Falling for Florence
Falling for Florence by Delaney Kennedy
Thank you to our friend Delaney for this fantastic review!
She writes:
” We went wine tasting yesterday in San Gimignano in Tuscany at Tenuta Torciano. The owner Pierluigi Giachi, met us at the bus and shook everyone’s hand as we stepped down making his welcoming/larger-than-life personality known from the get-go. He gathered us around and explained that his family has owned and worked the land for at least four generations and that they own property throughout the region producing various goods including wine, cheese, olive and truffle oils, and balsamic. We were led back past a garden full of geese and cats to the tasting room with three long wooden tables. Ten of us sat in a sunken room attached, which was the original frame of the house Pierluigi was born in.
Pierluigi taught us that there is a difference between drinking wine and tasting wine: “wine isn’t just something to drink, wine is knowledge, love, poetry and culture.” To properly taste the wine, you need the right glass, he explained, so your nose and mouth can fit within the rim so that one can utilize both senses during the tasting.
He first taught us how to properly hold the glasses and then instructed us to inhale deeply to get the fragrance of the wine. The scent of the wine can help identify the type, as each has a distinct scent (some smell of almonds, banana, etc.).
We then took our first sips of a white wine and tested it with the sample pairings all hand made by his family: peccorino romano cheese (my roommates and I went on a hunt later to find a similar cheese at our local markets it was so good), salad with balsamic vinegar, bread with olive oil and salami to determine which we thought went best.
After surveying us on which we though went best with the wine, Pierluigi told us that there is no one “right” pairing, it is all a matter of personal taste.
The next two wines were brought out with Ribolitta, a bread soup. This is a dish native to Tuscany and it is phenomenal! New thing to add to my Florence Bucket List: learn to make Ribolitta! We tasted a few more reds with dinner, lasagna (the best I’ve ever eaten) with truffle oil. We were so relaxed and content after the bus ride back we all took naps when we got home – it was a perfect, charming weekend before our first week of classes abroad!”
Author
Luciana Cilemmi
Luciana Cilemmi, deals with Magazine, Style Director and Co-founder of Tenuta Torciano winery and Tenute Giachi wines and the innovative Viviarium Restaurant of Bottega Torciano- Tenuta Torciano & Winery is part of an international reality that is born in Italy by an initiative of Pierluigi Giachi and Luciana Cilemmi, who have worked for years in the Italian wine market , expanding throughout in the United States, managed and controlled by the american company ' Bellavini winery. Luciana Cilemmi was born in San Gimignano to a family of artists specialised in the restoration of medieval buildings. Having completed her technical studies, she now pursues the interests passed on to her by her family, like her passion for artistic objects, in particular works of art created in Tuscany between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. But she reserves her keenest enthusiasm for the historic works completed in San Gimignano between 1100 and 1300. Alongside her love of medieval history, she is fascinated in wines produced from Tuscan vineyards, which, together with saffron and wool, were the most sought-after goods traded by the wealthy noble families of San Gimignano already in medieval times. Luciana Cilemmi left San Gimignano at the age of 21 and embarked on a pilgrimage in search of knowledge and to discover the new winemaking skills and products that were then developing both in Italy and in France. In the meantime she added to her knowledge of wine by attending specialised courses and becoming a master of wine. On returning to Siena, she discovered a wonderful area near Murlo where she fell in love with the tiny, unspoilt village of Montepescini. She bought the estate of Montepescini where, based on the experience she had acquired over the years, she found a particular lie of the land, special climatic conditions and an altitude suited to the creation of great wines. With enormous enthusiasm, doggedness and considerable effort, a reclamation programme was started to renew the terrain which was then used to plant 30 hectares of specialised vines. Sangiovese is the dominant vine, followed by Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah. Years of experimentation and the introduction of new winemaking techniques eventually led to the creation of Luciana di Memmi’s prestigious wines. Some years ago, Luciana Cilemmi succeeded in realising her dream of a lifetime: to return to her home town, San Gimignano. She was destined to buy the historic palace with the medieval tower, which had been owned by the prestigious Useppi family from 1200 to 1927 and had then passed to the noble and historic Chigi family of Siena. The Useppi were a powerful Sienese family who owned several castles. This beautiful medieval building has an elegant and distinctive façade full of Sienese and Pisan architectural influences. If you find yourself in San Gimignano, make sure you visit the Chigi Tower and Palace. Luciana Cilemmi holds regular events in the rooms of the medieval tower, such as the presentation of wines, both from her vineyards and elsewhere, attended by international journalists, experts from the sector and critics. She also organises exhibitions of works of art and paintings, and press conferences on the subject of "Wine in San Gimignano during medieval times”. Visiting the home of Luciana Cilemmi is like re-living an aspect of the past that will not return except through the imagination of those who have believed and continue to believe in this story.
