Montepulciano

We left Florence and its art behind us and headed to the southern hill country of Tuscany...another wine area and one of our favourite wines Montepulciano.
We booked online ....so far they have not been the best accomodations......but upon approach to this hilltop bastion city we knew it was going to be a memorable experience. Our pension was in the heart of the city...not a large one ...a town really...but when we entered the archway of the medieval walls....the roads shrank dramatically....a sign said maximum 2.5 metres only!!..uh oh.....we quckly pulled over and asked a local the whereabouts of the hotel....after discussions he said...follow me and I will take you the safest route!!...Thank god that happened....Switch backs, 3 point turns ...but not a scratch ...we arrived at our destination...and a parking spot for us only!!

Thank you for Italian generousity!.........We rang the bell of the pension and when the door opened we were bowled over by the personality that greeted us.......Roberto Giardinelli....A passionate ,warm hearted, comedic tower of a man...also a retired actor.....We laughed the whole time we were registering!!......His business card would give us discounts and open doors for us everywhere he said....guess what....it was true!!...We have had the best time...and would reccommend his hotel   ALBERGO LA TERRAZZA and Montepulciano to anyone...without hesitation.

The city is very old and the vineyards go back to the founders of Tuscany...The Etruscans...1ooo years before the Romans became an empire....having migrated from the original land now called Iraq..Mick teaches this as a course....

We wandered through alleyways, narrow streets and viewed the vistas from the city walls ...magnificent...probably the epitome of Tuscany..

The stores are full of the wines, olive oils and thier famous cheese...Peccorino....Excellent flavour... We stumbled upon a wine store that was also a museum of sorts and there low and behold was an ancient Etruscan tomb!!!...Mick was in his element!!....Entered the tomb and studied the escavation techniques etc etc....Boring for some but a mine of information for Mick..Ha!

Another store was in fact a huge wine cellar that went down and dfown into the bowels of Montepulciano....Huge kegs maturing away.....what a site it was.

After the walks , photography and archeological experience we had a great local Tuscan meal.....wild boar sauce spagetti and local mushroom and ham ...both pastas being home made....obvoisly coupled with thier wonderful local wine...Robust red , slightly dry .....great!.....
Off to bed in a lovely room....Roberto singing somewhere in the distace...ha ha!!

Thank you Montepulciano for a memorable time....we will be back!!