Wine, wine, wine

Here is the festival in Greve!


This setup is neat - you buy one wine glass for 10 Euros, and basically get 8 tastings (not quite a full glass, but...plenty). We arrived pretty early, which meant we were able to pace ourselves and enjoy the town too.

Weren't quite sure what we'd find, but the main square is full of booths from all over the Chianti region, and each had wines you could taste and buy, as well as a bit of history about their estate. It's the main Chianti festival, and it happens each September on this weekend.



Most have been making and selling wine and olive oil in Chianti for about a century or, in many cases, much, much longer.
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This label is from 1920.

We had already enjoyed the day immensely, when out of nowhere (or perhaps out of Under the Tuscan Sun), the flag throwers appeared.








...as well as their slightly stodgy overseer. We weren't quite sure what was going on, but


Hooray!

After deciding on our favorites, we bought a few bottles to bring back with us to Borgo Rapale, and made our way back, encountering a few great scenes along the way.


The classic little blue haired ladies...



This kid, going to town on his gelato.






And of course, the Tuscan sun setting.

We ate dinner at a restaurant on the way home in Castelnuovo, which was packed with families doing Sunday dinner and was the type of place where everyone knew the chef/owner/waiter-in-one but us. So delicious, and a little strange to be the only non-Italians in the place. Little children running in and out of the rooms and trying to get his attention. Another delicious tiramisu here, and some out of this world caprese.

Tough to top such a day.

xo,
lmm