Tuesday is a shopping day

Weeks ago we made an appointment for today at Boscarelli to taste their most recent wine offerings. They are and continue to be one of our favorite producers in Montepulciano. We did a tour and tasting there three years ago and, just like today, Roberta was our guide. Today she showed us the plaque on the wall in the tasting room indicating that in 2014 she was named Il Premio Cantiniere del Vino Nobile, which is the top-rated cellarmaster in all of Montepulciano--no small prize, especially for a woman.

We tasted several of the wines ranging from their simple merlot and rosso to the more complex and riserva wines. For the 2011 and 2012 VN vintages, made from exactly the same grapes, we tasted them side by side to get a feel for how incredibly different they were because of the differences in the weather from season to season. We always learn so much from good wine people. Roberta is fantastic.

After that it was into the town for some things we needed. First, I had some keys made at the hardware store, then we needed all new pillows for the beds so we went to the linens shop. Then we had to replace the rubber gaskets in the Moka coffee makers. Then, because it was SNOWING, I needed a friggin' hat and my feet were freezing, so I bought boots too. WINTER GO AWAY!!

At lunchtime, we walked up the hill and stopped in at La Dolce Vita, which is one of our favorite wine bars. It also has a creative menu of light fare and an excellent choice of wines by the glass. Because it was so damn cold and windy, we needed something hearty. The Piatto del Contadino (farmer's plate) was grilled sausages over white beans and roasted tomatoes--just perfect! 

After lunch we walked all the way to the top of the hill and stopped in to visit Gianni at his ceramics shop. We were looking for something colorful to hang on the wall here in Radicofani. We found this lovely platter that fit the bill.

On the way home, we stopped in at the Biagiotti wrought ironworks outside Pienza because I decided we need a chandelier over our dining table here. They had dozens of choices--some large enough for a medeival castle banquet room. Here, we don't need anything quite that dramatic, but we narrowed our choices to three and will consult with Claudio to be sure he can install it before we actually buy one, maybe later this week.