Leaving San Marino
If you miss a turn in Italy it can be the best thing to happen or the worst. Leaving San Marino we did just that and managed to turn a 2 1/2 hour drive into an epic adventure. It was a beautiful sunny day and we ended up on a small provincial road that wound across ridges and valleys through some of the most beautiful scenery we had yet to witness from a car window.
Driving and sightseeing
Driving and sightseeing on these roads are not to be mixed. I made more blind corners than Stevie Wonder in an origami contest and the meeting of an oncoming truck can be a true butt clenching experience.
We finally hit our destination in the early evening, the beautiful town of Castellina in Chianti. Expecting us was our good friend Anna Rita and her husband Raymond who own and run the magnificent Casamonti Estate.
Our visit last year
If you have been following us from the beginning you may remember our visit last year. Casamonti is an amazing place that is set on a hilltop looking out toward Siena, amongst their huge olive grove (5000+ trees), from which they produce sublime olive oil and their grapevines from which they make delicious Chianti and Super Tuscan wine.
As if that were not enough, the estate is also a farm where they raise Cinta Senese pigs (white belted pig of Siena).
700 cintas
In fact, with over 700 Cintas they are the largest producer of this ancient breed in Chianti and therefore the world since true Cinta Senese can only come from the Siena area under strict DOP rules.
Our apartment on the estate was the best digs we have had yet with a beautiful little kitchen and a cozy upstairs bedroom. The door opened onto a tiny garden with beautiful flowers and herbs that overlooked the duck pond and chicken coop.
We were spoiled with wine, olive oil, salumi and some of Anna Rita’s home cooking along with great conversations and the ambience that only Tuscany can provide.
As a woman of a certain age Anna Rita is a powerhouse, managing the busy estate which hosts many visitors who come for tastings of their wine, olive oil and Cinta products.
Italian history
She has an astounding knowledge of Italian history and its food and to have a conversation over a glass of wine is truly a learning experience.
This time we are visiting her to explore the possibility of starting a cooking school based out of her estate that could host guests from around the world and teach them true Italian cooking ripped straight from her grand mother’s cookbook.
Except that her grandmother never kept a cookbook, all her recipes were passed down to Anna Rita, who carries them around in her encyclopedia-like brain, very capably recreating them for her guests. Dishes like sour cherry crostata, egg and parsley crostini, tagliatelle with Cinta ragú or her succulent arista (rack of pork). Does that grab anybody’s taste buds?
I recently spent two weeks in Tuscany and Umbria and had an afternoon of wine tasting in Castellina in Chianti. Such a gorgeous place! Would’ve loved to have spent more time there like you did. If you are still in Italy, I can highly recommend a visit to Umbria…I loved it even more than Tuscany.
We left Italy on Friday, in Budapest now. Will save Umbria for next time 🙂
I know who I’m contacting before I leave for Italy in November. Food and Super Tuscan wine is on the agenda. I know I’m taking at least one cooking class, too. Currently I’m trying to create a weight deficit to accommodate room in my pants for this month-long trip to Europe.
It doesn’t take long to put on the pounds, our clothes were a bit tight when we left Italy but with this heat, we’re sweating it off.