Welcome season 2013!

First signs of spring are here and we welcome a new season for travelers to Tuscany! In fact, in this past week we've started the first wine tours and opened up the wine schools. We are very excited because we have a great team of friendly faces and knowledgable people with us this year. As many of you may have sensed our network is big but our company is quite small. It takes a great deal of willingness and multitasking to be on our team.

So we've decided that we're going to drown the economic crisis in wine and go forth head strong... Are you with us? In wine we believe!!!

Please check out this wonderful video that explains the concept of our Tuscan Wine Schools - and give your feed-back, if you like. I'm totally excited about it and hand a big thank you to Bubbly Studio in Paris for the great work.

Cook Like a Tuscan Mamma!

Cooking classes for travelers in Italy is really really popular. Most people I've met over the years officially come to Italy for the art & history - but really they are on a FOOD & WINE mission, eating their way through the country. And what a shame not to take the experience of some Italian cooking back home!

The other day we went into Florence to finalize our new Tuscany activity: Cook Like a Tuscan Mamma. Personally I love wine & food, and I'm fascinated by people who can make either and magically have excellent end results (not quite the success-rate when I venture into the kitchen to fetch dinner!). 

In Tuscany there's a myriad of people offering cooking classes out there, so my idea is to scout out the best Mammas and Papas - to sort of certify the quality by my standards. Perhaps I should explain that better so it doesn't sound like I'm completely full of myself. I apply the same sort of analytic criteria I look at when I go to restaurants or wineries these days. I judge for myself whether the foods are fresh, seasonal and of high quality. If I love the ambience or not - clean & cozy. If the people are educated, personable and friendly. 

And, of course, I'ld say fundamental for a cooking class is to participate in the cooking and to discuss ingredients and cooking methods, so one ends up having a great experience and new skills (and a full belly!). 

I'll leave you with some appetizing photos of our Tuscan Mamma in Florence. The web-site to book a class is: www.tuscan-cooking-class.com. If you know of any phenomenal cooking classes in Tuscany that you think I should know of, email me on rebeccawineintuscany@gmail.com!

Let 2013 begin...

New Years to me feels like getting a new chance in life. We now get to look forward to 365 blank days in the calendar and fill them up with events that make up our future. It's so exciting to plan for and to see what other events destiny might have in hand for us.

Our holidays in Italy were marked by relax, lots of foods and cozy family time. And, of course, we had plenty of occasions to try out our new Jollie wine - Yum!

Website for our wine: www.goccianera.com 

Here's my annual picture of the kiddos. This year with the addition of little Ollie on the left. Louise is in the middle holding the bottle of Jollie - and Ju is on the right not at all interested in the camera...

Great Xmas present idea for someone who loves wine

Just a quick note from the rather cold Tuscany. The past week has been freezing with snowflakes (nothing big though), however it's definitely the right setting for Xmas. We're squeezing our own brains to figure out presents, so I thought I come with a good idea for those of you who are still looking to give something to someone important to you who loves wine...

http://www.tuscany-in-a-bottle.com 

Process of making and paradox of Balsamic Vinegar from Modena

Balsamic vinegar is traditional to the province of Modena where it was made already hundreds of years ago, a region just North of the Apennine Mountain ridge at the beginning of the Pianura Padana -
a very flat and fertile area famous for anything but wine (rice fields, cows for cheese, pigs for ham, etc).

GRAPES
7 kinds of grapes are allowed in the production of the balsamic, the most noteworthy being white Trebbiano and red Lambrusco (above). The grapes don't have to come from the region, but any good producer with self respect will make sure that they do.

BALSAMIC IS A PROCESS
Balsamic vinegar differs from wine vinegar as it doesn't undergo an alcoholic fermentation. The vinegar is made directly from the grape juice which is heated to allow an initial concentration (picture below "mosto cotto" grape juice before aging process).

Thanks to the addition of a "ceppo" (mother) the acidification occurs and ensures a sweeter sensation at the end. The aging takes place in small wooden barrels made out of different sorts of sweet woods (oak, cherry, walnut, etc) where no air-conditioning nor heating is allowed - traditionally under the roof tops of the houses in Modena.

This allows the bacteria to thrive in the summer when it's hot and an evaporation occurs, and in the winter the vinegar has time to rest and deposit. Year after year this process is allowed to take place, but because the product always looses in volume, the barrels used need to become smaller and smaller. It can easily take a decade to obtain a decent balsamic vinegar with the proper density and complexity, hence there will be barrels of many different sizes in an "Acetaia" in Modena - these series of barrels from bigger to smaller are called "batterie" and are often dedicated to a person in the family.

To be classified "Tradizionale" or "Tradizionale Extra Vecchio" (always bottled in the same 100 ml and packaged in brown boxes as you can see on picture above) is a DOP regulation and requires a min of 12 yrs or 25 yrs of aging in the barrels (if you want to read more: http://www.balsamico.it/). We balsamic vinegar snobs consider this stuff to the be the "real" balsamic vinegar - but problematic is the cost of these bottles, often starting at around 50 euros a bottle.

THE PARADOX
So balsamic vinegar takes years to make and once it reaches the shelves of very special stores the cost is exuberant. In fact, most people have never tasted "real" balsamic.
A commercial product was created to simulate the original one but beware, this sort of balsamic vinegar doesn't refer to a PROCESS, it is made up from wine vinegar with addition of coloring, caramel, arabic gum and corn starch - so it is a pure IMITATION. This product could take a few days in making and sell cheaply and is exported around the world as Balsamic Vinegar of Modena, even though it really FAKE.

So what to do if you want to get your hands on the real stuff but don't want to break the bank? Luckily a lot of balsamic vinegar producers have understood the problematic for the end consumer and hence produce something that's labelled as "condimento" or "aceto balsamico di modena IGP" (if the bottle is at least 250ml) and to cut costs this stuff can be one of these 4 things:
1) made by the producers of the "Tradizionale" and in the same way, but not under the supervision and approval of the DOP Consortium which is costly.
2) made by the producers of the "Tradizionale,  but not aged as long so could not be approved by the Consortium.
3) made the same way as the "Tradizionale", but outside the region recognized for DOP (Modena & Reggio Emilia)
4) made by a mixture of cheap FAKE balsamic vinegar of blended with some concentrated grape must in various proportions.

MAMMA MIA!
It just isn't easy to be a consumer nowadays because how the hell are you supposed to know all of these things - and still when you know it, it isn't the easiest of things to navigate the label! It's almost hopeless, however, don't give up because once you taste the real stuff you'll be in heaven.
We have sourced the most fantastic balsamic vinegar made from a producer just outside Modena who also produces the Tradizionale (all the pictures are from the farm of our producer). We sell it in our shop in Siena and can ship it, too (http://www.tuscany-in-a-bottle.com/order.htm). It is the stuff that goes under point no 1) and it is beautifully rich, and is of course perfect on salads, but this balsamic is totally amazing on pasta as well, or try it on parmesan cheese shavings, steak, or why not on fresh fruit as strawberries and peaches or even on vanilla ice cream (wow!). So just like great olive oil, you don't cook with great balsamic. It just sits on the table at all times and you add it at your pleasure to anything you like!

Truffles - mushrooms or chocolates?

Truffles - the mushroom
When we speak about black, brown or white truffles in Tuscany we're most likely talking about an underground fungus. Sounds a bit funky the first time around, until you understand it's simply a mushroom that's rare and only to be found around oak trees in special climatic conditions. Different kinds of truffles can be found year around and "hunting" is done with the help of specially trained dogs. Autumn is when the precious white truffle can be found that demands skyrocketing prices. If you've never tasted a truffle the only way I can describe it...a mixture of garlic, dirt and autumn mists. I know that sounds totally rabbling but really that's what it tastes like. Apparently truffles ooze "umami" - the 5th taste that we don't all recognize very well....

Truffles applied in the Tuscan kitchen
Best combination of a truffle from any season is on pasta, in my opinion. However, you'll find it applied all sorts of ways in areas that have the fresh truffles available (I've had it on eggs, pizza and in desserts). If you're not adventurous stick to the classic "tagliatelle con scaglie di tartufo" - fresh strips of egg pasta with truffle shavings on top.

So white truffles are seasonal to November. When traveling to Tuscany other times of the year you can still have the delight of trying truffles, either the fresh spring or summer truffles - or infused ones. For example in Tuscany it's common to find pecorino cheese with truffle, honey with truffle, truffle salt - and maybe you've heard you should try truffle olive oil? Keep in mind that most "truffle oils" have added aroma or essence of truffle! So look for some real infused truffle in there, and if you can't find it, don't buy it!

Truffles - the chocolate praline
For a long time I was really confused about the double use of the truffle word. It's international so I've encountered it in every language I could possibly need to use. Because "truffle" is also a word used to describe a chocolate that has the shape and the look of a real live truffle, but of couse it doesn't have any real truffle in it! I was puzzled for years...not to the point of irritation...just to the point of "oh well, I still have lots to learn..." Finally, I bothered to look up the history of the chocolate version to discover why it carries the homonymous name. Chocolate truffles got their name in France inspired by their resemblance to black mushroomy truffles. The latter were reserved exclusively for the rich, chocolate truffles were more popular and hence truffles have become more renowned by the public in their coco version!









Truffle mushrooms & Coco
And then of course you could be lucky to find the combination of cioccolate and truffles - this one is stuffed with white truffles and was so delicious that I had to taste not just one, but two just to make sure I liked it :) A very strong and intense truffle taste, but very nicely packed into to milky chocolate.

Olive Oil Cake

Yeah, it's olive oil harvest season and that means that our fantabulous fresh, green, Tuscan IGP extra virgin olive oil is just about to hit the shelves! I can't decide if the grape harvest or the olive oil harvest excites me the most, but it's a close run up. As always, we are willing to share the goodness of our Tuscan Olive Oil and can ship it around the world. Just check out our web-site www.olivoglio.com.
Our olive oil is hand picked from green olives, pressed the same day, the press is one of the most sophisticated presses in Tuscany providing us prime quality olive oil full of goodness (vitamins, antioxidants and green aromas). We collaborate with Franco Bardi who's a renowned producer in the area of Siena.

In the theme of olive oil, I wanted to share the ingredients of the Tuscan Olive Oil Cake which is made and served daily at Dario Cecchini (the famous butcher in Panzano):

White flour (1 kg)

White sugar (1 kg)

10 eggs

Lots of great olive oil (!)

Baking powder

Pine nuts

Raisins (soak them in grappa first)

1 organic orange chopped in really fine pieces (peel inclusive)

By the way, I don't have the exact quantities on everything so you'll have to try your way to perfection - however, these are the ingredients revealed. Violà!

Oh, when the grapes go marching in....

Finally harvest has arrived after an arid summer. During a short visit to Southern Tuscany we've seen vineyards that went into hydric stress to preserve themselves, leaving their fruit unripened or dried out. We've had sleepless nights worrying about our vines, the deer and boars who've been helping themselves to the best of our grapes, furthermore the wine tours have been plentiful this year and add this to a teething baby - we're pretty tired about now ;)
But harvesting is exciting! A year comes to its culmination and each vintner tries to make the best of it.
Pierre harvested last Saturday. I was on turn at the wine school in Siena so I didn't get to participate :( But I certainly was with him in spirit! The vineyard is small and as mentioned this year we've lost quite a bit of crop to our natural neighbors. Can't complain though because despite the heat of the summer, we've not had problems of hydric stress.
Our wine Jollie 2012 presently made by Pierre (my wonderful husband) at the Colombaia winery in Colle Val d'Elsa will be of about a 1000 bottle edition - now starts the maturation process and we'll keep you posted on is progress. Jollie 2011 is now maturing in the bottle and will be ready to ship towards January 2013 so if you want to pre-order it go on our website: www.goccianera.com!

Enjoy these pictures from the harvest (our own harvest and that of our friends' wineries around here):

Last days of maturation of Sangiovese on the vines:

 Michael bringing in his grapes dropping them in the vibrating destemmer:

Stomping the grapes at Fattoria Corzano & Paterno:

 First day of fermentation:

 Arianna smells the results of the fermenting wine together with her 2 month old son:

 After the harvest of Jollie 2012 at the Colombaia winery with the help of great wwoof'ers.

Jollie is fermenting and the sons are getting to know their future wines.

Bottled!

Today was a FRUIT day in the Biodynamic calendar, so my husband went to bottle our Jollie 2011 wine at our friends' biodynamic winery here in Colle Val d'Elsa. The wine is ready to be bottled and we need to empty our barrels for the '12 harvest in about 2 weeks or so...
Pierre has lived up to my challenge that I gave him when we first met. And I'm as curious as can be!
He was the leading wine maker of a huge cellar in Bordeaux when we met and made award winning wines. I asked him if he felt up to making a wine by hand and without the use of excessive additives. Indeed, he's worked the vineyard totally by hand, spraying only copper and sulfer in tiny amounts when necessary (all allowed by organic methods) and in the wine the only additive was a few sulfites - the total quantity in the wine is less than 50 mg per liter (less than half of what is allowed by organic certifications). And the wine is totally delicious and stable for aging. I'm so excited!!!
Here are the numbers:

Total of regular size bottles produced: 1350 (112 cases) - plus about 10 magnums (reserved for our sons).
It's hard to say when the wine is going to be ready for selling. We definitely need to wait for the bottle aging which may take months. I estimate Christmas time, but of course it's up to my husband's better judgement when the wine will be ready to come out. In the meanwhile, I'll be testing it for you every week to see how it evolves :)
www.goccianera.com

A midsummer evaluation of the Grape Life in Tuscany

Growing grapes is certainly a noble pursuit which I respect in every way. Now, it's true that we grow a small vineyard ourselves, but it's a part-time occupation, a hobby-passion, and hardly something that we will rely on economically. So we can be quite cool about it. But every year at about this time my thoughts go out to the many vintners that we know and work with. Will they have a good harvest and will they be able to make great wines for us in the future?

In the wine school the other day a young Belgian guy asked me a tricky question - he was convinced that it could by no means cost more than 2 euros to produce a wine. I would say that's a bit too low, but there is something about it. How come wines that come from classified vineyards in Bordeaux, Napa and certain areas in Tuscany cost much much more than the usual 5-10 euro which is what most people are willing to spend on a bottle of fermented grape juice?

Firstly the cost of land is to be considered. In Montalcino a production ready hectare of vineyard can cost half a million euro. The maximum yield is 7 tons per hectare, translating to about 7000 bottles per hectare, which furthermore has to age almost 5 years in the winery before it can be sold. Not calculating cellar, equipment (tractors, barrels, bottling, etc), work force (inclusive hot-shot wine maker if you have one), weather risks (drought, hail, mold, frost), deer and wild boars who will have a party in your vineyard if they can access. Then you've got marketing of your product, which you can do by yourself if you produce less than 1500 bottles like we do, but if you add a zero or two to this number you'll need agents, distributors and importers who all will want to take a piece of the pie. 

Wine could cost less than 2 euros to produce if you don't have all these variables to consider and you would be making a no name table wine, but in any higher quality wine region the price depends on many many factors.

So the fundamental question probably is if a wine is better tasting if it is expensive? Well, of course, taste is relative to the taster, however, the answer in most cases is yes - up until a certain level. When the price succeeds the 45-50 euro a bottle you are no longer paying for cost of production (inclusive of all of the above in the most important regions), you are starting to pay for other factors such as supply and demand, high points given by certain wine critics that if high influence supply and demand. Value can be pumped up by reputation or name as well (just think of Sassicaia, Tua Rita, Soldera, Trinoro amongst Tuscan wines, or the first growths of Bordeaux). Myth of great vintages also can contribute to higher prices, or if a wine has been aged by the vendor...

2012 is a dry year in Tuscany - at least thus far. We had almost no rain-reserve from the winter, and very little rain during the season. Certain areas are drying out, others are doing fine. We were visiting in Southern Tuscany last week where the situation generally didn't look too good. We were told that a winery was watering a vineyard manually otherwise they would fear not harvesting (irrigation is not common in Tuscany because water is expensive and not allowed for regulated wines). Our vineyard close to Casole d'Elsa is doing fine, but it's a 45 year-old vineyard with deep roots. We're lucky. In the weekend Pierre and Dante are going to fence the vineyard against wild boar midnight parties at our loss. I think our new slogan might be "Eat Boar - Save a Vintner"! No, ok a bit too vendicative maybe. I'll keep you posted on the progress in Casa Goccianera. Until then "Smile - Life is Grape"! 

Like our t-shirts? Order yours online: www.life-is-grape.com