Showing posts with label Chianti Classico. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chianti Classico. Show all posts

Friday, January 1, 2016

Tuscany's Dolce Vita - JSwinetours tours at least twice a year in this beautiful part of Italy.

JoliSoleil does 3- or more day private tours in Tuscany at least twice a year.
We take you to the Chianti area , Montalcino and Montepulciano. We will let you taste the best Chianti's, Brunello's, Super Tuscans and more.
You will stay in cozy little hotels and have dinner in the best (often Michelin starred) restaurants.


For more information just mail us or call +33672120319.

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

San Felice Il Grigio Chianti Classico Gran Selezione 2011 is number 1 in the “Enthusiast 100'

Although I am not sure if there is such a thing as "THE worlds best wine" it is great that another wine coming from Tuscany / Italy gets all this attention to the region.

This is another reason for visiting Tuscany in 2016 yourself and getting to know these wines. Visit with us ?! @jolisoleil.

2015 was an outstanding year for Italian wines in the Wine Enthusiast,” Kerin O'Keefe told Wine News. “This is the first time an Italian wine has taken the top spot in the “Top 100 Best Buys” and second place in “Top Cellar Selections”. Now, San Felice Il Grigio Chianti Classico Gran Selezione 2011 is number 1 in the “Enthusiast 100”. Congrats to San Felice !

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Newsletter Christmas 2014


Almost Christmas  
With still some visits to Strasbourg and Colmar and some tours to the Christmas markets in Kaysersberg, Equisheim and Riquewihr ahead, we are slowly moving to the end of the year.

Touring in 2014
We have done a lot of great tours in Alsace and Tuscany this year.
For some Alsace tours we have picked up people all the way in Basel in Switzerland and at Basel airport. Logically we stayed south on those tour days, as there are many interesting wineries to be found in the south “Haut Rhin” area, like Schlumberger and Agathe Bursin for example and we do not want to lose too much time just driving.


Bachelor parties
A couple of bachelor parties this year were great fun. On one of them we also did a boat ride on a canal near Colmar. This gave the people time to let us talk to the future groom while tasting wine and to be honest some beer too.


On another bachelor tour we visited the “Confrérie Saint Etienne” and tasted 5 Grand Cru wines of the year 2004. This was the year the groom met his bride to be.


Sadly we missed the celebration festivities of the 400th year in continuous production of our friends the family of Jean Baptiste Adam in May, as we were touring in Tuscany.




Tuscany
It was great doing two tours (in spring and early summer) in Tuscany. We cherish the private tastings at Laura Gray from Il Palazzone and with Paola from Siro Pacenti.


We were privileged to get to know the owner of Ristorante Guidoriccio in Siena (this man knows his Italian wines ….) and Gianfranco at “Il Leccio” in Saint Angelo in Colle. So many great Brunello’s came by that afternoon.


Nice guests, nice local people, great cooks, wonderful times.

It was very special to see Princess Coralia Pignatelli again in Castell in Villa, after 11 years.
In those days, 11 years ago, yours truly had just moved to France and visited the area with a Dutch Wine club. This time we did a private tasting invited in her house which was quite special as Madame understandably wants to keep her privacy.


We organized a group dinner on the premises later in the year.
We also think back on our visits at for example Gagliole and the great Chianti tasting plus lunch we enjoyed at their sister house and vineyards in Panzano.


The wine year 2014
The year 2014 saw an early spring with lots of sunshine in France and Italy. The winter had been wet with little snow. This led to landslides and problems in Tuscany.

Sadly, in July and especially August the temperatures were under normal and we had lots of rain, even in Tuscany. September and October were sunny and dry again. The weather stayed great until deep in November.

A couple of hail storms in Alsace and especially Burgundy brought lots of damage. The quality of the grapes and harvest from for example Riesling in Alsace was still good. But a big problem this year was the arrival of the Japanese Suzuki fly. It attacked the reddish skinned grapes like Pinot Noir but also Gewurztraminer, making the grapes go bad in only a few hours. Changes in harvest planning, stress, and low yields resulted.

For Sangiovese in Italy producing the great Brunello’s, it will not be a great year we heard. For Olive oil the production this year will be even worse. Because of the strange weather patterns yields are very low to practically zero. Let us hope 2015 will be more normal.



New in 2014: JoliSoleil city and genealogy tours
Although we started focusing on wine tours a couple of years ago, more and more times people asked us to do something different, helping them explore their family roots in Alsace. This was especially the case on day tours. This made us decide to add for example “City Tours” to the program with visits to Strasbourg and Colmar but also to smaller villages like Equisheim, Kaysersberg, Riquewihr and Turckheim.


Another question came two times from two different families living in the United States but with ancestors in Alsace. On one occasion we traced back a Jewish family history and visited some places that were mentioned in a family reunion some years ago. In another case we traced back two families that have lived near Reinhardsmunster and Epfig for hundreds of years. We found their names in old books and cemetery’s. But we can also find people with the name still living here today!


As Genealogy is a hobby of Terry Smits and she has access to several genealogy databases on the Internet, we will of course continue offering these special services for people that look for their roots and ancestors.

New in 2015: Burgundy tours
As wine lovers we visited Burgundy now and then over the years already of course. As driving to Beaune or Nuits St George is only a bit further then driving to Strasbourg from our farm near Gérardmer, we will take guests to Burgundy in 2015 also.


Like in Alsace and Tuscany we know our way. We took the time to visit and taste at smaller and relatively unknown wineries.


Very important is that we tried out lots of little restaurants. We think it is always a sport to find that spot that offers great quality for a good price. This means that like in Alsace we can add a great lunch and or dinner on a “one day tour” and offer the whole package still for a reasonable price.

We can also be of service now to wine & food lovers that would like to get to know Alsace and Burgundy in for example two or three days in one tour package with us.

And we will also go to Tuscany of course a couple of times in 2015. Those will only be more day tours for people that really want to wine and dine on an exquisite and connoisseur level.

Christmas 2014
At home we are working on some great Christmas dinners for family and friends. Each time we will pair two wines per course, making a selection from our favorite areas and private wine cellar.


We hope that all our guests and everybody that follows us will have a wonderful Christmas too.

We would love to meet you in 2015. And of course it would be great to see some of our relations back in another tour area in the coming year. Don't wait too long with your bookings.
We are only two people and with everything we do now, we are quite busy.
     
We wish everybody a prosperous and happy 2015 !

Cheers from Terry & Pieter Smits 


Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Impressions of a lovely May tour in Tuscany

On our May tour in Tuscany we visited some great wineries in the Chianti region like. Gagliole, Castellare and Ricasoli. 





We had some wonderful lunches and dinners in Siena and near Montalcino.



Around Montalcino we visited Altesino and Banfi, among others.





In a tasting sesssion we compared these 3 Brunello's:

Life can be good. We cannot wait to go back :).
Join us next time?

Ciao from Terry & Pieter




Monday, April 7, 2014

The Black Rooster story 'Gallo Nero' and Chianti Classico

Chianti sounds ...
During the middle ages there was a rivalry between Siena and Florence. This resulted in a lot of fighting, in fact the area of Chianti takes its name from the sound of the fighting being heard across the land (like the sound of the clanging of swords).


Knight do not be late
To end the fighting the people decided that knights would leave their home towns at the cock's crow.
Florence had a black rooster and they did not feed him. Siena had a white rooster and they fed him well.

So on the day this was to take place the black rooster of Florence, so hungry, started to crow before the sun came up. As a result the knight of Florence left much earlier arriving in Fonterutoli, meeting the knight from Siena only 12 kilometers from the Siena border. This is why almost all of the Chianti region feel under the rule of the Florentine Republic.


Gallo Nero - the black rooster
So as the story goes since the 14th century, 600 years ago, the black rooster has been the symbol of the Chianti region and this rooster is the official emblem of certification of the wine from the Consortium.

This represents 9 municipalities, 4 of which are in the original black rooster region which are labeled 'in Chianti'and 5 of which are partially in the region and represents a total of 7,000 hectares of land between Siena and Florence.



Did I say that there are some yummy "polio" recipes in Tuscany? Of course with a Gallo Nero certified Chianti Classico wine.



Thursday, March 27, 2014

Checkout Tuscanvines.blogspot

Reading tasting reports on Chianti Classico 2009, like:















and Brunello 2008, for example this one:




















Food pairing with PorkTenderloins. Wow!















Or with "Pork Roast wrapped in pancetta with mushrooms".















Now this is what you pair a great Brunello with :)

Great Blog articles, we are tempted to taste a lot of those wines ourselves soon.
A highly recommended blog.
More on http://tuscanvines.blogspot.fr/

Monday, March 3, 2014

Chianti Gran Selezione - new benchmark label for DOCG’s premium wines

Chianti Classico is the first appellation in Italian viticultural history to apply a new quality tier to it’s wine. As of now, the term ‘Gran Selezione’, which slides in above ‘Riserva’ will be the benchmark label for the DOCG’s premium wines.

The term Gran Selezione will only cover around 10% of the appellation’s wines.
Read more here.
 
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