We bid a sad farewell to our beautiful Saturnia hotel this morning and headed north to Montepulciano, home to one of our favourite Italian wines, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. The Sangiovese-based wine has been called “a noble wine destined for the table of nobles”. There is evidence of wine production in this area since 400BC!
Dave had fun navigating the narrow zigzag roads up into the village.
Our hotel is a converted 14th C palazzo with a view of the Valdichiana valley.
We arrived in town in time for a quick town tour, lunch and a tasting at one of the local wine shops.
The Torre di Pulcinella is topped with a figure of Pulcinella, one of four theater characters of the Commedia dell’arte from Naples.
In plays, the clown-like Pulcinella symbolizes the simplicity, stupidity and cunning of the commoners.
Every hour, the figure hits the bell with his hammer
The heraldic marble lion atop the Marzocco Column symbolizes Florence’s historical control over Montepulciano after their triumph in the region of Siena.
We found some gluten free pizza and some of that famous Nobile wine for lunch.
At Cantina Ercolani, we took a tour of their underground cellars.
Before being used for storing wine, the Ercolani cellars were a place of refuge for the Ghibellines, a faction supporting the Holy Roman Emperor (the German Kaiser) against the Pope during the Middle Ages.
Our tour ended with a wine tasting accompanied by local pecorino cheeses.
We managed to get a reservation for the second seating at Osteria Acquacheta, the local Florentine steak house. Bistecca Alla Fiorentina is a huge T bone steak cooked in a wood fired oven.
The famous T-Bone is from the Chianina breed of cattle, the largest and one of the oldest breeds of cattle in the world. Ours was a massive 1.66kg. It was one of the smaller ones.
It was very chaotic as we lined up outside and the hostess called names for the second seating. Seating is family style at large tables. We shared with three young, hungry Italian men and a nice couple from Seville.
We ordered a half-liter of the house wine and sparkling water but only had one kitchen glass on the table. Upon asking for a second bicchiere, the sweet but harried waitress told us ‘it’s the same glass, you don’t get another one’.
And the bill for all this fun with the €8/L house wine and a side of steamed chicory? €74. It was an experience!
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