MILWAUKEE-NYC-ITALY-GREECE AND A DAY IN LONDON BLOG POST FIVE

LAZY MONDAYS
WINE TASTING IN MONTELCINO

After a double dose weekend of parties in the beautiful Tuscan hills the last thing one would think we might be thinking about would be more wine especially when one of us (me) is not a particularly big drinker.

But Monday morning after the fog lifted and we'd gotten a bit of poolside sun we were off to

Montelcino to hunt out some of the wines we had consumed over the last weekend. This kind of drinking for us would fall under the label of extreme debauchery but for our hosts the weekend drinking was nothing more than a family dinner.

We are blessed that Stefania and Alessandro raised their youngest son to be an amazing chef in the kitchen and a sommelier in the wine cellar. Giulio was our guide for the midday drive up to Montelcino and into the capable hands of Ilaria, the wine steward at Sosta.

This was not the first time we'd been hosted at the tasting table at Sosta. We'd come last Christmas as well but over the spring Sosta expanded into a larger space with more tasting rooms and outdoor dining.

Not being big wine connoisseurs we attempted to act the part as Brunello after Brunello was brought out for sampling.

Both Ilaria and Giulio kept a running dialogue going explaining the intricacies and delicacies of each bottle. We started with the reds, one after another. I felt like I was in a Lucy Vitameatavegamin episode. The more I downed the sloppier I got. I didn't know you could just sip it and pour the rest out. I downed every one and by the end of the fifth or sixth bottle I was running my tongue around the rim of my glass.
And then it was off to the sweet wines, more bottles and less ability to read the names on the labels that kept getting blearier and blearier.

We come to this tasting because Emmy wanted to pick up a special bottle for a wine loving friend back in Madsion. We left with two cases, twenty-four bottles twelve of which came with the name Tassi because the word tasso is badger in Italian. The wine was going back to Bucky Badgerland after all.

After the tasting that was more like binge drinking Giulio steared us back through the cobbled streets of Montelcino.

I think they were beautiful but I can't be real sure. Fortunately my iPhone was bit steadier than I was.

It was a religious experience in more ways than one

MILWAUKEE-NYC-ITALY-GREECE AND A DAY IN LONDON BLOG POST FOUR

ANOTHER BIRTHDAY IN ROCCA D'ORCIA

Family is the key to life in Tuscany. Holidays, Sundays and birthdays have families gathering for meals where the occasion's foundation is food but the purpose is laughter and the connection with those you love

even if those who've been brought into the fold aren't blood related.

That's why after my birthday party on Saturday we were invited to Stefania's sister's birthday party on Sunday at La Cisterna Nel Borgo in Rocca d'Orcia.

We've been enough times to Tuscany to think that we'd been at least once to every significant hill town Tuscany could produce. Wrong.

Rocca d'Orcia turns out is another spectacular town with a glorious medieval history

architecture that is fairytale at its most fanciful

and views of the surrounding landscape that transcend the ordinary making every utterance in reference to its beauty a "Wow!"; this coming from a town with a population of twenty-nine inhabitants.

And with twenty-nine inhabitants the town is still the location of several magnificent restaurants, even one boasting a Michelin Star, I've got to assume that the help commutes from the surrounding area.

The restaurant, La Cisterna Nel Borgo, gets its name from the old cistern out in front of the restaurant. It is no longer used as the water source for the village put still holds the echo when you hang your head over the edge and sing your wishes into its deep, deep well.

Situated in an ancient coach house with vaulted ceilings and Tuscan charm the restaurant provided the perfect setting for a family gathering and yet another spectacular meal.

The food was served family style with plate after plate showing up at the long table reserved for the occasion.

Plates of pappardelle bathed in a Tuscan duck ragu were followed by

Peppers filled with tuna and black olives and then we were served

Wild boar with yogurt cream sauce dripping with true Tuscan history and meat not found anywhere I'm aware of in the United States.

The meal didn't stop there meatballs made for local Sienese pork came out swimming in another cream sauce sprinkled in herbs and if that wasn't enough there were still desserts to arrive that were just as plentiful as the rest of the meal!

Chocolate salami drizzled with chocolate sauce and a spicy cream served in a mini ladle were the first to arrive followed by

Faux eggs made with a dark chocolate outer ring and a fried egg served sunny-side up made with ricotta cheese and a marsala cream yoke.

The last to appear was a bowl of roccota mousse topped with figs and covered in honey. It was more than I could bare.

Not so much for Alessandro. He decided the meal was so good it deserved a plate licking so he offered to clean every last plate.

And if that meal wasn't pushing close to perfection on our way out of the restaurant a perfect rainbow arched over our walk back to our cars for the drive back to Armena. Somehow the Italians manage to delight and impress us every time we sit down to eat and every time we look to the skies for forgiveness from all our glutinous indulgences.

MILWAUKEE-NYC-ITALY-GREECE AND A DAY IN LONDON BLOG POST THREE

ARRIVALS AND MILESTONES

We've lost track of the amount of times we've driven up the gravel road and pulled up to the gate at the Agriturismo Frattoria Armena. The first time was when Emmy was three; she's now twenty-two. There were no gates when we came for the first time. The pool was an above ground version with a ladder you had to climb up in order to get into it.

The barns were a bit messy and our current apartment hadn't been built, yet we knew from that first moment that this would not be the only time we'd come here.

From the hundreds of possibilities we had before us there was destiny in our choosing Armena.

The unexplainable sense that you've found your place in the world happened then and over the dozen or so times we've returned there's been no doubt that this place is our home. Nestled in the arms of our acquired Italian family, the Saracenis, we've found our heaven on earth.

This trip was particularly significant for me. It coincided with my birthday. I'm not one who looks forward to these milestones. I was devastated when I turned ten and had to move into double-digit territory. So now I no longer count the years but celebrate time well spent.

"Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light." Dylan Thomas
I'm not on death's door but I do believe that it's best to always go forward with defiance and passion in search of laughter and new adventures.
Let the world marvel at who you are and what you can do.
I was not of a mind to demand or want any big celebration but a quiet dinner with family and friends was what I was hoping for and my family and friends did not disappoint.

Eight o'clock reservations at Boccon Di Vino in Montalcino, a hilltop restaurant we'd been to several times.

The view is spectacular and the food is a religious experience. The menu for Saturday night is catalogued below:















A GIFT

Our first surprise was a tomato, bread and Parmesan puree with toasted bread chips, a gift from the restaurant owners,

longtime friends of Stefania and Giulio Saraceni, the mother and son team who joined us for dinner. We would be dining with the rest of the family the following day when we were to celebrate Stefania's sister's birthday.












ANTIPASTI

Crispy hot bread filled with bacon and pecorino cheese then topped with wild herbs and garden grown cherry tomatoes.

Raw prawns from Mazara del Vallo plated with Burratina served in a fluted crispy bread bowl and a smear of green tomato jam.

Molded chicken liver pate with homemade toasted bread and apple compote served in a separate cup.
















PRIMI PIATTI

Pappardelle alla Carbornara with prawns, crispy Tuscan bacon and 100% Arabica coffee powder.

The famous house onion soup.























SECONDI PIATTI

Beef duck breast with Moscadelo in fig sauce accompanied by roasted vegetables and pistachios.

Beef stewed in black pepper and Brunello wine on a bed of organic chickpeas with drizzled rosemary oil.

Codfish cooked at low temperature with beetroot cream, wild poppies, breadcrumbs and shaved almonds.





















DOLCI

A pistachio birthday cake with dark chocolate wafers.























DOLCI VINO

A bottle of Moscato Fior d'arancio spumante as a parting gift from the restaurant owners and staff whom all raised their glasses in one last toast.  The perfect end to a perfect birthday in a place I'll always love.

Cin Cin!