Chianti: Eden on Earth
May 27th, 2005 Posted by Lorenzo
Today we four went to non-other than Chianti. It’s a fairytale land that, once you pass through it, makes it hard to imagine that conflict and poverty can exist at all. Little wonder why there are so many devout Catholics ’round here; I’d also be grateful to a higher power for the chance to visit and even live in such a place.
The region is best known, of course, for its wine. However, we were invited for lunch by an olive oil producer/friend of my parents called Mauro and his son, Matteo. Simply put, both people are saints sent here by The Almighty to confirm that life in Tuscany is indeed unparalleled in quality and abundance. The man’s philosophy is that once you have enough to survive, the most important thing in the world is happiness through kinship and generosity of heart. He’s a humanoid typhoon of kindness and honesty that has to be experienced to be fully appreciated.
They also gave us a personal tour of their bottling factory and oil extraction plant. This experience was easily on a par with the Grana Padano trip.
After parting ways with four complementary bottles of Mauro’s finest extra-virgin goodness, we went to meet another extraordinarily kind and straight-forward individual by the name of Stefano. This guy manages one of the best wine producing labels (and my personal favourite) in the region, namely Castello della Paneretta. *queue hallelujah chorus*
He too gave us a free sample of wine (six bottles to be exact) and, not to be out-done, two of his own bottles of extra-excellent-virgin olive oil. The actual wine estate is amazing. It’s not, strictly-speaking, a castle, but rather a large house with turreted walls that were built around a tower. The tower itself was originally raised in the 1100s and was used as a look-out point during the Siena/Firenze conflict. It’s quite a place, we took plenty of photos for your viewing pleasure. 
All-in-all an awesome day.
Btw. after discussing our various options with the parents, we’ve decided to leave with them back to Sunny SA on the 9th of June. Sad, I know, but if it means we’ll be able to come back again soon on many occasions, so be it. 
