We're going back to Chianti Classico! |
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Buon Anno! Our best wishes for each one of you in the year ahead. We hope for a year filled with travel! This newsletter will hopefully inspire and excite you with our planned trips to Italy this spring and fall!
This past fall marked 21 years that we’ve been doing culinary tours to Tuscany and the Chianti region! Our food and wine tours began by focusing on the amazing wines, rustic cuisine, and beautiful vistas of Tuscany. With Gina living full time in Italy, we were able to forge relationships with local producers and learn the best the area had to offer. Those relationships have grown and evolved over the years. As we grew, Mary became more involved, and soon we branched out to other regions of Italy, exploring the history and culture of Italy through its diverse food and wine. But Tuscany and especially the Chianti Classico area remained close to our hearts.
With Italy closed during the pandemic, we were stuck at home like everyone else. When we finally got back to Tuscany last October after a two-year absence, the feeling was like coming home but at the same time seeing it with fresh eyes. To drive the same roads, to visit our favorite castles, wineries, and restaurants, to reconnect with old friends and owners, was exciting and affirming. It gave us a new enthusiasm to share it again with our clients.
This spring we have a week planned in Tuscany, and this time we’re basing ourselves north of Siena in the heart of Chianti Classico. We will stay at a lovely estate surrounded by olive groves and vineyards, a short drive to all our favorite haunts! Staying in the heart of this region gives us an opportunity to immerse ourselves and share with you this historic area. Enjoy dinner with the famous butcher of Panzano, wine tours and tastings in classic castles, walks through picturesque villages and vineyards, and relax with a glass of wine while watching the sunset over the rolling hills. If you’ve been with us before, this week will give you new pleasures. If you’ve not experienced Tuscany, this is a beautiful way to see it.
Tuscany is popular with travelers and tourists for great reasons. Tuscan wines have long been some of the best Italy has to offer. Its landscapes inspired Michelangelo, DaVinci and Giotto. Its history reflects the perennial fight between two medieval powerhouses, Florence and Siena. The land is dotted with old castles and new wineries, with olive groves, vineyards and forest as far as the eye can see.
There are still a few spots left in the week, June 11-18. We hope you’ll join us! Read on below for more information on Chianti Classico wines and our wild boar ragu recipe, perfect for this cold weather!
And many thanks to each one of you for your continued support.
Buon appetito!
Gina and Mary
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Sunset in Chianti Classico region |
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Castello Brolio, Chianti Classico |
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Ragu di Cinghiale (Wild Boar Ragu)
This Tuscan ragu is perfect for cold winter weather and can be made with wild boar or venison, as well as beef, lamb or pork. Hearty herbs like rosemary, sage and juniper add depth and slow cooking it for several hours concentrates the flavor.
2-3 lbs ground wild boar, ground or diced
1 medium onion
2 stalks celery
2 carrots
3 cloves garlic
3 parsley sprigs
3 tbsp tomato paste
½ bottle sangiovese wine
½ cup or more olive oil
2 rosemary sprigs
2 bay leaves
4 sage leaves
5-10 juniper berries, crushed
2-3 cups crushed tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste
Put the onion, celery, carrot, garlic and parsley in a food processor and process until pureed into small pieces, but not liquid.
Pat the meat dry, salt it and on a high heat, brown the meat in olive oil in a large pot. Do this in batches so there is just a single layer of meat. Remove the meat and set aside. Add the vegetables to the pan and sauté in olive oil over medium heat until soft but not browned, add the rosemary, sage and juniper berries and coat with the oil, letting them sauté. Stir in the tomato paste and bay; continue to cook another 2 minutes. Add black pepper and sea salt to taste. Return meat to pan and deglaze with red wine, letting the wine cook off. Stir in the crushed tomatoes and allow to cook over low heat at least 3 hours, covered. The longer it cooks the better. Stir occasionally, being careful not to allow the bottom to stick or burn. If it gets too thick you can thin it with a little water.
Serve with fresh tagliatelli or papparadelle and grated parmigiano. It is also delicious over polenta.
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This month's Italian proverb:
A tavola non si invecchia mai
At table one never ages
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Chianti Classico Wine Region
Whenever you see the word “classico” on an Italian wine label, it refers to the original, classic area of that wine denomination. The Chianti Classico region in Tuscany goes back to the medieval disputes between two powerful city-states, Florence and Siena. If you’ve come on our Tuscany tour you will have heard all about the historic animosity between these two cities that still lives on today!
In the mid 1800’s, the owner of Castello Brolio, Baron Bettino Ricasoli, began experimenting with the local wine. He formulated the recipe for Chianti Classico, using mostly sangiovese for the first time. The biggest changes since then have been to adopt French wine making methods, yielding better wines.
By the mid-20th Century in the US, the name “chianti” had become synonymous with a thin, acidic Italian wine served in a straw-covered bottle. That image is so strong that even today we meet people who turn their nose up at chianti, which is unfortunate. There is a lot of great wine coming out of Tuscany, especially in the historic, geographic area between Florence and Siena known as Chianti Classico.
Today, Chianti Classico must be made with 80-100% locally grown Sangiovese. Up to 20% traditional Tuscan varieties and/or the international grapes Merlot and Cabernet may be added. All grapes must be grown in the classico area. Instead of using large Slavonian oak casks, most producers use smaller French oak barrels to age. To differentiate the Chianti Classico wines from the wider geographic area that makes chianti, the consortium adopted the Gallo Nero, a black rooster, as its symbol in the 1960’s. Look for Chianti Classico DOCG the next time you go to the wine store. You’ll know Chianti Classico by the black rooster on the seal!
To read more on the history of this great region on Gina's latest blog click here.
Salute! Cin-Cin! Cheers!
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We are looking forward to our tours this spring and fall! Our small group tours are perfect to be with like minded people to explore the culture and history of Italy through its foods and wines. Join us for a week filled with delicious foods and regional wines. You'll learn a lot and have a great time, just leave the details to us!
Check out our website for tours and availability for travel this year we have a few spots left open:
Piedmont (May 24 - 31 & June 1-8) and Tuscany (June 11-18, October 8- 15 and October 15 -22) and
Puglia (Sept 28-October 4). Call or email Mary with questions or to get registered.
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Plus learn a thing or two! |
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Gina Stipo and Mary Stipo Potter | Ecco La Cucina | 1-972-342-8308| Email | Website
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