Is it possible that the historical hilltop towns are all as beautiful as the pictures? Are all the fresco adorned cathedrals all magnificent? Is the landscape really filled with vineyards and olive groves as far as the eye can see? To help us acclimatise, we decide that tasting some of the local wine and olive oil was an important first step.
We find a beautiful looking wine making estate in a rambling stone farmhouse that has diversified to include apartments and a lovely camping area. In the evening, we talk to the vineyard manager and she explains wine making at La Montanina and shares some of their delicious wares with us.
Although the vineyard is older, the current owners have been making wine here for 11 years. In contrast to our experiences in France, the grapes here are all harvested by hand.
Tractors and automation are too expensive. Wine making is a tough business. Autumn is in the air now, despite the 20c temperatures. We decide to make a quick hike up to the local castello to check out the views.
From the top, we can see the storms and rain showers passing over the landscape. Realising one of them is going to get us, we narrowly make it home for lunch and the afternoon is a bit of wash out. The hilltop town is, at m, the highest in Tuscany and has an ancient history.
