I have found my happy place – and it is deep in the heart of Tuscany! There is honestly nothing better than the a tuscan sunset in the Italian countryside. And there was no place better to enjoy it than in Castiglione d’Orcia!
Tuscany Region of Italy
Our time in this area was outstanding! We loved everything about it. The beauty of the countryside, the slower pace compared to big city, the wine, the food, and the people!
Where we stayed
We stayed at Relais Osteria dell’Orcia which is a hotel set in a historic 16th century mansion. This was the perfect anchor for our 3 short nights in Castiglione d’Orcia, Tuscany. We loved this hotel and would return and stay at the same place if we have the opportunity. The grounds were georgous and the staff and service was second to none!
We spent some time relaxing during this part of our trip but we also had some of the most memorable experiences here and honestly you shouldn’t visit this area without experiencing them as well:
First: Visit a cheese farm
Podere il Casale cheese farm was an amazing experience. We learned about the history of this farm and got a better understanding of the cheese making process. We loved the tour of the farm and especially meeting all the animals. And while they don’t have a hotel, they do offer camping accommodations for those that want to spend more time on their property. They have an organic restaurant on site and even offer cooking classes.
We had a cheese and wine tasting and this entire experience was super fun!
Second: Take a local cooking class
We spent the day at Locanda Demetra cooking school and had a fabulous time. When the family purchased this property there was an old run down building that once was an old barn and the grounds were so overgrown you couldn’t even tell there was once a vineyard along the hillside where the property sits. They had a vision and today this property is home to an amazing little Italian restaurant where they not only grow their own food, they do a cooking class to teach others about their passion for Italian cuisine.
They have a garden, an olive grove, and a vinyard. They cook with the ingredients coming from the property and even produce small batches of wine, olive oil and some amazing Brunello Jam!
Pete and I love to cook and have already been working on our homemade pasta skills but we learned so much from Alessandro. Walking around the garden and learning about not only what they grow but how they use every part of what they grow was so interesting. We also enjoyed learning new techniques to make fresh pasta. Everything about this experience was amazing. We had a couple of guests that were gluten intolerant and Alessandro’s wife, Manuela, joined our class and gave tutorials on how to make the recipes gluten free as well.
In September of 2019, Giada De Laurentiis and Bobby Flay stopped by Locanda Demetra and they were so impressed with Alessandro, his family, and their restaurant, that they were featured on one of the episodes of the show “Bobby and Giada in Italy”.
Last but definitely not least: Tour the Tuscan wine region
The prominent grape for the Tuscan wine region is Sangioveses. And before coming to Italy my favorite wine was a nice bold Cabernet. But I think Italy may have won my heart with their amazing Brunello wines. But before I get into our wine visits, let’s go over some basics so you can better understand Italian wines.
Italian Wine
Let’s talk about Italian wine in general first. There are designations or classifications that are assigned to all Italian wines. The 4 classifications are:
- Table wines are largely produced and not strictly regulated.
- IGT wines will be specific regional wines.
- DOC (Controlled Denomination of Origin) meaning that the wine can only be produced in a specific area which certifies its origin and is controlled because it is sold with a seal or a numbered label.
- DOCG (Controlled and Guaranteed Denomination of Origin) mainly differs from the DOC in its quality. DOCG wines are, in fact, at the top of the pyramid of quality wines produced in Italy. These wines also must pass quality tests from the region where it is produced as a certificate of guarantee. And as you guess they will have a higher price.
There are 77 DOCG wine regions throughout Italy but the four original DOCGs were Brunello, Vino Nobile, Barolo and Barbaresco.
DOCG (Denominazione d’Origine Controllata e Garantita) is awarded to wines of “particular quality merit“. As with DOC (Denominazione d’Origine Controllata), the specifications establish precise rules, such as the geographical area of production, grape varieties and organoleptic qualities. In addition, DOCGs are subject to additional controls, both at the processing and bottling stages.
https://www.visittuscany.com/en/ideas/docg-wines-of-tuscany/
The Tuscany Wine Region
The central core of Tuscany is where you will find delicious red wine based almost entirely on the noble Sangiovese grape. There are some areas that also produce what is called a “Super Tuscan” which is made with blending Sangiovese grapes with non-native grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah.
Tuscany is divided into various regions or communes and while we couldn’t visit them all, we did make stops at two of the original DOCG regions Vino Nobile di Montelpulciano and Brunello di Montalcino.
Stop #1 – Vino Nobile di Montelpulciano
Our first winery in Tuscany was at Poderi Boscarelli. This is a medium sized winery where their production focuses primarily on Vino Nobile DOCG, which represents 80% of their total production and hence, their most important and oldest label.
Our visit was during harvest time so it was really fun to watch the production process.
Stop #2 – Brunello di Montalcino
Our second stop was the Brunello di Montalcino region where we visited Poggio Rubino.
We were escorted through the winery by one of the owners. She is the talent behind the labels and the beautiful artwork available on custom bottles. They have a nice tasting room that overlooks the valley and while it had started to rain during our tasting, the views were still nice.
Visiting Montepulciano
During our time in Tuscany we also stopped by the medieval town of Montepulciano. With its hilltop location, stunning views, and charming old town, this is a stop you don’t want to skip!
The streets are filled with restaurants, cafes, shops and wineries. But the most unique thing you will find in this historic town can’t actually be seen from the street level view. Under the noble palaces in the city center is where you will find the underground city of Montelpulciano. This underground world is a maze of passages containing wine cellars, cool tunnels, hidden crypts with stone stairs connecting them all.
There are several very historic wineries to visit in this town with tasting rooms. We stopped by the Ercolani were we got to walk through the underground city and tour their cellar and ended our tour with a tasting of their Vino Noble di Montepulciano.
This winery visit was the perfect way end our visit to Montepulciano!
TIP: Now because Montepulciano is on a hilltop, our driver offered to drop us off at the top and we could simply work our way down through the town and met him a few hours later at the bottom. I highly recommend if this is an option during your visit!
One thing we saw that was super popular in this region was to tour through this area by bike. And by that I mean bicycle. We didn’t try this but met a couple staying at our hotel that were touring the entire Tuscany area by bike. They actually had motorized bikes that allowed them to easily make it from one stop to the next. They could charge their battery pack at each location they stoped at. The countryside is so beautiful that this was be an amazing way to travel through it!
The Modern Nomads 
Leave a comment