If you buy a bottle of Volpaia Chianti (http://www.volpaia.com/), either the Classico or the Classico Reserva, not only will you get a bottle of rather nice wine (it seems to be our house red these days) but you will also receive a nice little sketch on the label, shown below. If you don’t mind taking a long drive up a steep hill to visit the only winery around for miles, you can see the sketch come to life.
The sketch on a bottle of Volpaia Chianti Classico
The nearest large town to Volpaia (pronounced vole-PIE-ya) is Radda, definitely worth a visit in itself if you are visiting the Chianti region of Tuscany. It is in the heart of the Classico region where all the best Chiantis come from. (It’s called Classico because it’s from this region, a brilliant marketing ploy on the part of the local wine makers. There’s nothing any more classic about it than Sangiovese from other areas of Tuscany, but you do get the DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita or “controlled and guaranteed denomination of origin”) label and the other marketing inspiration, the Gallo Nero or black cockerel.
According to Google Maps, it’s only 7.4 km or 12 minutes from Radda to Volpaia. Evidently Mr. Google looked at the road from a satellite and never drove it. The road is full of hairpin turns and it’s straight up. There are some beautiful views to be had along the way, but the driver (Lucie was driving) won’t be able to look at them and the passenger (Steve was), who will, will be more terrified by the drop than thrilled by the beauty. But never fear, they lose very few tourists.
On the road up to Volpaia
And then you get to the village and you understand why you made the voyage up the mountain. It looks exactly like you expect a tiny Italian village to look. There are the villas, the osteria, the cistern and the castello…and that’s about it. It seems that all of this is owned and operated by one family, the Mascheronis. It attracts tourists all right, but it’s no tourist attraction…it’s the rarest find a tourist can make; it’s the real thing.
The Castello de Volpaia
And, oh yes, you can taste wine. In a way, it’s a typical wine tasting setup: a bar, some bottles, a young man pouring you some wine and explaining what you’re drinking. But it’s in an 11th century castle! There’s more to taste than Chianti, although the Reserva has been getting good numbers from the rating magazines. There’s a Cabernet Sauvignon that has also been well received, a few whites and a Vin Santo dessert wine worth contending with.
Walk into the room next to the bar and you’ll get a sense of the centrality of wine (and olive oil) making in this village. The bottles gathering dust are yet another reason why you’ll think you’re in a post card.
Wine history, Italian style
So now you have to drive down. Steve tasted the wines, Lucie being the driver, she had just a sip of the Chianti and said: it tastes like hard cherry candy ! The young man said, you’re right, that’s what our Chianti should taste !