A Sunday drive: Montalcino & Pienza

Barry’s words.......
“I’m writing this from the living room of our apartment in Montepulciano, where the sun has just risen across the Tuscan landscape. We have an absolutely beautiful view out across vineyards and gentle rolling hills here, so very happy with our accommodation choice.
Yesterday we went for a “Sunday drive” (not the sort of thing that we do at home) and went to another hilltop town about 20km away, Montalcino. They had their annual thrush festival on, where the 4 quarters of the town compete in an archery competition, with a big parade where they are all dressed in medieval costume: very colourful. They had a big outdoor BBQ sort of thing where all the visitors ate and drank (Montalcino is a very famous wine town, so we had to sample the local speciality of course). The nice thing about the day was that although it was crowded, most of the visitors were Italians, rather than overseas visitors: we have been a bit put off by some of the places we have visited which only seem to exist for the international tourism.
After Montalcino we drove through some more picture-postcard countryside to Pienza, another lovely little town where we had a drink in the main square and watched the world go by. People-watching is a major pastime here!”
Suzette’s words
What a special day!! I have my head buried in the book “Vanilla Beans and Brodo” by Isabella Duisi, and it is set in Montalcino. It has been written up in the Herald and the travel writer, Jim Eagles, did an article this year where he came on a tour with her to Tuscany. It was such good luck that the very weekend we had, was the actual weekend of the famous archery competition and thrush festival. You need to read the book to get all of the details. (it will go into book club)
Anyway, we climbed up to the village in our car, and managed to park up a steep hill, not too far away, as we were quite early arriving at around 11. The smoke was billowing from the barbeques and the smells were divine. Each quarter of the village had a food and wine stand festooned with their colours. Everyone was walking around, swinging bottles of Brunello and drinking. It was more like a NZ event with young people getting pissed and singing. Shouts of team chants went up every now and again, where around a quarter of the crowd would join in (basically chanting that their archer was the best, their quarter the best etc)
Before we tasted the Tuscan delights we decided to wander around the town. It was obvious something was about to happen, and we managed to get ourselves an English version of the programme, so we sat down on the roadside and waited for the medieval parade to start. It was just great, a big reminder of the even grander Palio in Sienna some years ago which we had also stumbled upon.
After about an hour the parade and the blessing of the archers were over, so everyone could go and have their lunch (usually a 2 hour affair). We wandered up over the town, around the church, and back into town to the quarters and the stands. It was a bit of a bun fight to get your tickets and food but all part of the fun. We found a place in the sun and chatted to the few other tourists who had made it to this almost entirely Italian event. I got talking to a Brunello producer and his wife (ex Dutch hockey player) and Barry spoke to 2 Swedes who were extending their summers and were staying in the village having done the very same thing before.
On offer were various meat options (salscitica sausages, bisteca (steak), misto (mixed grill on a stick); gorgeous huge porcini mushrooms grilled on the barbeque; bruscheta rubbed with garlic and then dipped in fresh olive oil; polenta fried, whipped or whatever; wild boar sauces, ragu sauces, ......
Then there were the dolci options...almond cake, chocolate options, cantucci dipped in santo wine...
Brunello was available by plastic glass! At 6 Euro!!! I decided why not? My first glass of Brunello may as well be authentic, and even the brunello grower was doing the same next to us! Brunello is made from 100% of a unique clone of sangiovese grapes, only grown ina 26 km radius on the slopes of the town, and aged in oak barrels for at least 4 years, I think. The rosso is the ‘inferior’ version made up of sangiovese and blended with things like merlot etc ( I think). We loved the rosso anyway. The grower said the brunello must be opened at least 2 hours before drinking, and they decant it. He also said what makes it special is that you can give it to your nephew, so long as you change the cork (meaning to cellar it for years and years) ...which of course led to a discussion on screw tops verses the cork...”but the wine must be able to breath”...
A couple of hours later we wandered off, very happy to have enjoyed these special celebrations! It was one of the best days of the trip for me!! We went off to an enoteca and bought 3 bottles of wine to try at home (Tuscan home), 2 brunellos and a rosso to compare. All that was left was the steep climb back up to the car to drive home. We didn’t stay for the actual archery, as it didn’t begin until 3.45, and the thousands of people would all be trying to leave on the same road at the same time so we imagined chaos to get out. It was the first night of daylight saving, so it would get dark at 6pm, but from Monday it would get dark at 5pm. Also there was not much point in my being there and not able to quaff brunello!! Buggar.
Pienza is the town- planning geeks’ paradise, so hence we had to go there. It was a planned medieval town, and just gorgeous. It was something about the size, layout, and the spaces between the buildings.
We had tried to get into a traditional trattoria near to the apartment on Saturday night, but most places were full, so we went back on Sunday. We had a light meal (after the lunch). I chose the pasta option with the fresh truffles on!!!! Now I was in heaven....but that is another blog story.
What a perfect day in Tuscany!!!