Post by Lauren

My first time to Tuscany, I remember feeling like I was driving through a Van Gogh painting. I loved witnessing with my own eyes the way the cypress dotted the landscape and gave protection to the rolling hills of vineyards and olive trees.

This trip, I was lucky that I got to see four new places in the Tuscan region.

SIENA – Beautiful hill town, a continual rival of its neighbor Florence. Verdict: I prefer Florence. Although, maybe I should visit Siena again when we aren’t so pressed for time and I’m not hungry.

POGGIBONI

Since this trip was a terroir trip to experience food and wine, one of our stops was a tasting with a local Tuscan butcher, Filipo. He explained the history of the family business which was quite interesting, and then invited us to see the cinta pigs roaming on the land. Cintas are a different type of pig – they are striped – and they also graze on nuts, forest foliage, and berries.

On the trip over, we discussed how important we think it is to see the source of our food. Too often you forget. Filipo shaved our fresh prosciutto off the leg. This is a big reminder to me how we should respect our food and not waste. Also, the way that his free range cinta are treated is a lesson for how important these practices in when selecting what products we purchase.

I found it ironic I wore a white dress on the pig farm visit day.

SAN DONATO

San Donato is a tiny medieval town in the Tuscan hills. We had a wine tasting at Fattoria San Donato of local wine – vernaccia (white) and chianti (red) as well as their beautiful olive oils. A highlight was walking through the familial home to find our courtyard tasting in the groves.

SAN GIRMINGNANO

San Gimingnano is another charming Tuscan hill town, instantly recognizable by its peaking bell towers.

We tasted more tuscan wine and olive oil at La Marronaia, another friend of Kay’s who had a sumptuous cellar. We tasted basic vernaccia, visila, chianti colli sennesi, intenso and quattrossi. I brought back some olive oil to accentuate my Italian dishes.