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Wednesday, Driving from Volterra to Greve in Chianti to Florence

Today we are leaving Volterra and going to Florence. Along the way we will stop in Greve in Chianti for some wine tasting and to visit a macelleria (butcher shop.)

This is the approximate route we took from Volterra to Greve in Chianti, and then on to Florence.

Driving to Greve in Chianti

Here are some views of the drive from the Podere San Lorenzo to Greve in Chianti.

Grave vines

More grape vines

This information booth is located at the corner where you turn onto the road that takes you to the Castello di Verrazzano.
In addiditon it is a souvenir shop and you can also buy wine here.

Castello di Verrazzano

Classic Wine Tour and Wine Tasting at the Castello di Verrazzano

There is a show on the Food Channel called $40.00 a Day in which Racheal Ray spends a day in various cities and eats all her meals for the day on $40.00. Usually she devotes each show to one city, but she did one episode on Tuscany. One of the places she went in that episode was the Castello di Verrazzano and had a wine tasting that included snacks along with the wine. It all looked very interesting and entertaining.
I don't know if it was the time of year, or if they changed their way of doing tastings or if her episode was staged, but our time at Castello di Verrazzano was very different from hers.
However it was still a very good time and we tasted some very nice wines. They have various options for tours and tastings. We chose the Classic Wine Tour which starts at 10:00am and lasts one hour and a half.

This area was originally an Etruscan settlement. Later on it became the home of the Verrazzano family. Giovanni da Verrazzano was the explorer who discovered New York. The Verrazzano Bridge is named after him.

Giovanni da Verrazzano was one of the earliest Europeans to explore the North American continent. In 1524, 32 years after Columbus' first voyage and 96 years before the Pilgrims, Verrazzano toured the eastern seaboard while in command of a French ship. (Columbus, by the way, never actually reached North America on any of his voyages.) Verrazzano first explored in the area of the Carolinas, where he smelled the "sweet fragrance" of the cedars before actually seeing the shore. He then went northward along the coast and was impressed with the wide bay of New York harbor which he named Santa Margartia. As he cruised northward along the coast, he was disappointed in what is now Maine, when he reached an area where the natives bared their buttocks at sailors. He called this place the Land of Bad People.

This is the first thing you see as you walk from the parking area. On the left, beyond that little blue sign, are some stairs that lead up to where the office is. On the right, you can see an area with some grape vines. That is where the tastings take place. There is also a small restaurant there.

Behind these vines is the entrance to the office. When we came up the stairs, this was ahead and to the right. We waited in this area for our tour to begin.

This view is to the left of the photo above.
Through that door is where they store the balsamic vinegar
which is pictured below.

This view is behind me as I took the photo above.
As we came up the stairs, this was to the left.
Our tour began by walking past this area and up to the right.

This view was way off to the right as we came up the stairs,
behind the buildings.

As we walked at the beginning of the tour, we passed this walkway.

In the courtyard at the upper lever is this water tank.

It was a sign of wealth to have a large water tank.

Below are some views of the courtyard.

After passing by the fountain in the previous photo and going off
to the right, the tour guide pointed out an enclosure down the hill
which contained some wild boars.

We entered a building and inside the first room was this stuffed boar's head.

A map of the grounds of the Castello di Verrazzano. I do not know if this was an old map or if it was just made to look that way.

Below are some views of the wine cellars.

A collection of the various products of the Castello di Verrazzano, including red table wine, Chianti, Chianti Classico, Chianti Classico Reserva, Super Tuscan, Vin Santo and balsamic vinegar among other things.

Below are some more views of the wine cellars.