Glimpses of the LaSala Winery and Fiaschetteria
del Chianti eatery.
It took years to finally get to Europe, but once we got there in January the biggest surprise was the beauty of Florence, Italy. Rome, of course, deserves its accolades. There's nothing like Venice either. But we could have stayed a week in Florence, in part to see EVERYTHING and in other cases to see some things twice, like the incredible view accessed from a high spot across the Arno River at Piazza Michelangelo, and the centerpiece of that picture-perfect spot, the Duomo. It was at the Piazza that Vittorio Del Bono Venezze picked us up in his van on a springlike January morning and gave us, since we were his only guests that day, what amounted to a private tour of Chianti country.
That included a few hours walking around the estate at LaSala Winery, sitting in our own classroom in the tasting room while Hilary took us through the basics of savoring and appreciating a glass of wine, then stopping at an eatery called Fiaschetteria del Chianti in the town of San Casciano in Val di Pesa and wandering down into the cellar for a Tuscan meal. It's of one of several restaurants that Vittorio uses as a place to stop between wineries to fill the tummy and interact with his passengers. You felt worlds away from reality downstairs, a hideaway composed of brick and stone. The final stop was Villa Carfaggio, settled amid the Tuscan hills. In that Vittorio was a perfect guide, this is a chance to say thanks and plug his service, which still includes the Chianti Classico tour on Mondays and Wednesdays starting at 9.45 a.m. and on Thursday starting at 10 a.m.
Vittorio wrote in an e-mail that, like almost everyone else, he's been hurt by the cost of the Euro for Americans. "The weak dollar has affected my business . . . 20%," he said. "Now people are more inclined to get my semi-private tour instead of the private one that it is getting too expensive." And the cost of fuel? "The gas price for the moment [has not] hit my business."
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