Excerpt from travel narrative:

TUSCAN ROAD TRIP – CHIANTI REGION

Out driver is late.  We are waiting in front of the Best Western pondering whether our driver, Michele, is male or female and also realizing the large number of Silver Mercedes vans that are in the area.  Michele (male) shows up and begins driving fast, leaving the city of Florence.  On the way he discusses Chianti wine and then drives even faster (unsure if there is a link between discussing Chianti and Italian driver arousal – hoping we don’t find out).  The valleys are vast with rolling hills, olive trees, and grapes.  If the car is moving too fast and you miss the view, it’s okay, just look again and you will see another picturesque image.  After 40 minutes the Castello di Verrazzano vineyard comes into focus.  It looks like a distant castle, surrounded by miles of grapes.  To make sure we don’t miss the start of the tour, Michele pushes down on the gas, flying around 90 degree turns with cliff like sides until we eventually navigate the winding roads into the winery area.  We run (Michele may have picked a gate lock) and catch up with the tour that has just started.

The first room showcases wine they manufacture for chapels and the Vatican, Pope wine.  We walk through the fermenting rooms and more cave-like areas full of barrels of mostly Chianti wine.  When asked why the older barrels are more round versus the new ones more oval the answer is simply: “Because they fit through the door!”  Life is simple on the vineyard.  In addition to wine they make olive oil and lead us into rooms containing vintage olive oil and wine collections that have dust that appears to date back 100 years.  The tour is highlighted by the Chianti tasting that includes Chianti Classico, Chianti Classico Reserve, and Super Tuscan wines.  It’s before noon when we leave and are nicely buzzed already thanks to the ample tasting.

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CLASSICO

Excerpt from "Classico":

“That’s Classic” Jody yells looking out the window.  The Olive trees, rolling hills, and grape vines are passing by, fast.  She turns back to Cam and tells him we are speeding up.  Cam looks over at Louis and Muriel for concern and there is none so he turns and looks out the other window as the silver Mercedes van plows through the hills, hitting the 45 degree turns at 80 kilometers.  Ten minutes pass and they pull up to Castella de Verrazzano, their first winery in the Chianti region.

Castles converted into vineyards was a site to see for two couples from Pittsburgh and once the wine tastings started flowing the site turned from beauty to ecstasy.  Hopping from vineyard, to winery, to vineyard.  More Chianti Classico.  More Chianti Classico Reserve.  More Super Tuscan.  Not always in that order and not always just one tasting. 

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About the Author:
David S. Grant is the author of several books including Rock Stars (Oak Tree Press), Corporate Porn (Silverthought Press), The Last Breakfast (Brown Paper Publishing), and Happy Hour (SynergEbooks). His new novel, BLOOD: The New Red will be available in the fall. David lives and works in New York City. For more information go to Click here and Click here  follow David on Twitter: .david_s_grant.