Chianti – Wine, Olive Oil and Chianina
View from Castello Nipozzano
Last weekend on our way home from Consuma, we made a spontaneous detour and took the road leading to the Castello Nipozzano. The castle was built in year 1000 as a defensive fortress and became the centre for communal life for the village of Nipozzano. Today the castle houses the wine cellar, where the estate red wines are produced and cask-aged. Nipozzano also serves as Frescobaldi’s hospitality centre and as the site for it’s fine food and wine initiatives.
The estate lies in the heart of the Chianti Rufina area, covering 626 hectares at elevations between 250 and 400 meters. 240 hectares are planted with San Giovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petite Verdot.
Vineyards and Olive Groves
We decided to pop into the store and buy some wine to add to our home collection (not that any bottle lasts long in our house)! We bought a bottle of Syrah but I was more excited about a ceramic carafe that I bought. I couldn’t believe my luck. Apart from the beauty of it, I couldn’t get over the price – I actually had to ask to make sure that I had read it correctly as this ceramic carafe was an original 1962 container used to export wine to America. It only cost 10 euro and they even gave me the original box. As we drove away, I asked myself why I had only bought one! Might have to pop back there next weekend!
Frescobaldi Ceramic Export Gallon carafe - 1962
Entrance to the Wine Cellar
Castle Nipozzano Wall
Where the magic happens!
Frescobaldi Wine Store hours
Another thing we noticed on the property were some beautiful Chianina cows. These are a breed of cattle from the provinces of Arezzo and Siena.
They have short hair on them which is usually white, but can be steel grey and are just adorable. They are bred for their meat and the Chianina is a prized cut of beef that is the traditional beef used for the famous Bistecca alla Fiorentina.
The size of the cows varies from area to area. They are very stocky, and have almost no neck, but have a hump behind their heads. Chianina also have longer legs than most other cattle.
Chianina were bred as they were good working animals in the fields – gentle, good tempered and very muscular.
Chianina enjoying the sun
Gorgeous Chianina
We then stopped again to take some pictures of the vines. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.
My favourite - Rosso!
Follow the grape vine road........
Grape Picking...... or is that pinching?
Knew my hat would come in handy!
Shhhh!!!
And someone said they were difficult to remove from the Vine!
Stay tuned for my next post where I show you what I made with those beautiful grapes once we arrived home.
Hint : Schiacciata con l’Uva
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