The ancient wine cellars of Tuscany – Part II

In this second article about the ancient wine cellars of Tuscany, I’ll show you two more fascinating places of the italian winemaking art.

The first one is the cellar of count Costanti’s farmstead. The name Costanti is quite significant in the history of this region; the family was born in XV century and had its role during the period in which Siena was in conflict with Firenze. Even after the capitulation of the Republic of Siena, the Costantis remained settled just out of Montalcino, where they had many acres of landholding. Thanks to their merits of war, the Costantis were honored with the title of counts at the beginning of the XVIII century; as you can see in the photograph below, their coat of arms is a prancing bull with a crown above.

The ancient wine cellars of Tuscany – Part I

If I say “Tuscany”, the first thing that comes to mind will be probably the image of a lonely covey of cypresses in a land of wavy hills, or the image of a farmhouse on a hilltop, in a bright and misty morning. Well, in this article (as in the next one) I’ll not show you the same old postcards of Tuscany, but I’m going to bring you inside the most “sacred” places of the millennial italian art of winemaking: the ancient wine cellars.

During my travel through the wonderful Tuscany, I’ve focused my attention (and my camera too) on the region of Val d’Orcia which, in my opinion, is far more amazing than the popular Chianti, both by the landscaping point of view and because it has some unique places that are particularly fascinating, by a winemaking standpoint. The entire area in the nearby of the ancient town of Montalcino is a concentrate of history and traditions. There I’ve found an example of a young winemaking company that have embraced the ancient tradition: Solaria farm.

The rise and fall of the abbey of San Galgano

When you think about the artistic treasures in Italy, one of the first things that come to mind are the churches and the infinite, inestimable wonders they protect. In this article I’ll show you an abbey, but a unique one, that has some special peculiarities: the abbey of San Galgano.

 

In the heart of Tuscany, at a certain distance from the most touristic and photographed places, there is a valley between the towns of Chiusdino and Monticiano where a majestic construction stands from many centuries.

The misty forest of Mount Amiata

If you travel in Italy by car, you have to keep in mind one important thing: avoid the motorways/tollways. Just by taking a country road, Sara and I found ourselves in the fairytale forest of Mount Amiata.

 

Italy is a country so much rich of natural and artistic hidden gems that rushing through a motorway to reach the destination will preclude you from discovering the majority of them. So, during our outward journey to southern Tuscany, we took the slower and longer route that led us through Mount Amiata, in which I’ve found the perfect conditions for taking some nice shots.

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