be more than what it is. We did a flight of whites and reds by the glass, had a sit down and talk about them in a great location, and ended up getting a fabulous buffet lunch at a quite reasonable price inclusive of a British cheese plate (very intriguing to me - and ended up being one of my favourite dishes during the trip) http://www.gordonswinebar.com/

Definitely recommend this wine bar in London.

Happy travels, fellow winos!

Launch of new project: The TUSCAN WINE SCHOOL!

info@tuscan-wine-tours.com (Rebecca Christophersen) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:11:40 PST

It's, of course, with huge joy that I announce the birth of a new project for 2010, the Tuscan Wine School (http://www.tuscanwineschool.com).
In fact, this idea is a result of a growing desire to launch a complimentary activity to the wine tours, and the moment has finally arrived!
Not to worry, I will still be giving wine tours even if I'll be reducing the amount...
I'll still make sure to be your Tuscan host, so when you'll need advice on anything you can still count on me and email me for information. In addition to this, my network of wine tour guides has enlarged and has proved itself to be the best Tucany has to offer so by now I'm surrounded by increadible professionists that I can highly recommend! So let me know, and I'll give you the name of the perfect host for you!
So, I hope to see you the next time you come to Italy, and make sure to tell your friends who might be coming to make sure to come see me and experience this phenomenal new wine event in Tuscany!
I wish you all a happy Holiday Season!