When our son graduated form high school, we did a family trip to Italy. One week was spent staying in a villa in Tuscany. Such an amazing week. Our villa was hundreds of years old. There was a trough running through the bottom floor. Not 100% sure what is was used for - we suspected it was because animals were kept on that level initially and the trough was where the water ran through when cleaning the floor. Who knows for sure, but it was fun to speculate. We were in the Chianti region of Tuscany, so of course, enjoyed some Chianti wine. One of my favorite memories was the day we stayed in the area and we made a simple meal and enjoyed it on our balcony overlooking the valley and enjoying our bottle of Chianti with our meal. Before going to Italy, I had learned about the Brunello grape and Brunello wines of Montalcino. With our 18 year old along, we didn't know if he would enjoy a vineyard tour and wine tasting, so I did not schedule that. I did want to try the wine though and though we could do a wine tasting in the town when we stopped there. We arrived too late for that though (we were doing a driver through the area, stopping at several towns, Pienza, Montpulchiano and others. Montalcino was our last stop. We went to a recommended restaurant and asked for help selecting a bottle of Brunello wine. The wine "list" was a very large full size book, about 5 inches thick. The first 20 pages were Brunello wines. We narrowed it down by price (it is not an inexpensive wine) and the waiter told us what year to look at (2010 - we were looking at 2012 and he said that was too young to drink yet). It is my new favorite wine. So incredibly smooth and full of rich flavor. I told our son that he was forever ruined. Once he was old enough to drink in the states, he couldn't afford wine this good. :) For those who don't know, Brunello grapes are actually a brown grape. Once picked, it must be 2 years, or more,before the wine is actually bottled to be able to be called a Brunello wine. It is 5 years before it is released and they say it is best when in the bottle for 10 years. If bottled sooner, it is a Rosi de Montalcino instead, the "younger sibling" of the Brunello. This is also a very good wine. We had such a great week in Tuscany. A day in Florence. A day in Assisi. a Day in Siena. A day in the Montalcino area. Every day enjoying different wines, foods and, of course, gelato. Such a great week, which was bracketed by several days in Venice first and a week in Rome afterwards. Great family trip before our son went off to boot camp. I love the memories that we created and the time away to experience something new.

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