Vino e Pizza

So… We have been without Internet access for a few days, and the blog posts have been limited as a result of this. I have a lot to catch up on and as Internet access becomes available - and I have time - new blog posts will begin to show up.

Today (Thursday 23rd July) was a bit of a lay-day - we hung out at the villa and swam to keep cool. After lunch (and siesta) we decided to check out a local winery, Tenuta di Trecciano, which is about 5km down the road for some tastings.

The wine on offer was produced from grape varieties and in the styles typical of the local Tuscan region. We tried 1 white, 4 reds and a desert wine - all rather nice - and we ended up purchasing 4 of their bottles, 1 white and 3 of the red. Interestingly we were encouraged to drink the desert wine by dunking a piece of almond biscotti into it - it made for quite a delicious combination.

The owner took us for a walk through their facility so we could see the wine being bottled.

After finishing up our tastings we continued on to a local ceramics factory we had found online. It took a bit of finding, but after 3 laps around the block we made it. Most of their ceramic work appeared to be targeted at the bulk commercial market - however they did sell certain pieces direct to the public from their factory.

The owner showed us upstairs to his show room - a small, hot, room full of nicely decorated ceramic plates, cups, bowls, verses, and platters. We all found a few pieces we liked and made our purchases before heading back home.

Once back home we all decided to jump in the pool again to cool off ahead of the Pizza night we had arranged with the owner. The owner and his staff were starting to make preparations - fetching wood for the Pizza oven, making the dough and preparing the ingredients for the toppings.

Watching the Pizza oven in operation was interesting - and extremely hot. The chef worked the oven like a master and put together some of the best pizza we have eaten - delicate thin crust, and extremely tasty toppings.

As with the night of the feast a few nights before, we started with a selection of antipasti. This was then followed by a procession of pizzas - one after the other - the continued to come until we could eat no more. We did finish the night with a Nutella pizza and some Limoncello however.