Tuscan Heartbeats

There are these special places in this world that make us feel like we’ve literally stepped into the perfect postcard. These places are as picturesque as we’ve imagined them to be our whole lives.  They restore our faith and longing for natural beauty and what is real in a world that is often obsessed with what is not -  AI, filters, crops, effect upon effect, etc.  These take-our-breath-away places breathe life back into us wherever we most need it – our souls, our creativity, our mental health, our physical well-being, our relationships.  If our hearts, minds and eyes remain open, travel can be so restorative from places where raw and sweeping beauty is so abundant.

In Tuscany, the postcard analogy can only carry us so far as it’s impossible for any one 4x6 snapshot to capture and pay proper homage to the vistas, the colors and the textures of this countryside paradise.  Furthermore, there is something altogether next level that overtakes us when we undertake the most essential and routine of travel tasks here.  Tastes are magnified, sleep feels deeper, seeing is gazing and walking feels like floating.  It would be a bit reductive to confine a memory or moment to a single frame in a place so cinematic, multi-sensorial and otherworldly.

Tuscany feels like an obvious choice for those who proclaim to love food and wine, artisan and handcrafted goods, sunrises and sunsets, viticulture and agriculture, slowing down and soaking in. Not wanting to discount the role its scenery plays, I do believe the most rewarding Tuscan experience unfolds in the moments we get to interact with its most memorable cast of characters– the shopkeepers, chefs, waitstaff, winemakers, bakers, butchers and tour guides – from the soft spoken, reserved ones to the self-aggrandizing larger than life ones.  There’s a pride in the legacy this region stands for that permeates every story they tell. There’s an implicit commitment to protecting that legacy that fuels every dream they pursue.  And there’s an affectious engagement around this legacy that’s an unintrusive but welcome invitation to participate.

Our trip through Tuscany started after a few fabulous days in Florence came to end.  Our first impression of the region was a small winery - Casaloste - about an hour outside of Florence by car.  Casaloste’s origin story was the first in a series of tales of resilience, creativity and innovation that we would experience firsthand during our time in Tuscany. In this case, their winemaker played a pivotal role in shaping the reception of organic wine in Italy well before the industry was ready to fully embrace it.  The tasting was intimate and inspiringly immersive and our first tastes of Chianti Classico and a Super Tuscan on the ground that produced it were delicious and standard setting for the days to come.  I still wish I would have bought a case and supported this tiny but mighty winery.   

From the restorative peace and quiet of the Casaloste vines, we made a deliberate but hard pivot to a buzzing street in Panzano to dine at the Butcher’s table. What a truly marvelous memory.  Not only did the communal dining at Officina della Bistecca inspire the making of new friends, lots of laughter and too much wine, it also brought forth heaps of shared plates of some of the Butcher’s classic dishes.  Dario Cecchino’s take on my favorite dish, Steak Tartare was simple and superb.  The cuts of meat kept coming and the meal was one of our most gregarious and filling of all our travels.  As I scour this world to connect my passion and purpose more meaningfully, I can’t help but be inspired by how the Butcher has built and grown his brand.  Regarded as Italy’s Butcher, Dario Cecchini has been featured over the years among other places on Chef’s Table and Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations.  He was an in-my-face, vivid example of what happens when we put what we love and can offer the world at the center of our life’s work.  With trust in the universe and ourselves, our purpose emerges and the story writes itself from there... Easy as that, right? 

Before we arrived at our Airbnb we made one final stop at a winery our driver recommended – Fonte Belvedere.   From the moment he collected us that morning,  Ema was full of Tuscan history introducing us to the centuries old rivalry between his hometown of Siena and our point of departure Florence.  He was both driver and a spirited sommelier full of and certainly not reluctant or shy to share facts, antidotes and opinions on his beloved Chianti Classico.  His passion was on his sleeve along with his heart - which unlike anyone I’ve ever met - seemed to take every single beat for Siena.  It created the perfect soundtrack as we wrapped up our day’s journey taking our last sips on Fonte Belvedere’s patio fittingly gazing out across the miles of vineyards that spread out before us and his hometown’s iconic skyline.

Since I found and booked it, I had some inclination of the views and tranquility that awaited us at our next stop; and our Airbnb in Castellina de Chianti was truly magnificent.  We would watch the last minutes of the sun sliding behind the hills and then go to bed that evening with Tuscan flavors and grapes coursing through our veins, ever so grateful and ready to soak up even more of this amazing part of the world in the morning.

Siena was on agenda the next day with an unmissable lunch at La Taverna San di Giuseppe.  My decision to eat there didn’t need to be reinforced by the queue out front that was forming before it officially opened as I was already confident from my research, their website and the menu that this was going to a be a memorable homemade Tuscan meal.  And… it was. It was the perfect way to start our day in Siena which was the first of many beautiful, charming towns we would wander through under blue skies and warm sunshine.  Like Ema our driver, Siena was full of energy.  Its hilly cobblestone streets cut through historic sites, boutiques and artisan shops. It was impossible to take it all in – up a hill and down another - and not feel the sheer power of the town and its historical significance with each passing step. It’s a town I hope to explore a lot more of on my next trip to Tuscany as I felt my time there was fleeting with tastes, sights and creative inspiration still to be discovered. 

Later we would visit the towns of San Gimignano, Assisi and Montepulciano eating and sipping our way through their ristorantes and gelaterias and browsing sometimes buying in local shops full of local Tuscan personalities. Looking back, the standout meal from this trio of towns was at Osteria de Conte where we had a fabulous waitress who brought an extra special touch to the fabulous wine and pasta dishes she served us. A big part of travel that’s hard to put a return on investment to is this human touch where real but brief connections are made in the smallest but most poignant of ways.  These interactions stack up over and over and ultimately influence how we feel about ourselves, our destination, and the world we live in. 

We also visited two wineries around Montepulciano – Avignonesi and Salcheto.  The former having not only amazing high-end reds and olive oil, but a really cool colorful vintage label collection that had actually driven my choice to visit. The latter, Salcheto was a more modern estate with what looked like an awesome restaurant.  We tasted three of their wines staring up at the town of Montepulciano above and as we left for the evening an unforgettable panorama of Tuscan trademark hills enveloped us. 

Wanting to experience a variety of wineries and styles, we tasted at two large castle wineries - enjoying lovely, sumptuous pours at Castello de Meleto and taking in the unrivaled, sprawling views of Tuscany from the vantage point of Castello de Brolio.   My favorite winery of the trip however was a small, unassuming winery in the Chianti region called Complicita – female owned and run. Here, Cinzia Manca, the winemaker gave us a tour of the property and ran the tasting herself.  Her story among all the others we heard in Tuscany stands out as not just inspirational but proof the universe does open doors if we’re brave enough to walk through them. 

Finally, lightening would come to strike our tastebuds twice in Tuscany in between and around all the other aforementioned delicious bites and sips. Upon reflection, our dining experiences at La Gorgia Vino & Cucina and Lillo Tatini were so exceptional in fact that I would include them both as two of the more remarkable meals I’ve had across my twenty-year, forty-three country world travel tour.   

The first noteworthy meal which exceeded my inherently high expectations on my trifecta of setting, ambiance and taste was in Gaiole on the sundrenched and breezy patio of La Gorgia Vino & Cucina.  The flavors and combinations here were so delicate and rich.  And while I didn’t save room for dessert, I un-regrettably had it!  This was a place where gastronomy was unquestionably a passion and purpose. 

The second memorable meal was at Lillo Tatini in Panicale where we had dinner perched above the town piazza in a cozy room with soft, warm lighting, impeccable service and unpretentious jaw-dropping (and closing) dishes that were the vision of Patrizia Boldrini a wonderfully talented chef matriarch who with the help of the rest of her family has brought a slice of culinary heaven to this quaint hilltop town.  Once dinner’s served Patrizia chats affectionately with every table in the restaurant.  It was one of those nights where we just felt lucky to be there.