Friday, October 16, 2009

Sagrantino excursions, Spello and Assisi





Another wonderful outing with Brenda in the sagrantino region of Umbria was enjoyed by my MO guests. We started off on the road early to see Assisi, then on to Spello to meet up with our CA tour guide who has now lived in Italy for 10 years. We started with a great lunch at Fongoli winery, then on to another tasting before exploring the artisans of Spello and the city.
Jim, Fred and Jan had a great day and then spent a few days exploring the coast, Ascoli Piceno, Civitella del Tronto and Offida.
They headed off on the train yesterday to explore Tuscany. As often happens, their train was late, so they missed their connection in Bologna. Luckily, there is always another coming along to take you where you want to go.
We are in a rainy period right now and although I got 100 kg of olives picked before the precipitation, you need 300 kg to go to the frantoio to make your oil. Hopefully, things will clear up soon and as it is cool, the olives picked should stay unoxidized for a couple of more days.
The stomped grapes got destemmed day before yesterday and the wine is now reposing in the old wooden barrel and the stainless steel tank. We will keep a close eye on the 225 Liters in the barrique as we had a bad experience with our 2007 which saw the inside of the same barrel. I am hoping the wood is more seasoned and coated and we won't pick up the harsh tannins of before.
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