Recently, your ABC Wine Team had a chance to visit Italy and explore a number of wonderful wineries in Piedmont and in Tuscany, and I’m sure you’ll be hearing a lot more about it from my colleagues on this site. But I’d like to tell you about just one afternoon at just one estate and about just one wine.

            Our hosts were importer Jonathan Shiekman of Margate Wines and for most of the Tuscan leg of our trip the amazing Bruna Baroncini who created and commands five great Tuscan estates. The Baroncinis are an old and respected family in Tuscany and have been making wine in San Gimignano since 1489.

     After a long highway drive from Costigliole d’Asti in Piedmont it was a pleasure to see the rolling hills of San Gimignano again. I’ve visited this area quite a few times over the years and I’m happy to say it still makes me smile to be there. We pulled up to Bruna’s estate, where she was waiting for us along with the lovely Monica Marcucci, head of Foreign Sales for Tenute Toscane di Bruna Baroncini.

 (With Bruna Baroncini)

What better way to begin the afternoon than with a delicious glass of Torre Terza Vernaccia di San Gimignano? Vernaccia, of course, is one of the great white wines of Italy. Grown in the sandstone hills around the small walled medieval hill-town of San Gimignano, it is dry, with crisp acidity, flavors of ripe peaches and subtle almond notes. It was the first Italian wine to be awarded DOC status (in 1966) and was upgraded in 1993 to DOCG.

 Imagine sipping on this wonderful wine while enjoying a light Italian lunch of Panzanella (a classic bread salad), Tuscan ham, and local cheeses. Imagine too that you’re out of doors on a beautiful sunny day with temperatures in the mid-70’s F. And, oh yes, imagine that you have a beautiful view overlooking the magnificent ancient town of San Gimignano.

There had been an Etruscan village at this site since the 3^rd century BCE. Historical records for the town begin in the 10^th century. It was named after Saint Geminianus who successfully defended the town from Attila and his Huns. In the Middle Ages and Renaissance it became a stopping point for Catholic pilgrims on the Via Francigena – the holy road that ran between Rome and Canterbury. The most prominent features of the town are the fourteen remaining ancient towers that have somehow survived centuries of warfare. (Movie-lovers will remember them from the 1999 film Tea With Mussolini.) It is admittedly full of tourists today, but there is still something special about the place that lingers and pleases.

            It certainly was an afternoon for the books! And the day was only half over - there was still a visit to Siena and a delicious multi-course dinner before making our way to our hotel in Montalcino. But all that is another story.

For the moment I just want to remember a delightful afternoon in a very special place and the taste of a wine that will always bring it back to me – Torre Terza Vernaccia di San Gimignano. It’s not currently available at ABC but watch out for it in the future!

Bill Stobbs, ABC Wine Supervisor

(Follow me on Twitter @abcwinebills)