Yesterday morning we had class as usual. The most exciting part of the day was our visit to two of the Frescobaldi Estates culminating in my first wine tasting! We met up with my mom at the Porta Romana yesterday afternoon and she joined us on our trip. We took an hour ride on the bus through the Florence countryside on curvy/narrow roads. Finally we arrived at the first estate, Castillo di Pomino. This estate specializes in a white wine called Benefizio. This estate dates from 1500 and became famous for the excellence of its location. We left this estate and headed to Castillo di Nipozzano.
Castillo di Nipozzano is the most celebrated and historic property of the Frescobaldi family. The castle was created in the year 1000 and served as a defensive stronghold. Artists such as Donatello and Michelozzo Michelozzi regularly purchased wine from this estate during the Renaissance. Our tour guide was the daughter or the owner of the company. She works for the company as well. She also told us that each time a member of the family is born, 500 bottles of wine are saved for them to drink/save for special occasions. There are bottles in the family reserve that date back to the 1860s. Which is truly remarkable!
After our tour, we headed to the house. We were able to look at photos of the family. I even saw an invitation to the Royal Wedding back in 2011! We then took part in the wine tasting. They had a selection of cheeses, bread, and olive oil to accompany the wine. The first wine that we tried was the Benefitzio, which is a thicker white wine. Our tour guide told us that in order to truly appreciate the wine you first check its density by moving it around in the class. Then you smell it three times, each time taking in more and more of its aroma. Lastly, you taste the wine. We discussed the different smells we were picking up from the wines. I never knew how much of an art this whole process is. The second wine we tasted was the Nipozzano, which was a red wine. The third wine was the Mormoreto. From the smell, to the taste, it was EXTREMELY pungent and strong. We were told that this wine would go well with a steak because it was so flavorful. We also tried the olive oil that the family makes. It was the best olive oil that I’ve had on the trip thus far.
I thoroughly enjoyed this visit to the Frescobaldi Estates and being able to experience my first wine tasting! Mom and I were also able to buy some of their homemade honey (which I will most definitely be using with my tea!) We also bought my brother a bottle of the Benefizio for him to use on his birthday later this summer!
After getting back to Florence, we headed out to dinner! Kelsey and I have been trying to go to Trattoria Casalinga for the past three weeks so we decided to give it another go. It just so happened that they didn’t have any reservations at the time we were trying to eat! This was probably my favorite restaurant here in Florence mostly because it was inexpensive for great tasting food. I was able to finally get my creamy sauce that I have been craving. I ordered a mixed salad and a spaghetti carbonara meal. All of us then went to get Gelato.
We then decided to try to do Karaoke at Red Garter; however, once when we finally got there, it was finished. I was super bummed because everyone who knows me knows that I LOVE karaoke! We then decided to stay and dance for a little while. It was so much fun because they played a mix of American and Italian music. After an hour or so, we decided to head back to the Instituto and call it a night. I did some reading before bed to prepare for our Machiavelli discussion!
Ciao!
-Court
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