If you’ve been following me along the last couple of months, you know I’ve been traveling a bit. Not far, mostly in Italy, but each weekend seems to be in a different place. All great fun, but hard to keep up with reporting back on the blog.
A few weekends ago we went up to Florence to help a friend celebrate his 50th birthday party. Not only did he organize a fantastic birthday dinner here , and a cocktail here, there were also lots of other fun food related events all weekend.
On Saturday afternoon we all piled into a bus and headed out into the countryside. Our destination: Capezzana. The owners of this estate are old friends of Rolando (the birthday boy) and invited us all to see their villa and have lunch in their newly opened wine bar, La Vinsanteria.
We started out with a tour of the family’s private home. If the family name, Contini Bonacossi, sounds familiar to you, that might be because they donated a large part of their private art collection to the state, and it is now installed in the Uffizi Gallery. But the family home is still full of family heirlooms. (you know, like Luca della Robbias and things like that).
We also got a tour of the wine cellar, with bottles dating back to the Estate’s first vintages from the 1920’s. One of the first Estates to focus on quality over quantity, they are now one of the most important producers of wine in Tuscany.
After the dim and dark barrel-filled cellars, we made our way through the villa’s rose garden to the Vinsantaia, the newest addition to the Estate. The youngest generation of the family has taken over the building where Vin Santo is made, and turned it into an adorable restaurant. We had crostini drizzled with their excellent olive oil, local cheeses and cured meats, all washed down with my new favorite summer wine: Vin Ruspo.
While the ground floor has been given over to the restaurant, the attic is still where they age Vin Santo. Small oak barrels are arrayed along the walls, sweating the sweet wine made from dried raisins.
Needless to say, the day ended with biscotti, Vin Santo and the kind of view that seems taken straight from a Renaissance painting. Cypress trees, rolling hills and cookies. What more could you want?
Tenuta di Capezzana
Via Capezzana, 100
Carmignano
+39.334.949.9402
[email protected].
Read more about Capezzana Olive oil here
And you can order it in the States here.
What an amazing way to spend a weekend!! I have starred this for my next trip in the fall! The photos are great! Thanks for sharing this with us!
Wonderful to see your beautiful photos again, Elizabeth. I have missed your posts and am so happy to be able to ready about and see what you have been doing. Thanks.
Yes, I don’t know why the updates stopped for a while. It was a problem with Feedburner, which seems to have miraculously fixed itself! But as you can see, I’ve been posting regularly, so I hope you read the posts from the last few months to catch up.
I’ve just discovered your site. It’s gorgeous! I will be bak to explore more!
We, my husband and I, will be in Florence in mid July and would love to go to Capezzano winery. We received all the information from Mara Pole at the winery regarding their tours, but we do not know the best way to get there from Florence. Can you give me that informtion?
As far as I know, the only way to get there is by car. But I’m sure the winery can give you the best information.
I just discovered this post on a Google search for Tenuta di Capezzana. When my boys (now in college) were small, we rented a cottage from Benedetta, the chief winemaker, and her husband Filippo, just above the winery. We spent a week on the property during several summers, and were planning a return visit when we will be in Florence this September. Lovely spot, lovely people, lovely wines.
It sounds like you are lucky enough to know this special place very well!