Food
Italy endears herself best to many through her food. Guests of Finocchieto
have the opportunity to spend the morning with our chef, traveling with
him to select produce and meats in town and preparing a classic lunch
to be enjoyed together on our dining terrace. What could be a better
souvenir than to return home with the ability to create an authentic
Tuscan dinner?
Wine
Italian wine dominates the American import scene with 24 million cases
a year. New experiments and consistently improving quality since that
time not long ago when Italian wine was still grown haphazardly and
labeled even more inconsistently mean that Italian wine is in the midst
of its own Renaissance and only bound to get better. With over 200 wineries
within a 15 mile radius, a visit to Borgo Finocchieto is a chance to
taste some of the best Italy has to offer.
Borgo Finocchieto has the distinct pleasure of location between three
of Italy’s most revered DOCG wine regions: Chianti Classico to
the north, Montalcino with its Brunello to the southwest, and Montpulciano
with its Vino Nobile to the southeast. In fact, Wine Spectator’s
Wine of the Year for 2006 is a Brunello from nearby vineyard Cassanova
di Neri. Finishing ninth is a blend, Il Blu from Brancaia in Chianti
Classico, a vineyard with which we have an amicable relationship. We
would be pleased to arrange a special tour and tasting at one of our
accommodating vineyards, or equip you with a map and tips for striking
out on your own to find undiscovered treasures.
The Chianti countryside begins thirty kilometers north, stretching
from Siena to Florence. Montepulciano’s territory lies thirty
kilometers southeast. Montalcino, the smallest but perhaps most revered
of the three, is closest and can be reached in minutes. Finocchieto
maintains a special relationship with a number of well respected wine
growers in the region. Finocchieto’s signature tour of Montalcino
is outlined here, but for those interested in touring Montepulciano
or Chianti, excursions can be arranged. At home, our symbiotic vineyard
relationships means you will have access to a carefully chosen collection
of house wines.
Il Paradiso di Frassina
“My wine,” Carlo Cignozzi begins, a glint of laughter in
his eyes indicating that this will be no ordinary vineyard tour, “is
made of forty percent… Mozart.” He continues when the initial
laughter subsides, counting off on his fingers, “twenty percent,
Vivaldi, twenty percent Handel, with some Hayden thrown in.” Indeed,
the experience of touring il Paradiso di Frassina, accompanied by its
dashing and entrepreneurial owner Cignozzi and his equally appealing
partner Diana Grandi captures a bit of the extraordinary. Stepping from
the car, your ears are not met with the noisy hum of a successful vineyard,
as Paradiso is to be sure, but by the peaceful harmonies of carefully
selected classical music which are pumped throughout the vineyard on
all-weather speakers, music for the grapes.
