From San Gimignano to Hollywood with Vanna White
Dear friends an wine lovers,
I was born and raised in this great land, in the midst of sunflowers, olive groves and vineyards of course. I never thought that there could be more beautiful place in Tuscany.
I always tried to live simply, enjoying the small pleasures of life as a good glass of wine from my grapes and aged in barrels.
I was a lucky man, and thanks to my passion, which is also my job, I started traveling to talk about my wine and winery.
During my Wine Class Tour I met so many people, all special and unique.
Surely, a person who I had the pleasure of seeing again was Vanna White.
She had been in the past in my Winery and was an extraordinary day, so I returned the visit her for a Wine Class at her house.
Entries for a night in her world were like living a dream.
In Hollywood I saw luxury cars, limousines, fabulous villas with pools and beautiful gardens. So many things that I have never seen before. I visited private wine cellars with exceptional great vintages and wine brands, I walked the streets crowded with luxury cars and met celebrities like Jaclyn Smith and many other famous people very kind and friendly to me.
Take the Hollywood Walk of Fame was very exciting, even more review Vanna White, who has a star of its own, being a new Hollywood star!
I was also a Rodeo Drive and it was a beautiful experience!
There were so many fantastic boutiques that I did not know where to look first, I was almost dizzy with all those beautiful shop windows
So I’m really honored to have lived for a night in the middle of Hollywood stars and happy with the way they welcomed me and we enjoyed and loved my Tuscan wine. Together we enjoyed excellent food and, of course, my Tuscan Wine. Everybody loved all my wines and the favorite was Terrestre.
After a beautiful evening together, doing Wine Class and tasting fantastic food, I promised to Vanna that I will come back soon with my family so we can live again the magic world of Hollywood together with my dear friend Vanna White.
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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.
