Day Four - Wednesday

We had a leisurely breakfast with plenty of strong coffee and set off about 11 AM for a tour of Chianti, the fabled region of wonderfully smooth red wines, not the same stuff we know as Chianti but really excellent. I never had a bad wine in Italy. First stop in Chianti was a charming small village on top of the hill with parts of an old Etruscan wall, narrow streets (no cars allowed) and lots of charming little flower gardens created on postage size plots of earth or big ceramic pots. There are apartments for rent in Montefioralle for anywhere from 400E to 700E. If you want an Italian get-away, far from the madding crowds and with a beautiful view and charm galore, Montefioralle is the village for you. There are not many amenities but a quick ride or longer walk down hill to Greve will provide any essentials you might need. We partly drove and partly walked down to Greve where we got to do some more shopping and had a great lunch soaking in a warm Tuscan sun, especially delightful after the cold, rainy day before. It seems all Tuscan villages have a famous favored son - a writer, philosopher, explorer, warrior, or artist. In Greve, a statue in the central part of the town, lets people know that Giovanni da Verrazzano, the famous explorer was born there.

After Greve, we drove up a long and treacherous road to the top of one of the highest hills where Michelangelo introduced us to owners of Lamole a splendid little winery. We tasted the Chianti and talked about it, checked out the wine-making process and had a quick conversation with the owners, an Italian couple who had inherited the farm and worked it pretty much by themselves. It looked like pretty hard work with little rest or relaxation. I asked them why they did this work and the man replied it was for the love of nature and the love of living in the place, and the annual goal, to make the perfect Chianti. Always willing to take advantage of the moment Ron had a case shipped home to share with Dorothy and friends.
Information copied from Wikipedia
Giovanni di Verrazano

He is renowned as the first European since the Norse colonization of the Americas around AD 1000 to explore the Atlantic coast of North America between South Carolina and Newfoundland, including New York Harbor and Narragansett Bay in 1524. This statue is located just out of the picture over Elda's left shoulder above.