Montalcino wouldn't win a top ten place in 'The Prettiest Italian Hill Town' competition, but it is still a pleasant place to look at and to visit. It is a working town - the home of Brunello.
Lots of years ago, Paul and I read a book called 'Vanilla Beans and Brodo' by Isabella Dusi an Australian woman of Italian heritage who chose Montalcino as her home and established a tourism business here. It was a fascinating book, not always easy reading, but it detailed a town and its customs that had scarcesly changed for centuries - including the production of Brunello.
Visiting the city you can't help but look for all of the places described in the book and the stories that went with them .... Was this Bruno's little vegetable patch on the stony patch, just outside the lower gate? Is this the section of road near the old bridge that collapsed in the winter of 1996? Which trattoria is the one that serves the best tripe in Tuscany? Which cafe is the one with the new espresso machine? I could go on ....... wondering.
Looking across the rooftops from the fortress. The town is quite steep, though it looks deceptively flat.
Circling Montalcino are only 1,200 hectares (2,400 acres) and 200 producers that can claim the name 'Brunello'. The average vineyard is therefore only 6 hectares, exceptions being two or three that are quite large and a number that are very small.
The town has a handsome towered fortress called the Rocca di Montalcino, built in 1361 after the town came under the control of Sienna. A good number of the original features remain. It was the final point of defence in a series of fortresses situated along the access routes to Sienna.
The fortress and the town of Montalcino together with the last officials of the Republic of Sienna, fell to the Medici of Florence in 1559.
Life went on, I guess.
Nothing flash in the main piazza despite Paul searching for symbolism on the newish-looking flag pole.
The town hall, with a hotch-potch of ancient white stone symbols depicting things like coats of arms. By contrast, on the white seat, are the 23 logos commissioned for each Brunello vintage since 1990. I should have taken some close-ups as they were fabulous.
Very little new building here - most of these houses, like the B&B we stayed in are 500 years old.
There is almost no retail in the traditional centre of the town, except for food and wine. And no advertising at all. Of the four shade awnings you can see on the left, one is the outdoor restaurant and three are wine shops, all businesses of the same owner.
But things get interesting once you understand about the 'quartieri' - the four neighbourhoods - and the annual tournament.
Each quartiere has its own flag, shield, headquarters, committee of management and teams. You can see the four shields and colours on the bottom of the poster notifying the annual torneo or tournament (in this case the 51st tournament). Whilst there are many torneo skills, it is really only the archery competition that counts. This part of Italy is a community of hunters, traditionally with bow and arrow. The winners of the torneo are the quartiere with the best archers!
In Montalcino the quartieris are Pianello, Ruga, Travalgio and Borghetto.
This is the flag of the Borghetto quartiere.
This is Ruga.
Here is Travaglio.
And finally, the Pianello quartiere.
Our B&B was in the Borghetto quatiere - with logo displayed on its street number and with a little shield above.
The restaurant next door also showed its quartiere on its street number.
And the Borghetto headquarters was right next door to my hairdresser!
The Montalcino tournament was held the weekend before we arrived, whereas the Montepulciano torneo was scheduled for the weekend after we arrives - are we never destined to see this archery contest?
And the winner of the Montalcino torneo this year was Travaglio, the yellow stars on the red background. Apparently it was a pretty sure thing ... their principle archer is the current Italian champion. I hung out the window of the B&B while the jubilant victors marched with torches and drums and much loud singing, around the corner of the next block down our street.
But so much for archery tournaments, Paul spent some happy hours in the wine shops and enotecas looking, talking and tasting while I snapped a few pictures and eventually went off to have my hair cut.
Some was quite reasonably priced.
These people brought their own bottle for a bulk refill.
Now there's a happy man!
Paul actually had a private tour with one of the original wine growers of the region and he has some great photos for the wine buffs - so I'll try to do another post using his photos.
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