Our weekly newspaper about food, wine and life in Alsace, Burgundy & Tuscany.

Articles about "top pairings for dry and off-dry Alsace whites" and much more!

Winestein @ JSwinetours

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.

Our weekly newspaper about food, wine and life in Alsace, Burgundy & Tuscany.

Happy New Year !!!


Articles about Champagne, winter recipes and more!

Winestein @ JSwinetours

Our "castello stays and tours"

A rich history awaits you in Tuscany. Centuries of preserved architecture and art are hallmarks of this region in Italy. If you want to be part of that then you might want to stay in one of the castello's or villas offered by our partner "Kasteelwijnen".


On the picture are the apartments and pool of our local partner "Castel Brunello" near Montalcino. You can choose from apartments with 2,3 or 4 bedrooms. The breakfasts can be included.
The apartments are ideally located for touring the Brunello and Montepulciano region.

We can organize a wine tasting in your apartment or the central space of the premises. And of course we can pick you up in the morning for one or more tour days in the area (on the photo below the Castello Banfi). In the evening we will take you back after your dinner.


We offer a great "4-day Castel Brunello arrangement" with 2 dinners and 2 full wine tasting days, including lunches. For more information? Mail us!

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/

Brunello di Montalcino into a series of sub-zones?

A small but growing minority of Brunello di Montalcino producers plan to propose that Montalcino’s governing consorzio takes advantage of government funding to map the wine region’s sub-zones.

Proponents argue that zoning would highlight subtle stylistic differences in the wines and could define around twenty micro-terroirs within Montalcino. Currently, Montalcino’s single vineyard wines, labelled ‘Vigna’, are officially mapped but its various sub-zones are not.

Zoning could also lead to better maps for tourists, who often get lost when visiting the area. Authorities have removed all winery signposts from road junctions in Italy’s Siena province, because of accidents caused by drivers slowing down to read them.

Source: Decanter , read more here

Brunello is “ageless”, it is the wine of a lifetime

Brunello is “ageless”:

• it is the wine of a lifetime: a “mature” red when turning 18 
• on the threshold of adulthood, to pop open at graduation after five long years of studies at university and of ageing in the cellar, 
• a “certainty” like when you turn 35, 
• “reassuring” at 50 because it ages and improves over time, 
• an uncommitted “sin” to indulge in when reminiscing on life at 80 years of age, 
• an “exception” in the wine world that remains unflappable when it reaches the same age as those who extraordinarily turn 100.

Read more here.

Visit and taste these ageless wines with JoliSoleil Guided Tours.
Plan a tour via http://guidedtourstuscany.com

#jolisoleil

About Brunello di Montalcino wine

Brunello di Montalcino wine was invented in the 19th century by a group of grape growers who cloned the Sangiovese grape, discovering the Sangiovese Grosso and it is a wine of great quality and longevity. In fact, it can be aged for a long time (from 10 to 30 years), only improving as the years go by.

It is one of the most famous Italian wines, the “real Italian”, the one that everyone, from wine lovers to VIPs and from collectors to heads of state, knows the world over; a must for unforgettable moments on every “special” table, at the most important events and in dream cellars; the one that guidebooks never fail to award, that ratings never miss, that auctions never leave off the block.

Always up to par, it “dresses up” as an endorser and as a limited edition, as a private label to a work of art, in a pink jersey or as an Olympian, as a “character” in a film or novel. It is signed, designed, autographed, numbered, given as a gift or for a collection, charity or solidarity.
When it suits up as a Made-in-Italy ambassador, where it is called upon to evoke the Italian dream par excellence, Brunello di Montalcino, “shot” by MontalcinoNews, has something to wear for every occasion.

A top pick for those looking for intense emotions in a bottle and even among the pioneers of wine by the glass for a luxurious treat, Brunello di Montalcino is the “wine dream” par excellence of the lovers of good drink, because everyone has a label, vintage, or cellar of the famed red among their favorites to open during memorable moments, to cork and share at “special” tables.

Just like on the tables of leaders and heads of state, where glasses of Brunello have always been raised to accompany official political moments and meetings sanctioned at table – from Queen Elizabeth to Presidents of the Republic, Francesco Cossiga and Giorgio Napolitano, from the Emperor of Japan to the King of Sweden, from the German Prime Minister, Gerhard Schroder, to the wedding banquet of Prince William and Princess Kate.

Even American President Barack Obama, often ad hoc, opens a magnum or jeroboam, or a more original limited edition, perhaps numbered or from a collection.



Limited editions, which Brunello di Montalcino boasts many of, are sometimes designed by famous artists who have created real collections of works of art – from Fernando Botero to Sandro Chia – or made for special events, even on a national level, for anniversaries or centennials, just as old as a bottle of this great red could very well be, even for charity or solidarity.

Without overlooking bottles made especially for sports events like the Giro d’Italia – for the historical Carrara-Montalcino leg including its dirt roads (2010) – the Olympics or co-branding famous Italian brand names and not only, from Poltrona Frau to Harley Davidson. And which have often been the star of special auctions bid on by fervent collectors in special formats alongside true auction experts who, have always had Brunello, or even a vertical collection thereof, among its top lots all over the world.



Brunello is courted by VIPs, who claim to be admirers sometimes with such great fervor that they choose to produce their own or even create a private label, just like Hollywood celebrity Richard Gere, with the many appearances and name-dropping on film and TV, to music – featured in important reviews in Italian music – to literature, design and fashion – designed by some of the most famous Italian designers including Fendi, Ferragamo, Gianfranco Ferrè, even in a negligé.

More and more, Brunello is seen as a star walking the red carpet or the catwalk, starting on the night of the Oscars. And whatever its format, no matter where in the world, one thing is certain: among the unique and prestigious bottles, from all over the world, that should never be missing from the dream cellar par excellence, Brunello is there.

Text: Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino
Original text by Elisa Manieri.

Group tour Tuscany : 23-26 of May

Only 2 places left in group of 8. We stay in Siena and will visit the great names in Chianti, Montepulciano and Brunello from there. Mail or call for more information!