Eating (and Drinking) in Montalcino

Paul and I were super excited about heading over to Montalcino while we were in the Tuscany region. We thought the small town sounded like a nice break from the bustle of the cities we'd be touring, and we were super jazzed about tasting some fun wines. Paul's favorite wine of all times -- Brunello di Montalcino -- is from this area. 


We headed out from Florence in our rental car early on Saturday morning, and drove through rain and increasing fog the entire time. As we neared Montalcino, it was super difficult to see much of anything, and the town itself was completely engulfed in fog. We got lost for a while (which is somewhat hard to do in a town that is about a mile long), but eventually found our hotel. 


Since it was raining heavily and foggy, we grabbed lunch and hit up a wine shop to do a little tasting. 

Assorted pecorino cheeses

Diving right in with the Brunello wine

What was left of my boar ragu pasta

Tasting some wines at a local shop in town

After the weather cleared up a bit, we headed back out to try and visit a winery or two, but all the places we stopped by were closed. We hadn't made any appointments ahead of time, which I believe is the protocol there (vs. just stopping in at places like you do in Napa or Sonoma). We instead found an 8th century abbey, and took a short break from eating and drinking. 


After a quick nap, we headed back out into the rain to find a place for dinner. We stopped at Taverna del Grappolo Blu. 

Crostini with pate, melted pecorino, and pesto

Chopped veal in a balsamic sauce -- it doesn't look that appetizing, but it was amazing!

Cinghiale and mashed potatoes

Some grappa (for Paul) and a lemon and pine nut tart dessert. Yum.

Even though it rained most of our short stay there, it was still a great little trip. Life could  have been worse, no? 

View from our hotel balcony