Super Tuscans in Chianti - Groundbreaking
It’s been two years exactly since we were in Italy. A trip that completely changed my perception of the country and has made it a dream destination for future vacations, and possibly a destination micro wedding?! (Oh, right, I’m wedding planning now, too.)
Well… here goes a walk down memory lane.
If you’ve read my post on Florence, you know that our trip to Italy was a fast one. The first 36 hours in Florence, followed by 72ish hours wandering around Chianti. I knew we’d be doing a bunch of driving around Tuscany and I wanted to make it special for Michael, so I splurged. Instead of going with the ‘economy’ class rental, I got us a cute little Mini convertible. Such a good decision!!
We picked up our car from the car rental facility at the airport and headed towards Chianti. I had scheduled a couple of wine tastings for us, since I read that most vineyards in Chianti didn’t allow walk-ins.
First stop - Tenuta Riseccoli. A small vineyard in Greve that DID allow walk-ins. We couldn’t figure out where to go in, but once we did, we were able to have a tasting at the counter. We sampled a few of their wines (I can’t remember exactly how many, I know we shared the tasting because Michael was driving, but as you can see in the pictures there were seven bottles lined up…) and then we got to tour the cellar. It was lovely, as was the olive oil (THAT I remember). Apparently I didn’t let Michael buy any wine. I’m mean. Next time we’re allowed to go to a vineyard (or leave the house), he can buy whatever he wants! We didn’t see the vineyard, but that’s ok. We were in a semi-rush to get to our next stop.
A twenty-five minute car ride later and we had arrived at our second stop - Luiano. This one was a bit more planned out. We were able to pre-select our tasting and the food that came with it. We chose the ‘Tasty’ option and were scheduled for 3pm. The ‘Tasty’ was €30 per person and included a wine tasting and Tuscan board (with meats and cheeses!).
At Luiano, we were met with incredible hospitality (and a dog!). While we were waiting for the rest of our tour group, we were each offered a glass of rosé - a very kind and unnecessary gesture, but who are we to say “no” to rosé from Volterra!! Once the rest of the tour arrived, we walked around the facility - we saw the cellar, and learned about the vineyard. We also learned about the rules of Chianti and the different wines, very interesting. The views from Luiano are gorgeous and the tasting room was so nice. What a treat! I did let Michael buy wine from Luiano... that we drank that night.
It would have been great to see more vineyards, but since Michael was driving and we hadn’t scheduled an official tour with transportation, we were on our way to get dinner and head to our accommodation for the evening. We stopped in Greve and picked up pizza. I was anxious to check in to our agriturismo.
Agriturismo Podere Torre was SUCH a find. Nestled in the hills, wow the views were stunning. The room we stayed in was great - equipped with a kitchen and little sitting area, all we could need. If we were doing it again, I would stay there for way more than one night! We ate our pizza on the deck, and passed out.
The next day, Michael went for a run through the hills - I regret not going, but he was very sore from it. We had to leave the agriturismo by 9am to get to San Gimignano for our cooking class at La Marronaia. Michael said this drive was exactly what you’d want it to be - driving through the Italian countryside, winding roads through hills and valleys, and we were SO fortunate with incredible weather.
I booked the cooking class through Cookly - a company founded by a friend of mine that I met when I was traveling in New Zealand (hi, Ben!). It’s a great platform and I had been dying to use it, so it was probably the first thing I did when we decided we were going to Italy. We “made” bruschetta and pici and sampled olive oils. Unfortunately, we didn’t love the class (not Cookly’s fault, this place didn’t have the best reviews and I should have heeded that advice). They overfilled it so we were sharing cutting boards and knives, everyone didn’t get to experience cooking each bit. We also didn’t actually get to cook - only prep. We were hoping to be a bit more hands on. The staff was lovely and the food was delicious, but they didn’t follow through and send the recipes like they said they would.
the view of san gimignano from podere la marronaia
From San Gimignano, we headed to our final destination - Lucca. Most cities in Tuscany (at least the ones we visited - Florence, Lucca, Pisa, San Gimignano, another one I can’t remember the name of eek) are ZTLs, meaning you have to have specific permissions to drive in the city or you get huge fines. So we found a parking lot outside of Lucca and dropped off the car. We lugged our luggage to our Airbnb in the historic city center. Did a quick shower and change, and headed out to explore Lucca.
We stayed within the city walls - that’s right, Lucca is surrounded by a wall that’s been maintained for centuries. We spent a day and a half exploring Lucca. We did a run on top of the path Saturday morning. We walked around and had espresso and took pictures. We didn’t go into any of the churches or the Guinigi Tower, but our favorite part of Lucca was the Piazza dell’Anfiteatro. This place was once a Roman amphitheater, and is now filled with cafes and restaurants. We spent hours (on Friday and Saturday) just sitting, drinking wine and eating potato chips. It was so lovely and relaxing. (I’m devastated that I can’t find pictures of the piazza, but head to my Instagram and check out the Tuscany highlights to catch some videos of it!)
On our last night in Lucca, we were a bit tipsy from the wine and sunshine in the piazza, but we had a fancy dinner at Osteria Cantine Bernardini. We ate outside - that’s all I remember. Damn not taking notes (I was in between phones during this trip).
a view of Lucca from our run along the wall
On Sunday, we packed up and headed to the airport - we didn’t get to see Pisa because Michael was worried about parking and leaving the car (ZTL, remember?) with all of our luggage and a canvas topped car. We drove all around the outskirts of the city trying to figure it out before moving on. We headed back towards Florence and stopped on our way at a small restaurant for lunch.
Italy surprised me in the best ways and I can’t wait to go back. Maybe in 2022?
