Every year, sometimes twice a year, my work becomes absolute play. These are the occasions each summer when I take our members from Sawgrass Country Club on our member wine trips to some of the most notable wine destinations. This year was our first-ever international wine trip and, oh, what a trip it was!
Two separate groups of members toured with me this June. My first group consisted of 13 members and my second group, which arrived a week later, was a bit larger at 20 members.
We stayed in the middle of Siena at the only 5-star hotel in town, the Grand Hotel Continental, which is located in the historic district of Siena, known for the famous Palio horse races.
Our hotel is where we kicked off our visits with a catered party each week featuring a selection of luxury Italian wines paired with a decadent display of charcuterie and hors d’oeuvres in the hotel’s elegant Salone della Feste event room.
Each group toured the next three days, beginning at Banfi’s winery in Montalcino for in-depth tours of their production facility and then culminating with lunch at La Taverna, Banfi’s Michelin-rated restaurant. I have to say the wine pairings, especially regarding pairing with the sauces, were truly on the level of a work of art.
Next, we ventured to San Polo’s winery, also located in Montalcino and known specifically for their extraordinary Brunello di Montalcino wines. Riccardo Fratton, San Polo’s Winemaker led our tour into the vineyards and winery. After much insight into Brunello production, Riccardo and his team offered a vertical tasting of San Polo’s high-end single vineyard Brunello’s featuring four vintages side by side ranging from 2015 to 2018.
A little insight straight from Italy, the 2016 vintage is considered by many winemakers to be the best in the last 20 years. Our coursed wine dinner later that evening at San Polo can only be termed as Bellissimo!
On day two, we headed north from Siena to just below Florence to visit Ruffino’s property. While Ruffino’s winery and tasting room is certainly beautiful and can hold its own against the other tasting rooms I saw during my travels, Ruffino also has a separate property, Montemasso Castle, that only sees limited use and is where Ruffino hosts their VIP guests for their most lavish events.
Without a doubt, our visit fell into the decadent category as I genuinely thought the platters and wine that was served before lunch were indeed lunch. It was not. Our wine luncheon was paired with a lineup of Tuscan wines that would be a hard act to follow.
Unless of course, you are visiting Felsina’s winery in Berandenga early the next day. We began day three at Felsina, which is located just outside of Siena. There we toured their 13th-century winery and tasted a wonderful progression of their wines paired with a well-thought-out lunch menu that offered versions of fare that fit the motif of the winery playing on ancient recipes with modern twists paired to perfection!
Our grand finale took place in Montepulciano at Cantine Dei and was hosted by Caterina Dei, the proprietor and winemaker. We toured, tasted and were treated to a bevy of courses created by Chef Katia Maccari, who’s Michelin-rated restaurant is located in the town of Multipulciano.
To make the evening even more incredible, Julio, a jazz guitarist who has played with the likes of Frank Zappa and Pat Metheny performed throughout our reception and dinner with Caterina Dei, who is an exceptionally talented professional singer who sat in on the last few songs to close out the evening. Mama Mia!
Pure bliss is the only way I can describe what these trips were to me. Italy, we will be back again with my wine key at the ready!
