Trip To Italy Day 2 & 3 - Castellina and Cooking Class

After a good nights sleep, we were ready for our first full day in Castellina and to do a little recovering from out trip.  While researching our trip with wine tasting as a big part, my research found several listings for Tuscan Wine Regions but the consensus seems to be Chianti, Chianti Classico, Brunello di Montalcino, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Bolgheri, Vernaccia di San Gimignano, and Carmignano and one of my thoughts was to visit them all but I reduced it to five or six.  The Chianti, Chianti Classico, Brunello di Montalcino, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano regions use Sangiovese grapes, Bolgheri wines known as the Super Tuscans use international grapes more typical for French Bordeaux’s, Vernaccia di San Gimignano is known for its dry white wine made from the Vernaccia grape, and Carmignano wines are typically a blend of Sangiovese and international grapes such as cabernet.

So, to begin this day, we went to the Squarcialupi Taverne (located in the hotel) for their buffet breakfast which seemed typical of Italian breakfast and very different than American.  The restaurant is located on the main street of the old city which is closed to vehicles and it lined with touristy businesses.

This is a shot of the buffet which went from croissants and cereals, to meat and cheeses then scrambled eggs (the only typical US offering) to more breads and drinks.

Here are our plates – Kathy, Beverly, mine.

After breakfast we stopped by the wine store for a bottle of Chianti Classico to sip on that evening – we are staying in the Chianti Classico Region.

Then we went to the Coop (Grocery store) to pick up a few things we needed – it was small but was very well stocked.  The girls dropped me off at the apartment then went back to town for gelato and a little shopping and bought us some umbrellas as rain is expected for at least his whole week.

On Tuesday after another long sleep, we got up ate a little meat, cheese and bread for breakfast then headed just across the little valley to Agriturismo Rocca for a cooking class, wine tasting, and lunch.  Places labeled Agriturismo are working farms that also have rooms or apartments to rent.  What we have planned for most days are either cooking classes or wine tastings that include lunch.

When we arrived, we were greeted by Guiliana and her daughter Martina where Guiliana was the actual cooking teacher and Martina was the communicator and primary hostess.  Their plan for the event was to make tiramisu and three kinds of pasta, then tour their wine cellar and finally, to eat the pastas that we made while tasting four of their wines.

We began by making the tiramisu so it could be chilling while we did the other things.

Next, we made pappardelle pasta by making a dough of 00 flour, salt, egg, and olive oil then rolling it thin with a rolling pin and cutting it with a knife – no pasta machine here.  

Then we made ravioli stuffed with ricotta, spinach, and parmesan and finally, we made pici from semolina, water and oil.  It is a thick, hand-rolled string pasta.

After the pasta making, we took a brief tour of their winery, located downstairs in the same building, where they make about 6000 bottles per year and only sell it at the winery.  They use concrete tanks as their primary fermenters.  I forgot to take pics.

Then it was time for eating our pasta and tasting their wines.  Guiliana had added sauces to the cooked pasta using meat sauce for the pappardelle, tomato sauce for the pici and butter & sage for the ravioli and they were all very good.

The pasta was delicious and the wines we tasted were a 2020 Chianti Classico, a 2018 Chianti Classico Riserva, and a Super Tuscan (this is the name given to wines made in Tuscany from worldwide grapes such as merlot, cabernet, etc) and this one was 100% merlot.  Then we had some sweet dessert wine with the tiramisu and finished off the meal with a little grappa (Grappa is made by distilling the skins, pulp, seeds, and stems left over from winemaking after pressing the grapes).

It was a great event hosted by two very nice and friendly people and we bought some wine to drink and some to be shipped home - we also got recipes for the dishes that we made.  The rest of the rainy day was R&R and a trip to the store.

Photos can be slightly enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

4/14-15/25 event dates//