The last time we met, we were on our way to Siena from Rome…without all of our luggage! While we were staying in Siena, we took the opportunity to visit the Tuscan countryside for a day. We did this with our wonderful guide, Stefano Coltellini, of “Get Tours”. Stefano is the Get Tours General Manager, as well as a Certified Sommelier by Italian Sommelier Association, and he’s a Food & Wine Guide specialist. Let me tell you about what Get Tours can do for you:
Tailor made guided sightseeing tours with private driver in Tuscany and other parts of Italy
Wine tours in Tuscany with enthusiast wine expert
Food experiences with local food guide
Car services for transfers and shuttle
Luxury limousine service with a private driver
THE MEETING
An email exchange with Stefano determined our meeting point in Siena that was close to our hotel. We arrived just a bit early to be sure that Stefano did not have to wait on us…plus, we were excited to get underway for our day in Tuscany that Stefano had arranged for us.
As we waited, a group of bicyclists came up the street. We learned that all must use a skinny-tired bicycle, as this was a vintage bicycle ride.
We also learned that they had already ridden many miles today, starting a long way from Siena.
We had lovely scenery as we waited, which is typical of Siena.
And here’s a bit more lovely scenery, as the lovely Jason, who is a construction contractor and is well versed in bollards, finds that this tipsy street bollard is most likely not up to specs.
PLEASE MEET OUR DRIVER AND TOUR EXPERT STEFANO
Stefano covers all of southern Tuscany (Siena, Cortona, Montepulciano, Chianti, Montalcino) and he specializes in wine and food tours, which we found out on this wonderful day.
Here is a photo of Stefano during one of his exquisite wine tours.
And here from the Get-Tours website, you can see the variety of tour sites on which Get-Tours has taken riders in comfort…and he can take you too as your private driver. There are many places, foods, wines, cheeses, and other Italian features that Stefano can deliver you to in comfort and with vast knowledge.
And now let’s start our own tour of Tuscany, with our first stop being…
SAN GIMIGNANO
As we approach San Gimignano
In this photo from Wikipedia, you can see much of the appeal of this historic hill town. The entrance is from the extreme right, and the main calle (street) curves up to the area of the tall stone towers.
And in this next photo, which I created it using Google Maps by employing a couple of tricks to get a nice aerial perspective view, you can see more of the surrounding countryside.
San Gimignano from Google Maps
Although there are about 8 stone-towered houses in San Gimignano now, many years ago, because of a feud between two families which drove them to build many more towered homes in a competitive way, they built houses that found the end of the Medieval period garnished with 72 towers up to 230 feet tall. It was like a modern day Manhattan skyline. I’m sorry to say that I could find no photos from that era.
The town is very charming…and there is a lot to see. If you are you interested in a bit of shopping, you’ve found your match…especially if you would like to acquire classic Italian pottery, as shown just below.
Samples of the Italian pottery available in San Gimignano
It was in 2012 that Ellen snagged the fatto in Italia (made-in-Italy) plates that we still use daily.
A 2012 shopping find
As you saw in the aerial photos above, San Gimignano is a long, skinny town. The main street as you enter is Via San Giovanni, which is lined with all kinds of shops. Here is Via San Giovanni…and you can see that Ellen has already scored at shopping.
And here is a sample of what you might see as you stroll the length of Via San Giovanni…
And now we’ve arrived at Piazza Cisterna, where you can see the historical cistern in both photos.
And here is a photo taken by our own Sue Lee as Jon strolls toward her.
Jon on approach to Sue’s location on Piazza Cisterna
And, knowing me as you do, I just had to snag some San Gimignano doorways.
QUERCETO DI CASTELLINA
Stefano now drives us into the heart of Tuscany. Our first stop is a very nice winery…with very nice wine, by the way. This is also our lunch stop.
The word “querceto” means “oak forest”. So, we are going to an area with a lot of oak trees. But as we found out, the Tuscan cypress trees were in attendance there, also.
Once again, I go to Google Maps to show you the acreage of the Querceto di Castellina property. That often used red upside-down red tear drop is where we dined for lunch…and drank wine. At the center are olive groves. At the bottom of the photo you can see the area of the vines.
Before lunch, we toured the winery. This photo shows the beautiful stainless-steel fermentation tanks.
Querceto di Castellina Winery
And here is Jacopo as he explains the process of making their seven wine varieties.
Jacopo explains the wine-making process
One of the favorite wines of our group was this Furtivo…photo taken by Sue Lee. “Furtivo” in English translates as “stealthy” or “sneaky”. This is a Sangiovese-grape based wine (the same grape variety of chianti, brunello, and several other wines.
Furtivo wine photo by Sue Lee
One cannot describe the wine better than found on their website: “Light and bright, the subtle color of peach skin, our Furtivo though ‘sneaky’ in its easy drinkability, has an innocence about it, the aromas have a jubilance that revives childhood memories of endless summers, perfectly ripe strawberries, cherry granitas and iced tea packed with citrus and mint.”
You will enjoy their excellent website, which you can view by clicking HERE. Please give it a look, as you will also see their very nice lodging opportunities, also. And, you get an expanded view of their property.
LET’S EAT LUNCH
We were treated to a very nice variety of lunch items, which you will see below…but first, we need to taste the wine that we just had explained to us.
Jacopo pouring the Furtivo
Here you see Jacopo pouring our first wine, and it’s the very tast Furtivo.
And here is a barrage of photos that show how much we enjoyed our wine tasting.
And note that it was not just one wine that we tasted, but several. I shouldn’t have just said “tasted”, but instead “consumed”. The wines we consumed were well marked on the stem of each glass, as seen here in another Sue Lee photo here.
Photo of Querceto di Castellina wines taken by Sue Lee
And now to the food, which was both beautifully prepared, but also very tasty.
And we had a very cute guest whilst we were there. You saw his paw prints on the Furtivo label, above.
I know from 35 years of friendship that Marsha does love chickens, and this one that is on site was very special, indeed.
CASTELLINA IN CHIANTI
Before we returned to Siena, Stefano took us into Castellina in Chianti for a bit of sightseeing. Here are a few photos from that quaint Tuscan town, located in the Chianti region of Tuscany.
MORE QUERCETO DI CASTELLINA PHOTOS FROM OUR EXTENDED TRIP
Did we enjoy Stefano taking us to Querceto di Castellina? Yes, we did. We enjoyed it so much that we went back and stayed for three days after Sue, Jon, Marsha and Jason returned home to the USA. Here are just a few more photos of the grounds of the lovely Querceto di Castellina.
That ends our wonderful day with our new friend, Stefano. By the way, Stefano in Italian is Steve in English. So besides our love of Italy, we share a name. And, his wife’s name is Ellena, and mine is Ellen. Such a coincidence.
I highly recommend the Get Tours group, and Stefano in particular. I suggest that when you are planning your trip to Italy, and you know that you will be wanting to get around without renting a car to drive around on your own, give Get Tours a try.
So, once more I say, Ciao for now. Bless you and yours and when you get the opportunity, get over to Italy!
Steve (aka Stefano)