Oh, To Live in Tuscany

Filed in archive information about on March 4, 2010

Tuscany is a beautiful place. Anyone who tells you different is either lying or French.

I love Chianti. The Chianti hills of Italy, between Florence and Siena, nurture some exquisite grapes that produce one of the best wines in the world, in my opinion. Chianti wines are made primarily with Sangiovese grapes, but juice from Canaiolo, Cabernet, Merlot and/or Syrah grapes can also be put into the mix, along with a small amount of white grape juice.

Chianti is a full bodied, slightly tannic, dry red table wine. The taste and bouquet of Chianti can vary. The wine varies from a ruby red to almost brown in color. Depending on the exact blends of juices put into the wine and what sort of cask it was aged it, the wine is often described as having flavors and aromas of blueberry, cherry, strawberry, orange peel, or plum mixed with cinnamon, clove, violets and/or thyme.

The Chianti wine growing region is about 65 square miles. You could tour it over the course of a weekend. Or you could live here. I can picture myself staying in a small hostel, roaming the towns looking for a small printing shop. Think if the beautiful colors and charm of small Tuscan villages as a backdrop. I do a little flyer printing and most handouts in Italian: Will tend grapes in exchange for wine...