Sangiovese harvest

Siena: Today was to be our Day Off. We tried to sleep-in, but Giovanni and his family were up early harvesting the grapes, starting and stopping the tractor and the roosters were crowing. So, we were up and making pots and pots of coffee in our cheap coffee maker that drips all over the counter when we pour a cup.

The family was picking grapes very near our villa, so we walked down to the vines and watched the process. Four men were working together, one on either side of two rows. They used small shears to clip the ripe clusters of Sangiovese grapes from the vines. They would place the grapes in small baskets and when their baskets became full - very often - they dumped the grapes into the back of the tractor's bin.

Ready to harvest (dt)


Kathy harvests the grapes


A basket of Sangiovese grapes


Malafrasca grows only Sangiovese grapes - used for Chianti wine


Our host, Giovanni...


...and his son, Simon


Our alarm clock (dt)


Stand around here...


and they put you to work! (jrw)

When the bin at the back of the tractor is filled with grapes, the engine is started and the grapes are forced through a machine that separates the fruit from the stem - leaves included. The pulp, skin and seeds go into a tank on the tractor and the stems and leaves are dropped on the ground. There was a pile of stems about every 20 feet between the two rows. This is a very small family operation - about 6,000 bottles per year. They make Chianti, using 100% sangiovese grapes. Giovanni also produces a bit of Vin Santo (sweet dessert wine) on this farm. They also grow olives for oil.

This machine removes the stems,
then mashes the grapes (dt)


Separating the grapes from the stems (dt)


Just a beautiful photo of grapes (jrw)

Later in the day, DT and I dropped everyone off in Siena so they could check their emails at the internet point. We then went to the train station to book our seats for Rome on Tuesday and then to make reservations for dinner and to locate the drop-off point for our rental car. By the time we had returned to Siena, everyone was already having lunch (at a Chinese restaurant!) so we stopped at a pizza place on the square and enjoyed a lovely lunch.

Sicilian pizza - with one monster anchovy


Pizza Margherita

Lisa's friend, Lily, had lived in Siena and told us to try her favorite gelato shop. Unfortunately, I could not remember if she said left or right of the square, so we decided to try an assortment of gelaterias.

The rest of the afternoon was spent at the villa - reading, needle-pointing, going over photos and maps and just relaxing. We napped. DT ran. The views over Tuscany were beautiful. The rooster on the farm was quite busy teaching a young cock to crow, cats were prowling around and it was a perfect afternoon under the Tuscan sun.

Since DT and I made reservations tonight at the most popular restaurant in town we finally secured a coveted table and were able to order the famed Florentine Steak - which is, in fact, a 2.2 pound T-bone steak. Everyone ordered dinners - and then we ordered the famed steak to share - merely as a novelty. We knew, from seeing this dish in restaurants in Florence, that it was a fairly rare piece of beef... or as our waiter said, "You will see some blood." We ate it all. Even though I only had two bites of the most well-cooked portion, the meat was incredibly tender and delicious. It tasted nearly smoked. I had a tour of the kitchen later, so can assure you it was only cooked over a gas grill (not in their wood-fired pizza oven), so I cannot explain the origin of the smoky flavor.

We saw some blood: Steak Florentine


Woody, DT and Mary at dinner

We had a good time. The waiter/owner/manager - who was not willing to seat us the past few night without a reservation - thinks we are okay now. We laughed quite a bit - Mary even laughed bubbly water out her nose - and we found our meals delicious. The prices were very reasonable too. Mary could not finish her pizza and took it home in the cutest pizza box ever. Dozens and dozens of pizzas were being carried out of the restaurant tonight - they have a huge to-go pizza business.

Siena pizza box

After dinner there was a big Hearts Tournament back at our villa and then we all went to bed... except me... still typing away on my laptop for you, Dear Reader. (Really, Matt banned me from hearts tournaments years ago.)

Pedometer today read just less than 8,000 steps.

Gelato of the Day: Nutella (chocolate hazelnut)... and... a wonderful ricotta and date swirl. The date gelato was the richest flavor to-date (pun intended.)