Mapping MONTALCINO

Something exciting is in the pipeline. Long-term Montalcino resident and Brunello expert, Laura R.Gray, is working on a fabulous new project about Montalcino. Is it a guidebook? Is it a lexicon? A glossary? A wine compendium? Yes and no. The format is A-Z but the selection criteria is entirely personal. Expect etymology and cultural observation, and things you never knew about Montalcino The project is called The Magpie’s Guide to Montalcino and you can sign up for more information as it becomes available  here , follow Laura on Instagram  or keep an eye on her  website   (which sports one gorgeous panorama shot of Montalcino!).  After nearly thirty years of life “drowning in Brunello,” at the helm of Il Palazzone winery for nearly twenty years, an analytic eye for detail and an irreverent attitude to life and wine, this is going to be a fun and educational read. Who better to select shiny nuggets of information – and what fun for us, magpie-like, to...

Brunello di Montalcino is not an everyday wine, and especially Brunello Riservas - produced only in outstanding vintages - are wines for big occasions, birthdays, anniversaries and, of course, the holidays.  But when visiting Montalcino and the Val d'Orcia during Christmas season, many wine lovers struggle to find a vineyard open for tastings. Understandably, after a year of hard work, most Brunello producers celebrate at home to finally enjoy their wine with their families.   Palazzone vineyard near Montalcino: open for tastings during the holidays Il Palazzone's holiday winery visits are an exception to the rule and the themed tastings are just the thing you need if you're still contemplating ideal wine pairings for Christmas lunch or New Year's Eve.  Sensory Tasting – Family Friendly  Deciphering the aromas in a wineglass is fun! Come and explore the world of aromas and scents. Includes: private winery tour, guided tasting of 4 wines & a leaf...

Sunset at the Palazzone winery Tasting Brunello can be a daunting task, at least during the two hottest months of the year. When temperatures start to reach suffocating highs in July and August, only hard-core professionals will look forward to starting the day with a wine that often has an alcohol content of 14 % (let alone the even mightier Brunello Riserva). Most travelers would just ask for one more iced coffee, thank you, if it wasn't for, yes, Montalcino.  At Il Palazzone  - one of my  top ten wineries  to visit in Montalcino - Esther from Vino Vistas created a cool alternative to sticky Tuscan summer mornings spent spitting too warm wine: sunset tastings (I still can't believe that nobody has thought about it before!) . Swirl your wine at sundown and enjoy not just the gorgeous view but also a bit of a breeze. Montalcino isn't just known for Brunello, but also for its windy evenings, and you'll come to love them after a sizzling hot...

Montalcino's festival season hasn't started yet and we're still waiting for the release of the program of Jazz&Wine 2015. But with the longer days and warmer weather the first musicians are back in town. Sabrina Turri closed Montalcino's music season last autumn  at La Pieve and is reopening it this spring with a concert in the beautiful piazza of Sant'Angelo in Colle.  HOTEL RIF, SANT'ANGELO IN COLLE, WEDNESDAY MAY 27, 7 pm The concert is organized by restaurant il Leccio. Come early to enjoy the sunset view from the town walls of Sant'Angelo in Colle (the best in Montalcino) or to have dinner at restaurant il Leccio  before. If you're not going out on an ordinary weekday catch Hotel Rif on Sunday May 24 at Siena's Teatro dei Rozzi for a special performance commemorating Italy's involvement in the first world war together with writer Emilio Franzina. Or come to Cinigiano on lunch time on Saturday May 30, to start the weekend w...

When summer comes to an end one fears the worst in Montalcino. From music festivals and al fresco dining the population moves right into the wine harvest and nights out become suddenly a no go (anybody who has ever spent a day picking grapes will know why).  Thanks god we are not quite there though. A few white wine grapes may already be off the vine, but since Montalcino is Sangiovese co untry we still have a couple of weeks before things go berserk and a last couple of events before Brunello town's social life falls temporarily asleep. So better make sure you'll be there! Hotel Rif, the Italian band around singer songwriter Sabrina Turri will take you on a trip through Italian and Mediterranean folk music in one of the most beautiful venues Montalcino has to offer. Restaurant la Pieve is located on the Tuscan town's south-western slopes, so make sure you leave Montalcino a bit early to take in the fabulous sunset on the road that leads via Tavernelle to La Pieve (...

In a town where most peopble live on Brunello, it's a relief to see that some still don't. When the flower shop on Montalcino's main square closed down over a year ago, everybody expected that yet another wine shop was about to be opened.  But instead of cases of wine, two beautiful old Singer sewing machines were unpacked and bales of prime Italian fabric were delivered.  Twenty years ago every Italian town used to have a tailor on the main street. One of my favorite ones can still be found in Umbria, where Sartoria Trabalza has managed to resist the tide of globalization on Bevagna's beautiful town square. And  thanks to Renata Prinicipe's artisan spirit  another one has just been born in Montalcino. Craftswomenship has been running through her family for generations, and from clothes to table linens every single piece in the shop is handmade by Renata, her sister and her mom. The textiles at Sartoria Principe range from Tuscan classics like the famo...

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 m...

Siena's tour guide association heads for once out of town to propose a visit to Montalcino's lesser known sights. The guided walk will take you via some of the wine town's churches to Montalcino's medieval hospital. Inside the hospital the Scrittoio  or Studiolo (little office) has been frescoed by San Gimignano born painter Vincenzo Tamagni. San Francesco church and hospital (on the left) seen from Montalcino's town center Tamagni (1492 - 1530) was a pupil of Renaissance painter Sodoma, with whom he worked on the frescoes in the cloister of the Monte Oliveto Maggiore abbey near Buonconvento. Apart of his works in various Tuscan towns, Tamagni later collaborated with Raphael in Rome on the famous Logge at the Vatican.   GUIDED VISIT TO MONTALCINO: SUNDAY 29th of DECEMBER, 2013 Meeting point in front of the fortress at 3 pm. Cost of the guided tour is 6 € per person. The visit is in Italian, but it's well worth walking along for English speakers as th...