9.29 -Thursday Part I - Capezzano - IL Falcone

GOOD WINE, GOOD FOOD, & AN ELUSIVE WINERY!

“We’re supposed to be on route SP6 this says SS66…did we miss another turn?”

“Beats me? Let me see those directions again.”

“Wait it says here go 2.0KM turn left on SS66 via ???? stay on it for 2.9KM turn right on to via Capazzana. This definitely does not look like the way.”

If this is starting to get old for you, just think about how it is for Chucky & the Ever Lovely Illy. Google maps is a very lovely thing as long as the Italians mark their roads with the same numbers as Google uses. Route numbers could also be placed a little more frequently especially going through some of the very small burgs and would be more useful in and out of the numerous round-a-bouts. Granted the roads are used by locals who know where they are going not tourists who would like to get to where they are going and Chucky is  convinced that a GPS wouldn’t have helped either. It has, however, exposed us to many interesting locations and photo ops not on the agenda.

At times Chucky thinks he is the second coming of Mario Andretti, but with the slow responding Focus roller skate diesel & trying to watch directions, downshift on steep inclines, maneuver winding mountain roads & generally trying to figure out where we are, he has been less up to the task than he thought. But he is trying…boy is he trying!   Nothing like the great Alpha-Romeo 1.5 we had in 2001.  And… it has at times, been a hellacious roller coaster ride for the Dragon Lady!

After several stops & many girare-u’s & more than a couple

"Mi scusi signora, qual e Direzione via {whatever}"

and an equal number of:

"Io non so, ma, andare a questa strada a 400 metri, gira Destra e sempre dritto"
Always “sempre dritto”, and always resulting in girare-u’s. YET…only 20 minutes late, we somehow miraculously find Via Capezzana which winds up the mountain & delivers us to Tenuta di Capezzana as white knuckle navigator Illy releases her death grip on the semi-useless Google directions.

The delightful Daniela greets us at the wine shop & directs us down a lovely garden path to the court yard of Villa Capezzana which is currently owned by the Count & Contessa Contini Bonacossi & family. Our arrangements were in fact arranged by their granddaughter Serena Contini Bonacossi who also took care of lunch reservations for later at Il Falcone. Daniela apologized that we could not meet any of the family since today was a holiday as well as a festival of the grape harvest and everyone was in town for the festival. It appears that everyone also forgot about the events of the day when they confirmed our reservations. But…

“Not to worry Signore Mercurio, we will have a wonderful tour & a lovely tasting.”

Joining us on the tour was a travel guide from Florence who was here to gain more knowledge of the estate as she would be conducting a tour for a large group of French wine enthusiasts in the coming month. First stop was the drying room where they dry the grapes for the vino santo. A very interesting process, the grapes are strung out on river reeds to ensure the maximum air circulation while huge blowers keeps the air flowing constantly to naturally dry the grapes.. We then crossed the courtyard to the entrance of the cellars & stopped to admire a copy of the charter from the 850AD

denoting the granting of the land for the estate & vineyards.  Descending into dank, musty tunnels into the working rooms & working part of the winery, Daniela conducted a through tour from the casks of new wine all

the way through the cellars that contain wine bottled in 1924 & regaled us with wonderful stories about each of the wines and the fact that in WWII they hid these very wines in the mountains so the Nazi army couldn't take them. Every year they sample 1 bottle from each year re-cork it and leave notes making a record of the tasting. After stops in various rooms to note some of the procedures, & techniques, we trek back to the wine shop & bid the lady from Florence goodbye as she heads back to Florence to meet with another group.

Once back in the wine shop Daniela acquainted us with the current vintages available & sat us down with a tasting of several wines including a delightful I.G.T. Bianco, a D.O.C Chianti and a marvelous 2008 Carmignano which we bought a bottle of to bring home, We lingered as long as we could, thanked Daniela for all of her courtesies & extended our warmest regards & thanks to the Contini Bonacossi family & particularly to Serena.

Now we were off on another journey of discovery to find Ristorante Il Falcone in the lovely town of Poggio a Caiano... which was supposed to be a 30 minute drive. We had reservations for 1PM, & will not bore you with the up and down the road, round multiple traffic circles routine to re-find Piazza XX Settembre, #30 and the very famous Il Falcone… which we blew by on first try and took another 20 minutes of girare-u’s to find again.  Suffice it to say we made it, abeit a bit late after calling them to advise them we would be late to which we were told

“Not to worry Signore Mercurio, Serena asked us to look after you.”

We were greeted at the door by Valerio Martini, the youngest of the family line that has owned this restaurant for over 150 years. Same family, same location passed down through the generations for 150 years! Extraordinary!! Velario looks like an Italian version of our good friend Steve Standford in Florida. They say everyone has a double, and this is Steve's. Mama Vivetta is in the kitchen and our meal was exceptional.  Accompanying our crisp Vino Bianco di Casa was  an antipasto of Salumi’s, prosciutto, braseiola,  cheeses, crusty breads and fresh field greens drizzled with newly pressed extra virgin olive oil.  Then a came a hearty taglietelle with boar ragu as our secondo piatto, followed by a hearty plate of  coniglio brasato for her [braised rabbit, but don't tell her], and an extraordinary Osso Bucco for Chucky.  A delightful  pastry and ciocoloto concoction ala MAMA, fresh Illy café to wash it all down and all is right in the world!

We watched as Mama fawned over her son with a local journalist, a childhood friend of Velario, who helped turn our supposedly brief lunch into a family reunion and a tour of the restaurant, kitchens and courtyard where the fresh herbs and greens are grown.  It was a marvelous visit with a very warm and loving family who are quite proud, rightfully so, of their legacy and great food.  We got a look at, and made a copy of a set of photos of the family, 1 taken 3 generations ago, and 1 of the current generation, in the same poses, on the doorstep of the restaurant.

Hugs, kisses and abrazos all around with promises to stay in touch, and we were off to find our way to our next winery on this day of discovery.

We'll catch up with our
u-turning, wild driving, Wacky tourists in the next addition as they search for the elusive Fattoria Artimino near Carmignano.

Ciao 4 Now

Uncle Chuck  & the happily adding to her Italian family, 
Dragon Lady

Enjoying Exceptional Wine, Superior Aged Cheese & Great Crusty Bread