A day long wine tour

This is Diane's first day in Europe. It will be memorable and starts as we are introduced to Andrea, our Italian driver and sommelier, who drives through the villa gates just as the sun is chasing the morning chill. We set off up over the mountains on a narrow curving road that is a travelogue of the best of Tuscany.  Colorful villages, vibrant flowers and every fold in the earth or hillside covered with vines or olive groves.  As we climb higher there are amazing views off to the high alps or the sea.

We visit three wineries and each one has a small production so they are very much boutique wines.  All wonderful in their own way and we bought.  This is about half the days haul.

The first winery was organic and family run with delicious wines.

The second one was larger, more organized and served a tasting lunch.

Then Andrea had to improvise because one of the scheduled wineries had the Italian wine inspectors show up and we were cancelled so he added a bio-dynamic winery.  This was the wonderful serendipitous experience of the day.  We headed up the dramatic Garfagna valley following the river bed as it cuts through steep dramatic mountains. We passed the old Roman footbridge that is a perfect intact arch.  

As we rounded a curve this dramatic little village was visible way way up the mountain side and Andrea turned off unto a vertical track that curled up and up until we reached a tiny wine farm perched on the mountain side just below the village.

They just started harvesting their small production.  Everything is all natural and the wines are fed with herbal infusions and pruned, planted and picked according to the waxing and waning of the moon.  These are old farming techniques practiced since ancient times and produces healthy vines with a lot of heart that produce no matter what the weather.

This was just the next step so Diane happily got to do her Lucille Ball imitation.

Admiring her handiwork.  One of the young workers hopped in to finish up as we left.

This was by far the most interesting and unique experience of the day as we cruised home while the sunset painted the sky in a peach and golden glow.

If you ever are here call or email Katherine or Andrea at Tuscan Drivers in Lucca as they are totally fabulous.