Day Four

No sleep last night–too much tiramisu?  Too much food too late?  Actually when we walked into the restaurant last night at 7:30 in Pienza, it was empty.  When we left at 9, things were just getting going, but my digestive system is NOT used to eating much past 7 pm and I suffered all night.

But morning does come, and after a shower and strong coffee, I was able to maneuver just fine as we bussed 5 minutes to Agriturismo Belagaggio, a divine farm with rooms and fabulous food.  There cooks Antonella and her mother Ada helped us make pasta, zucchini soup, fried zucchini blossoms, and zucchini medallions.  Tasty!  My favorite was the pasta–made with only flour and egg–and a sauce made with heaps of butter and parmesan cheese.   Simple ingredients, maximum flavor.

After an afternoon rest (!), we ventured out to the Andreucci Winery to hunt truffles (and later enjoy them in pasta).  Three varieties of truffles grow here and each has its own growing/hunting season.  Only those certified can hunt truffles and by law, years ago dogs replaced truffle-hunting pigs. Dogs are trained from birth (before their eyes even open) and are skilled at identifying truffle locations by smell and then digging for them.  Apparently white truffles go for up to $5000/kilo here.  

After hunting for truffles and admiring the grapes which will be picked in about two weeks, we discovered seven (count them…SEVEN) different wines with each of the seven food courses. The 15th generation of this winery poured their wines for us in this order:  Prosecco, Incrosio Manzzoni, Chianti, Nobile Montepulciano–Black Label, Brunello di Montalcino, Regale Golden Label Toscana Rosso, and Moscato di Asti. The winery has documentation (below) that Napoleon’s army bought wine from them, so they can bottle some wines with French labels. Amazing how well the wine enhanced the flavor of the courses, ranging from appetizer salami with white funnel to a dessert of tiramisu.  So glad I wasn’t in charge of washing the 100+ glasses!

A rousing group celebrated the fun day on the way back to La Ciusa by breaking into song and startling (I’m sure) other La Ciusa guests as we exited the bus.