We headed to San Gimignano for a quick day trip from our home base of Siena. Sometimes called the “Manhattan of Tuscany” or “Town of Fine Towers”, this medieval town still has 14 of its original 70 towers from the 12th century that have withstood wars and time. During our first visit to Italy we only had a couple of hours to see the town, so this time we were able to really experience its charm.
We climbed to the top of the tallest tower called Torre Grossa for some amazing views.
One of the reasons for selecting Tuscany as our first full month stay was the fantastic red wines from this region: Chianti Classico, Brunello di Montalcino, and Montepulciano. However, on this day trip, we discovered Vernaccia di San Gimignano, a fabulous white wine that is actually one of the most prestigious Italian white wines and can be traced back to ancient origins as early as 1276. I do not know how we went so long before discovering this amazing wine. We thought perhaps it is not imported into the US; however, we learned the US is actually one of the primary importers! Friends, please look for this wine the next time you are out and looking for a clean and crisp white as an aperitif or paired with fish, chicken, or cheeses. We enjoyed sipping on this wine on a hot and sunny day in San Gimignano.
We paired it with a cheese and prosciutto/salami plate.
And finished the meal with a very popular dessert in Tuscany – biscotti (known as cantuccini here) dipped in Vin Santo (holy wine), a sweet Italian dessert wine that also has ancient origins dating back to at least the Renaissance. The twice-baked almond cantuccini become perfectly sweet and moist after a few seconds in the late-harvest wine. The last sip is the best with all the little crumbs at the bottom.
We then took a walk up a bit of a hill to Rocca di Montestaffoli to admire the Tuscan countryside. The fortress was built by the Florentines in 1353 to protect the city from possible attacks by Siena.
Perfecting my high school yearbook pose at the entry to the fort.
The Museo de Vernaccia is by the fort and a great place to learn all kinds of interesting facts. This wine has been around for centuries and was a prominent wine for the rich and famous during medieval times. Popes were known to be addicted. The wine was even mentioned in Dante’s Divine Comedy and praised by Geoffrey Chaucer. And as NextGen nomads, we would be remiss if we didn’t mention that research has been conducted in recent years on the DNA and traceability of this grape varietal as well as the influence of the environment on the quality of the wine. The soil in San Gimignano seem uniquely suited to growing these grapes. Nobody has been able to reproduce this wine elsewhere in the world. It was the first Italian wine to be awarded Denominazione di Origine Controllata (controlled designation of origin), which is a system modeled after the French Appellation d’origine contrôlée (AOC) designations. After perusing the museum and learning a bit about the wine, we enjoyed a tasting of two Vernaccia wines, a Chianti, and Super Tuscan.
After the tasting we decided to finish off the day savoring another full glass of wine while taking in the picturesque scenery from atop the fortress hills.
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