10.1 - Saturday - Pianaccio's Vineyards

la mia nuova famiglia in Italia

Now…its time for a word about Agriturismo Il Pianaccio and the wonderful familia that runs it, my new family in Toscana, Benito & Sylvana Giannuzzi and their 4 children. [Our Friend Chef Alessio is their oldest son]

favoloso, incredibile, magnifico, il migliore, 

W O W!!!  [Ok... More than just one word...]

I don’t have enough superlatives in Italian or English to describe how wonderful these folks are or how incredible their hospitality is, but since we arrived, they have proved to be the warmest, most loving people, taking us into their hearts as well as their home.  Well to be accurate, it IS a business, but trust me… you wouldn’t know it.

From the moment we arrived, a bit late for dinner on Sunday, and Cristiano, the youngest son greeted and served us, through today when he and Benito took us on a tour of the Vineyards and Olive Groves of Il Pianaccio both on the mountain in Montale [1400 feet up] and in the valley of Santomato [the cantina where Cristiano and his Wife Laura live, and produce the family’s wine and olive oil] and later to the Fattoria [Farm] that produces their Parmigiano Reggiano and Prosciutto Crudo, it has truly been a labor of love, [un opera d’Amore] for them to make us feel at home while exposing us to all we wanted to see, touch, taste, hear and feel:  LA DOLCE VITA IN TOSCANA!  [The true reason for NOWAT]

Every night has been and experience, every meal a new delight.  The view from the patio and the Pool, AND… our room at the top of the stairs TO TRULY DIE FOR, and, the service rivals any 4-5 star hotel I know.  Sure… the thread count on the sheets and towels, and the staff to guest ratio could be higher, and maybe the bathroom lights a bit brighter…but in reality they could never ever match the warmth and personal touch of La Familia Giannuzzi.

Suffice it to say, if the Dragon Lady and I didn’t have to rush home to the Grandbabies, I would be having her sell the house and ship our stuff here, taking a permanent apartment at Il Pianaccio and doing my business from a quaint little villa on a hilltop in Toscana [as long as the internet and phone signal hold out].

Today started as usual, with Breakfast on the patio on the clearest day… you could REALLY “SEE FOREVER”… or at least to the mountains surrounding Firenze to the South and Pistoia to the north.  A table set on the edge of the world with warm croissants and apple strudel, fresh Yogurt and Granola, chilled Red Orange Juice, Sweet Torte della Nona, Fresh brewed Café and Cappuccino, and the sharpest, aged Parmigiano Reggiano… I'll say it again… IT DOESN’T GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS!!!!!

In this past week we have made many new friends, from around the world.  A freight Forwarding Agent from Amsterdam, a Journalist from Munich, a lovely French Couple on holiday, and a myriad of locals who all come here… By Word Of Mouth.  Yes… still the best advertising in the world… all on referral.  In fact, this evening, they have over 40 reservations for dinner from as far as Firenze, Siena, Viareggio and Ravena and on and on and tomorrow a celebration for 60 people.  We have swapped stories and notes on family, shared our music played from an iPad on mini-speaker echoing down the mountain and transferred it to several computers [they all love Il Divo].  They bring their wives, lovers, pets and whatnot, to this little slice of heaven on a hilltop in Tuscany. And WHY NOT?  

Round about 10:30 AM, Benito, takes us to their vineyards 450 meters up, 100 meters above Il Pianaccio to be exact, to see Cristano and his colleague make the last harvest of their cabernet 

grapes for the next crush, [the Sangiovese grapes are already in the Must tank].  The Cabernet will eventually be blended with Merlot grapes to create their signature Il Pianaccio Cabernet/Merlot to be sold commercially in France, Germany, Switzerland, Holland, and Spain. Because there are so many wineries in Toscana, and their wine is only rated D.O.C, not D.O.C.G., they choose to market it commercially out of the region rather than to local restaurants and markets.  They only bottle 10,000 bottles a year, in addition to their excellent, fragrant Extra Virgin Olive Oil, the 2011 batch will be picked the 20^th of October and pressed shortly thereafter.

After a short trip to pick up fresh bread for tonight and tomorrow morning, we’re back at Il Pianaccio to wait for Cristiano to return from the cantina where we then headed back down the mountain [wait for the Video of Mrs Toad’s Really Wild Ride to fully understand how steeeeepppppp [Ok…] and narrow this trip really is, only to then head back up another Loooonnng and Wiiiiiinding – [you get it] and very rocky road to the farm/home of Signore Paolo “Babo” IORI, whose family has farmed this land and made Formaggio and Prosciutto  for the locals for over 100 years.   Here we met his 3 new bulls, of which he is very proud of the deal he made to get them, and the VERY special herd of goats that produce the milk for the “Pecorino della Montagna Pistoiese” cheeses of Azienda Agricola IORI PAOLO.  Superb, unfortunately all the cheese they had on hand was already contracted for and we couldn’t even buy one small loaf.  Oh welllll, it was still a great trip and the photos were priceless.

Once back at Il Pianaccio, Sylvana insists we have a little pranzo, the same as they are having, and will not take no for an answer.  Benito sets us up with a very spicy 

Orchietta della verdura, Pimiento e melanzane Griglia, fresh [we know its fresh… we carried it in] bread, fragrant olive oil and then pops the cork on their own Vino Bianco, so fresh… it doesn’t even have a label. Did I say before… THESE FOLKS CAN COOK!

We decided to relax till dinner, read a bit, knocked out another NOWAT, Edited more photos and all of a sudden it was dinner time.

Another superb dinner, although the kitchen got a little overwhelmed from all their reservations showing up at once, which slowed dinner down.  Not to worry, our friends and other guest enjoyed our visit with each other and as the night grew late, we all retired for the night.

Chucky finished Wednesday’s NOWAT, got it posted and added pictures, then started the backing ballet and decided… to get some rest and do it in the AM.  [shudda done it then – it put them 2 hours late getting off the mountain on Sunday.]

Sunday we’re off to Lerici and a boat ride to the Cinque Terre… Ah… La Dolce Vita…it just keeps getting better.

 Ciao 4 Now

Uncle Chuck & The excited to see 1 week old baby goats,  Dragon Lady

Taking some Fine Tuscan Wine, Aged Sharp Cheese & Great Crusty Bread home.