The Cecchi Winery

We loved our tour, tasting and luncheon at the Cecchi Winery in Castellina in Chianti.   Chiara and Cecilia were our hosts for the afternoon. 

Chiara gave us a tour of the winery.  Spoke to us about the growing and wine making processes.  I loved the smell when they opened the doors to the wine making facility ... it was intoxicating.  Each of the barrels above contains about 300 bottles of wine.  Another trivia fact:  the Italian vineyards are prohibited by their government from irrigating their vineyards.  They depend on mother nature.  As a consequence they try to match the grape to the characteristics of the region. Growing each varietal in a climate that is conducive to its needs. -- we loved our visit at Cecchi.   

Next we tasted a sampling of the Cecchi wines both red and white including a Castello Montauto, Chianti, Chianti Classico, Chianti Reserva,  and a Val Delle Rose.  Heavenly!

We ate outside at Antica Trattoria in the Piazza del Commune. We sampled several local specialties including my favorite and a new one to my repertoire, a fresh Pasta with Pigeon sauce.  This was probably one of my favorite dishes of my entire trip.  It had a brilliant red sauce that I loved.  Al's favorite was without a doubt the sushi inspired appetizer of 3 fish Tartare... sea bass, tuna and salmon... out of this world.