Tuscan Vinsanto, Holywine

For all my customers that came on my tuscan wine tours  that have bought the delicious Vinsanto, dessert wine made only here in Tuscany! 


do you remember that we use to dip the Cantuccini, inside the Vinosanto? so here it is the recipe of the Cantuccini, almond cookies... zero calories, no dairy, no fat 

      

Ingredients:

- 3 cups of flour

 -1 cup sugar

 -1 cup almonds

 -2 cups of soya milk

-1 cup of raisin grapes

 - yeast

                                                                                                    Almonds

Grate the skin of an organic lemon and put on the flour

then mix up all the ingredients (organic ingredients is better)

until it gets  creamy and soft 

 so add as much milk as you need to get this result

later,  prepar some long pieces to bake at 180° Celtius degrees (356°Fahrenheit) for around 30 minutes...different ovens different temperatures..

like three pieces of bread

now cut diagonally the cake to get severals Cantuccini 

bake over again each side for 15 minutes...

after

uhm.... now, sorry, but I have to drink my Vinsanto with my Cantuccini!

ciao ange

Umbria, Sagrantino wine, part three

Third part 

Sunday

after a very nice breakfast, straight to the third well known winery : Caprai,  Montefalco area

the vineyards

kind of a cultivation called Lyra because its shape recalls the music instrument

the technical facilities

the aging room 

the wine tasting room: very glamour room

then going back to Florence, a quick visit to Assisi and the famous S.Francisco's Church

 and the monastery in where S.Francesco would spend most of the time speaking with  the animals and with close friends

view from his bedroom

the dining room 

San Francesco loved animals so probably he would have loved also my dog zar

angie in Umbria

Umbria, Sagrantino wine, part two

SECOND PART

Here I am again;

so later on the same day I went to visit another pretty little medieval town: Spello

eyes on arch

typical alley

Roman Arch

Typical cat of Spello

owls before the window

pretty view

a cat on my way

well is time for the third part of the trip!

Umbria, Sagrantino and Rosso di Montefalco wine

FIRST PART

I have just spent three days in Umbria for tasting the typical red wine made in Montefalco:

Sagrantino wine is made with Sagrantino grapes.

The origins of this grape is still a mystery, one supposition is that was imported by Byzantine monks from Greese and the name seems to be connected with something sacred...  maybe was used by priests in their religious ceremonies

 The first winery I decided to visit on Friday is a well-known winery, Cantine Antonelli or San Marco winery in Montefalco area

Sagrantino DOCG wine is made with pure Sagrantino grapes

Sagrantino blended with other red grapes is called Montefalco Rosso

The colour is intense, ruby red with pourple reflexes, the arome 

intense with black berry, 

prune, leather flavours and with powerful taste.

After the winery, a relaxing lunch in a typical Osteria, keeping on

 drinking another glass of Sagrantino wine

after lunch a quick visit to a roman/medieval little town, Bevagna

Saturday longer day

in the morning, I went to another well known winery: Tenuta della Custodia a beautiful place surrounded by vineyards and olive trees, beautiful even if  we are still in the deep winter....

me

 

view from the terrace of the winery

tomorrow the second part of my little vacation, goodnight!

San Gimignano Vernaccia and Saffron tasting

San Gimignano

XI century pretty village... tough to pronounce even in italian..

is famous for its 14 grey stone towers

for its special white grape and wine, Vernaccia

and for its saffron, very precious and expensive spicy

It takes about 125,000 flowers to get 1 kilogram of saffron and the price on the market is 35,000 euro per kg….. can you immagine? The gold is sold for about 22,000 euro per kg!

The delicate red pistils are dried at low temperature for one night

Vernaccia was the first white wine that got the appelation in 1993 of docg wine, so stricly controller by the State. It is an old grape dates back the XII century and can be produced only in the small area of San Gimignano, and cannot befound in any other wine region

the colour is pale straw-yellow, fine smell, delicate, dry, armonic, with a little bitter aftertaste

enjoying the Vernaccia and the Saffron 

during my San Gimignano tours

rise with saffron

home made ravioli with saffron sauce

homemade saffron  gelato