Success at Antinori

I had my first winery experience today and it was incredible! We went to New Cantine Antinori winery in Bargino. They have a fabulous building set up just for wine tourism and the customer’s experience. The actual wine they produce is at a separate location.

They are known for their Chianti Classico. We tasted three different wines and my favorite was the Chianti Classico Riserva.

After the winery, we stopped quickly for lunch on our way to the next destination- Frantoio Di Santa Tea- an olive oil factory! Here we were able to see how olive oil is made and we learned about the different factors the influence the taste. We tried an olive oil made from green olives and one made from black olives. The green olive oil had a taste that was really strong and a lot of heat. My favorite was the black olive oil- it was much smoother. We tried the oils with bread and the traditional way- sipping it straight from a small cup. It is interesting to see how different the taste was based on how it was taken. I don’t think I will be sipping my olive oil again.

We went back to the city and I walked to dinner with a couple friends. We went to Trattoria Zaza. The pizza I had was by far the best I have had on the trip this far. The dough was so crisp and the cheese was such a nice quality. I would definitely come back to this place. It really helps to have someone with you who knows where to go!

It was a packed but wonderful day!