Sunday 7 March 2010

A Fantastic Gusto Sunday! A day in photos.

What a beautiful weekend last weekend was! We had our first taste of Spring!  We were very lucky here in Italy not to be hit by those dreadful storms that swept Portugal, Spain and France.  It was very windy, but no rain - for that we were very grateful!



















Here's the fabulous group - Mark, Mignon, Ruurd, Letizia, Helen, Rebecca and Paolo.  

 Helen was our official photographer for the day!  Fully loaded with two cameras - one for each pocket!  Thanks so much Helen, we got a real record of the day because of you!
















Mark and Mignon by the gorgeous view from Cantina Romanelli.


















Costantino and Anna-Rita from Romanelli came out to greet their guests.

















...Making sure all is in place......






















Costantino sets the stage for the wine tasting.  Complete with some delicious salami nibbles.

















Romanelli's pretty shop selling their oils, wines and other products.


























Andrea from Cantina Sant' Anna showing off his swirling skills!

















Francesca of Sant' Anna starting off the degustazione di vino!























A happy Rebecca with Passito and biscotti!


 
Ruurd showing off his Sant' Anna purchases!























Mark and I at the incredibly lovely Cantina Fongoli.  
I snuck in for the lunch!





















The lovely barrel room at Fongoli.

















Decio, the father at Fongoli joined us briefly at lunch and went around the table chinking glasses with everyone!  
                                                                                                                                        
 Lunch was a fantastic wine pairing affair... 
                                                                                                                                                                               


Antipasti - was some lovely bruschette with mixed toppings...



 

  ...and cured meats, pecorino cheese with honey with a lovely fresh Grechetto.





Il primo - a delicious risotto al sagrantino paired with their Montefalco Rosso riserva - Mmmmm! 






  
Il secondo - grilled meats with vegetables au gratin - all the meats were done on the outside grill (- see the group picture below - the grill is behind us! )
We had Fongoli's wonderful Montefalco Sagrantino secco with this course.


For dolce we were presented with home-made crostate (fruit tarts) - 2 different types, plus biscotti with almonds teamed up with their superb sagrantino passito.



I'm sure all that were there will agree, it was all delicious!


















The happy group after the exceptional lunch at Fongoli!



The group at Colle Ciocco with the brothers Lamberto and Eliseo - ready for another tasting!

 

 Another great full day with Gusto Wine tours!   

It was a fabulous day full of fun and laughter, the cantine were superb and really made our guests feel special. We're now looking forward to the warmer weather so that the tastings and even the lunch can be al fresco - although the tasting rooms are really lovely too!








8 comments:

  1. It was a wonderful tour. Thanks Mark & Giselle...lots of fun and made new friends. Loved the different feel and styles of the cantinas. Who took all those nice pics? ;-)

    Helen

    ReplyDelete
  2. Why, you did Helen! Thanks so much for being the photographer for the day! Hope you still enjoyed the day!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have no idea why the wording has all gone to pot - really frustrating - looks fine on the preview - thought that's what a preview was, a shot of what it will look like, not MIGHT look like if you have some luck! So sorry if it's difficult to read, I don't know what to do to correct it!

    ReplyDelete
  4. A lovely day with lovely company...Mark worked so hard to make the outing special for us. Thanks again! Rebecca

    ReplyDelete
  5. This blog is fantastic! Have you been on any wine tours in San Francisco? I've heard good things.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hey, very nice site. I came across this on Google, and I am stoked that I did. I will definitely be coming back here more often. Wish I could add to the conversation and bring a bit more to the table, but am just taking in as much info as I can at the moment. Thanks for sharing.
    Travel Wheelchair


    Keep Posting:)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hey, very nice site. I came across this on Google, and I am stoked that I did. I will definitely be coming back here more often. Wish I could add to the conversation and bring a bit more to the table, but am just taking in as much info as I can at the moment. Thanks for sharing.
    Travel Wheelchair

    Keep Posting:)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hey, very nice site. I came across this on Google, and I am stoked that I did. I will definitely be coming back here more often. Wish I could add to the conversation and bring a bit more to the table, but am just taking in as much info as I can at the moment. Thanks for sharing.
    Karma KM 2500 Wheelchair

    Keep Posting:)

    ReplyDelete