We spent today wandering around the hilltop village of Montepulciano and touring more of the wine cellars.
The Piazza Grande is the cultural and historical heart of town.
The Palazzo Comunale (town hall) in the Piazza Grande was inspired by the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence.
The travertine marble well in the grand square dates from 1520. It is topped with two griffins, two lions and the Medici family coat of arms.
At De Ricci Cantine we had a vertical tasting of their Nobile wine.
Their underground cellar is so large they call it the wine cathedral.
Our tour guide, Ron, explained the history of the name Ricci (Italian for hedgehogs). In the Middle Ages, before the old Etruscan cave system was repurposed for wine making, a hermit lived in one of the caves. His talent for predicting the weather caught the attention of the church and the town elders who were concerned he could be a sorcerer. On threat of death, he was forced to admit that he simply watched how the town’s hedgehogs were behaving to determine if the day would be sunny or rainy. He was then called Riccio Ricci and was awarded the property. Even today, the emblem of the Ricci Winery is the hedgehog.
For lunch we went back to the same pizzeria from yesterday for their great gluten free pizza crust. They also offer a gluten free Tiramisu that was particularly yummy.
After lunch, we visited Contine Cantucci, the oldest winery in town. The winemakers call themselves the ‘founding fathers’ of Vino Nobile, having started to grow the grapes about 1000 years ago.
The cellars of the winery were built between the 11th and 13th C, and were part of the ancient internal walls of Montepulciano.
Our tasting was done in a room that was part of the old castle. In addition to their very nice Nobile wine, we were able to taste (and purchase) a bottle of Vin Santo, a fortified wine made with white grapes.
Many of the restaurants in town are closed on Tuesdays, so we wandered a bit and had to choose a random restaurant. It worked out as we ended up sharing a five-person table with a young couple from Chicago and we chatted and traded travel stories.
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