WAITING FOR BENVENUTO BRUNELLO 2013

Whilst the wine world is waiting to get a first taste of Brunello di Montalcino 2008 and the Brunello Riserva 2007 at Benvenuto Brunello 2013, wine pro Monica Larner has already gotten a head start at Montalcino's vintner association last week.

A big fan of Brunello 2007, Monica Larner doesn't seem quite as excited about the 2008 vintage after tasting her way through a good 250 Brunello di Montalcino 2008 (poor thing!); whereas, not surprisingly, the Brunello Riserva 2007 gets one big thumbs up from the Italian editor of Wine Enthusiast (click through for the interview with her in Italian on Montalcinonews).

We'll be keeping you up-to-date on what the rest of the wine world is going to say at the end of February after Benvenuto Brunello 2013. In the meantime you better keep stocking up on Brunello 2007 - a vintage meant to last. Check out Monica Larner's Brunello di Montalcino 2007 tasting notes on Wine Enthusiast or listen to what she said after tasting this most stellar vintage last year.

SANT'ANTIMO ABBEY - TUSCANY'S ROMANESQUE TREASURE

Sant'Antimo abbey near Montalcino You don't have to be a catholic to remain spellbound by the eternal beauty of the Sant'Antimo abbey. The Tuscan church and monastery can turn a stubborn skeptic into a reborn spiritual. At least for the time of the visit.

SWIMMING, READING AND DINING IN BAGNO VIGNONI

Whilst the sell-out of tourist destination is a well known plague all through Italy, t here exists a tiny town in UNESCO Heritage Val d'Orcia which forgoes made in China souvenirs and just opened a bookshop instead. Bagno Vignoni is one of Tuscany's oldest tourist destinations. In fact the historic spa town has never been anything else than a tourist destination, and the ratio of inhabitants to visitors must always have been at least 1 to 10. Having looked after medieval pilgrims, ailing popes and saints ( St. Catherine of Siena used to live here for a while), Bagno Vignoni isn't tempted at all to put out plastic chairs or pizza takeaways for present day travelers. I used to live close to Bagno Vignoni and have fond memories of chasing my first -born around the town's main square which consists of a steaming hot water pool (a must-see sight for urban architects!). Our healthy mornings were usually finished off with a slice of fudge chocolate c

VAL D'ORCIA: A MAP OF THE UNESCO HERITAGE SITE

About 40 minutes south of Siena and a bit over an hour from the Tuscan coast, Val d'Orcia lies to the east of the Maremma and to the west of Montepulciano and Umbria. The UNESCO world heritage site is made up by the territories of Montalcino, San Quirico d'Orcia (with historic spa town Bagno Vignoni ) , Pienza, Castiglione d'Orcia and Radicofani. The Orcia river crosses two more municipalities (Castel del Piano and my hometown Cinigiano ), where it divides the province of Siena from the province of Grosseto (Tuscany's two southernmost areas) before flowing into the Ombrone river. View VAL D'ORCIA MAP in a larger map

Mapping MONTALCINO

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