Many thanks to our friend for this lovely account of her day at Torciano Winery. With only one day in Tuscany, she spent it at Tenuta Torciano in San Gimignano — and it turned out to be the perfect winery.
The tasting
Eleven wines, four courses, one comic sommelier
The private tasting came with lunch: 11 wines, 4 courses of food, and a comedic tasting lesson from Pierluigi. Animated and nothing like the typical snobby sommelier, he broke the ice while teaching the table about wine.
A good chardonnay should exude a "cat piss" scent on the nose.
After 3 wines, the table turned giggly and everyone raved about the 30 year aged balsamic served over salad, cheese and prosciutto.
Lunch
Lasagna, ribollita and a purple grin
Another 4 wines down, lips and teeth had turned a deep shade of purple, stained by Chianti after Chianti. Then came a slice of Lasagna Bolognese, drowned in the winery's truffle oil — by far the best dish of the trip, and good enough that a few bottles went straight onto the order form.
About 9 wine samples into the meal, laughter and chatter filled the room. Next up was a vegetarian Ribollita Tuscan Soup with beans and cabbage — and somewhere between sample #10 and sample #11, all sense of table etiquette went out the window.
The finish
A favourite Chianti and the drive home
After polishing off all 11 wine samples, dessert wine arrived with biscotti to dunk, followed by a few more fine wines. Between the incoherent notes scribbled along the way, the favourite of the original 11 turned out to be the Chianti Classico Reserve — added to the order form too.
Lunch over, it was time for the fresh spring air of the vineyard — lying on the ground for a moment, somewhere between tipsy and drunk, sun beaming down on a wine-stained grin. Pierluigi made the whole table feel like family, not just guests. Back in the car, it was a 3 hour drive to Rome, and 2 of them spent asleep.
