An Antinori Affair to Remember

It is a rare Saturday during the height of our busy season at Castello di Casole that I wake up feeling caught enough up on work to spend the day exploring. Thankfully yesterday was one of those Saturdays. As I contemplated my options over a steaming cup of Chai tea, I recalled hearing some clients rave about a special place in Tavarnelle owned by the Antinori family where they were able to order Tignanello and other phenomenal Italian wines by the glass. Tavarnelle is only about 30 minutes from Castello di Casole, so I threw on a sundress, grabbed my handbag and hat, and headed out on a long overdue adventure.

Normally I do everything in my power to avoid having to use my GPS system. I have seen GPS devices almost destroy marriages in this country and I have had my own share of annoying experiences. One day I was driving home on the superhighway from Assisi, when suddenly the woman on my Garmin GPS shouted out “Drive 100 meters and take an immediate U-turn!” Right. I ripped the machine out of the cigarette lighter and almost threw it out the window.

Fortunately I still had the GPS because when I got to Tavarnelle, which is in Chianti, I realized I had no idea where I was going. After driving around aimlessly trying to find signs for Badia di Passignano, I almost gave up and turned around. I had no choice but to turn to the GPS and within ten minutes I was parking the car in this delightful hidden hamlet.

According to the website, there are claims that the monastery of Passignano was completed as early as 395, though the monastery archives date back to the year 891. In 1049 Badia passed into the order of a reformed branch of the Benedictines who specialized in winegrowing and forestry. Over time the order became so powerful that it owned a quarter of Tuscany. Then in 1255 the abbey was attacked, burned and razed to the ground by the Florentines. Big surprise. In the 1500s the abbey was an important center for theological, literary and scientific studies. About 100 monks lived there, and it is reported that Galileo taught mathematics there from 1587-1588. Unfortunately the monastic life was suspended and many monastery treasures were lost in 1810 under Napoleon. Another big surprise.

Antinori purchased the vineyards around Badia in 1987. The abbey is still owned by the monks, although Antinori has the use of the cellars. The abbey was closed when I arrived so I strolled around the grounds and took some photos. Then I decided to seek out Osteria di Passignano, the restaurant and enoteca that Allegra Antinori opened in the late 1990s which sells all of the Antinori wines, plus fine wines from all over Italy.

I didn’t really know what I was doing when I poked my head into the enoteca, so I introduced myself as a real estate agent for Castello di Casole and asked if I could taste a few wines. Within minutes, the manager Marcello was guiding me to an ornately set, white-clothed table. As I took in the beautiful restaurant surrounding me, I knew I was in for a treat. Maurizio, the master sommelier, poured me a glass of sparkling wine and I started to peruse the menu and the hefty leather-bound wine list.

I could have gone for the €60 five-course Tasting Menu or the €100 Tasting Menu accompanied by a glass of wine for each course, but I wasn’t that hungry so I opted for the Mollusk and Sea Water Risotto with Basil and Cherry Tomato Pesto. The waiter started me off with an amuse bouche of octopus soup, its salty, savory broth soaking a paper-thin wafer.

He also brought me a little silver platter of beautifully presented homemade crackers, sesame seed breadsticks, focaccia and breads, a refreshing departure from the saltless, flavorless, often slightly stale bread served in most restaurants in Tuscany.

I literally gasped when the waiter presented me with my risotto surrounded by tiny tender mollusks and drips of dark green pesto. Risotto is one of my favorite dishes and I have ordered it in restaurants at least fifty times in my life. I can honestly say that this is the best risotto I have ever tasted. Nestled in the rice, which was cooked to perfection and lightly seasoned with herbs and cheese, were poached cherry tomatoes that melted in my mouth. With each morsel I took a sip of the 2007 Cervaro delle Sala “Antinori” Maurizio had chosen for me, a creamy blend of Chardonnay and Grecchetto (a white grape from Umbria) with a hint of walnuts which Maurizio informed me was rated by Wine Spectator as one of the finest white wines in all of Italy.

I would have been quite happy to call it quits after the risotto. But the next thing I knew, the waiter brought out a silver basket of homemade biscotti and cookies, and a ceramic ladle cradling three homemade dark and white chocolate truffles, one sprouting a trio of dried sage leaves. I ordered an espresso and opened the massive wine list.

For several years Maurizio has been building this list which is now up to 365 labels including sich greats as Solaia, Gaja, Sassicaia, Ornellaia, the best Brunellos and French Bordeaux, and Stag’s Leap in Napa and Col Solade in Washington State (both of which Antinori is part owner with Chateau St. Michelle). The selection is enough to make a wine connoisseur weep. After noting the €500 for a bottle of ’06 Ornellaia Masseto, I was pleased to hear that Maurizio’s focus now is to bring in more wines in the €20-€50 price range.

As I relucantly got up from the table and said my thank yous to Marcello, Maurizio and the incredible waitstaff, I was reminded that there are times in life when it pays to have no expectations. My lunch at Badia di Passignano on a random summer Saturday was an experience I will never forget.

Next time I will be taking a tour of the cellars with Maurizio which normally occur Monday – Saturday at 3:30PM and require a reservation. If you are planning a trip to Tuscany and you love food and wine, lunch or dinner at Osteria di Passignano should be on your itinerary somewhere, somehow. Call Marcello at +39 055 8071278 and let him know I sent you.