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Published: November 20th 2006
Castelo di Verrazzano and Greve was our third day, and one whale of a bus day. If it wasn't for our bus driver Marzio and his tremendous sense of humor, this bus traveling would be murder. On our way to Verrazzano, we stopped at an American W.W.II cemetary. This cemetary is dedicated to the American soldiers who died in Italy in W.W.II. The land was donated by the Italian government, but it is maintained by American VFW and flies an American flag. It's like a mini American National Cemetary.
After our brief stop we continued our travel to the Verrazzano vineyards for a tour and another three hour lunch. Again, the food was phenomenal and the wine was even better! We were brought into a special room to see the Vino Santo (Holy Wine) grapes at the hanging stage. Many tours never see this stage because of the time of year. The grapes are picked, hung to air dry, concentrate flavor and sugars, then processed. It smells really wonderful in this room. The wine is best enjoyed with biscotti, dunking it and sucking the wine before eating the biscotti. This vineyard was very large, yet very quaint. The first owner,
Castello di Verrazzano due
The tower is from the original building.Giovanni da Verrazzano was an Italian navigator with a French ship. He wanted to find the northwest passage to China in 1524, and instead found the east coast near New York. So, he has a bridge in New York named after him. Not much is left, however, from the original buildings except for the tower. The work of pruning the vines all the way to harvest is done by hand. No machines! The only mechinisms involved are: The tubs of grapes are driven to the processing area and mechanically separated from the leaves and stems. After that, the work of making wine is done by hand. Pat was even offered a job as a wine barrel scraper, because he was the right size (I don't think so!) to fit into the 50 centimeter opening. He would have jumped at the offer, except the last 4 1/2 years was spent learning radiology, not enology. Oh well, maybe if radiography doesn't pan out . . .
Greve, a medieval hill town (every town is) in the Chianti region, was a last minute stop on our way back to La Volpe. We were told Greve was the place to get the spices
Vino Santo
Early stages of manufacture. The grapes hang to concentrate flavor before processing. we had at La Volpe. Our driver, Marzio, couldn't drive into the piazza, so we were dropped off on the outskirts of town. Pat was first off the bus and was off like a shot looking for an ATM to get some money (his first try after Ann's attempt in Riomaggiore was denied). Pat found us at the Macelleria Falorni (meat shop) and we put the newly acquired money to use. We purchased a bottle of Erbe Piccanti (spicy) and Aroma Speciale. Second purchase was at the Gelateria we had to hunt to find. Back at the ranch, 'little' Daniella (not Dr.) had cooked up some turkey cutlets for us along with an assortment of other foods. Ann and Pat, however, are getting smarter and not staying up as late eating and drinking. It's so hard not to though, everything is so wonderful!
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