The Hill Town of Montalcino: home to Brunello

The drive from Siena to Montalcino is scenic and winds through the Tuscan hills.

Between Siena and Montalcino

After 45-60 minutes of driving, I arrived.  Again the Airbnb owners provided detailed instructions to find the apartment, but these were a bit hard to follow.  Inside Montalcino itself, I missed a turn and found myself confronted with a ZTL (zona traffico limitata)--in other words, do not enter unless you want a fine.  Since there were also traffic police right there, I took a right (which was on the owner's list of streets to take to the apartment).  Next I heard was a blast on a whistle and saw the police waving me back.  It seems I turned right on a one-way street going the wrong way!  Trying to explain that I didn't know how to get to the Airbnb, they looked at the instructions and said I had to go back to the beginning (entrance to Montalcino) by turning left where I'd turned right.  Oh, my! At least it wasn't "Go directly to jail. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200."

Fortunately, a left turn (where I'd taken a right) took me without incident right back to where I'd come in.  On the second attempt, I found my missed turn which took me back to the street the police had caught me on.  It turns out to be one-way for only about a block and then becomes two-way. Phew!  Okay, so on track.  The next instruction is to turn right.  I got to the street on which to turn and found that I had to thread a needle.  The entrance to the street was framed by a narrow archway about 4 foot thick.  I decided there was no way I was getting my car through that narrow opening from a street that itself was so narrow that I couldn't swing out to turn in.  Now what?

Referring to Google maps, it appeared that if I continued on there was another way, although a bit circuitous, to get to the other side of the arch of the street I needed to be on.  It occurred to me that there might well be more narrow openings along the way, and that at least at this one, I could go back to where the police were. But no! Reason and sense were overcome by an overwhelming hubris, and I continued down the street. About halfway through this detour, I found myself on what, in other circumstances, I might have called a cow path.  A narrow one.  Perched on the brink of precipice. With no guard rails. And a long way down. Its one advantage was a truly spectacular view! (But please! Keep your eyes on the cow path, err, road!)

View over the valley below Montalcino

I was committed at this point; there was no turning back, or turning any way whatsoever.  So onward. After a couple blocks distance in reality, but miles of distance in psychological terror, I made it to the street that was guarded by the narrow arch and proceeded to the Airbnb without further incident.  No tragedy occurred, so in the words of Harry Potter using the Marauder's Map, "Mischief managed."

The Airbnb was a lovely place on the second floor (first in Italian).  It was a renovated floor of a very old building.  The apartment had 2 bedrooms, living room, and kitchen that opened out onto a patio with a view over the valley that had, so shortly before, inspired such terror.

Airbnb Patio

After settling into the Airbnb, I took at walk into Montalcino proper, which was only a short 10 minute walk away.  Recall that Montalcino is a hill town.  It seems there was only one flat place in the whole of it, and that was the few short blocks of the one main street.  My Airbnb was downhill from there about 80 feet in vertical distance.  Not a great amount, but after 4 days of walking it several times a day, it adds up!

Main Street in Montalcino

As I noted, Montalcino is quite small for a town as renowned as the namesake of Brunello di Montalcino.  It was, by far, the smallest town I visited this trip at just under 6,000 inhabitants.  On the plus side, it makes it easy to reconnoiter.  I quickly found a caffe for morning coffee (actually several to choose from).  And most importantly, a wine shop with tastings, named Enoteca di Piazza Wine Room.  During my stay (the last bit of November), they put up the lights for Natale (Christmas).

Enoteca di Piazza Wine Room in Montalcino

This enoteca had several stations, each with a dozen bottles of wine, all ready to sample.  You simply obtained a wine glass and a card.  To sample, insert the card into the station's card slot, position your glass under the spout of the wine you'd like to taste, and push the corresponding button.  The price for a 50ml taste is noted in LEDs above the bottle.  So a sample of the 2013 Biondi-Santi Brunello di Montalcino is 15 euro (this is one of the very top Brunellos by rating).  Quite a bit for a 1.7 oz taste, but the bottle goes for 132.50 euro.  At most other wine shops, you can taste only the few bottles they have already open, but here they had over 100 wines from the less expensive Rosso di Montalcino wines to a large range of Brunello wines and several from other areas within Tuscany as well.

I took the opportunity of tasting the range of wines on several occasions!  One experiment was to sample the highest priced Brunellos against a few of the lower priced ones.  Another experiment was to sample some of the better (but still less expensive) Rosso di Montalcino wines against some mid-range Brunellos.  Or some good Chianti wines against Brunello wines.  Alas, after sampling 5-6 wines, it becomes difficult to taste differences until your taste buds and palate recover and I had only 4 days.  So while it may sound like I became a lush, that was (sadly?) not the case.  Of course, there was always wine with dinner.

Given that it's a small town, you might expect that there would be a dearth of good restaurants.  But not so.  I was in Montalcino 4 nights and found a good place each night.  Here is the tiramisu at Re di Macchia:

Tiramisu at Re di Macchia in Montalcino

 One restaurant in particular, Osticcio Ristorante Enoteca, had Michelin-quality food, service, and wine list, and was among the top 10 restaurants I ate at in Italy.  It was on the east side of the main street and shared the view of the valley with all the establishments on that side:

View from the Caffe Bar Belvedere in Montalcino

Of course, every town in Italy has its churches.  Montalcino has several for its 6,000 residents.  In the picture from the Caffe Belvedere, you see what looks like a church on a hill, but that, in fact, is the local hospital, that now occupies what used to be an abbey.

Cattedrale di San Salvatore in Montalcino

While I was in Montalcino, I had to visit Abbazia Sant'Antimo, one of the oldest churches in the region, originally founded by Carlo Magno, aka, Charles the Great, aka Charlemagne.  The original part of the abbey, called the Carolingian Chapel, has been there since 814 C.E., and serves as the sacristy for the main church, which was started in 1118 C.E.  The story is that as Charlemagne marched his army from Rome back to France after visiting the Pope, the army was laid low by plague as they camped near where the abbey is now.  An angel appeared to Charlemagne in a dream and told him a secret cure for the plague.  In thanks, Charlemagne established the Carolingian Chapel.  The abbey once belonged to the Benedictine Order.

Abbazia Sant'Antimo

Interior of Abbazia Sant'Antimo

All the capitals tell different stories along the nave in Abbazia Sant'Antimo

The abbey of Saint Antimo sits beneath a hill town, Castelnuovo dell'Abate, but has its own large parcel of land, and is surrounded by fields and trees. The church and grounds seem to exude calmness. At the time of my visit, on November 25, 2019, I was the only person there.  When I entered the abbey church, I startled the attendant from sleep (she was there to keep watch, collect the entry fee, and rent the audio guide--yes, even in this ancient place, technology intrudes).  I was the first one to visit that day, and it was almost noon.

I had the church to myself.  A few others stopped by and poked their heads in, but didn't want to pay the entry fee and left.  I wandered about over a very peaceful hour.

An ancient olive tree at the entrance to Abbazia Sant'Antimo

Back in Montalcino, I visited the old fortress, called Rocca di Montalcino (literally, the Rock of Montalcino).

Rocca di Montalcino

Inside the Fortress at Montalcino

 The fortress is a rectangle with one side a triangle, making for 5 watchtowers.  The interior is empty, but has a park outside one of the walls.

Park outside the wall of the Fortress

I didn't explore the history of the fortress, but wandering around, I found an interesting feature.  Over one of the entryways, there was what looked to be a curious small balcony.

One entry to the Fortress

On closer inspection, it was a protected part of the wall, with openings directly over the entry.  We've all heard the stories of how boiling oil was poured over attackers in various sieges.  Was this one example of how that was achieved?

Beware the boiling oil!

And so ends my adventures in Montalcino.  On Wednesday, November 27, 2019, I drove from Montalcino to Lucca, a journey of 2.5 hours.