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.
Grape vines
More grape vines
This is the Vendita Diretta and information booth which is located on road SS 222 at the corner where you turn onto the road that takes you to the Castello di Verrazzano. It is usually open from 10:00am-1:00pm and 2:00pm-5:00pm for tastings and purchases.
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 Verrazano Bridge is named after him. Notice the spelling. When they named the bridge, they spelled the name wrong and it has remained that way.
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 Margarita.
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.
The storage room for the balsamic vinegar.
This is a view outside the tasting room.
Look closely at the left part of this photo.
You can see the sign below. Past this is where the
tasting took place.
Room of the Grapes
This is where we had our tasting. Karen and I sat over to the left, out of sight of this photo.
A machine in the tasing room which was used for slicing prosciutto.
