My Italian Cuisine class and I visited Fattoria di Bagnolo, a famous chianti winery and extra olive oil producer. We took a bus to Impruneta, and then took a long walk to reach the winery located on a small hill.
The winery was small, historical, and very well kept. We met with our tour guide who showed us where and how they make their fine wines.
This entrance leads to underground storage of the wines.
Grapes are harvested, picked, then crushed along with the skin and seeds (to make the wine red) and then fermented in these stainless steel fermenting tanks. Cultured yeast is usually added so the sugars in the grapes can be digested. During this process, alcohol and carbon dioxide are formed.
Then the wine is poured into these wooden barrels for aging. Some of these wines can be stored up to one year. When the wine is ready, they are shipped to the distributor for us to enjoy! : )
After our tour, we had the chance to taste four of their best chianti wines.
We even did professional wine-tasting. I learned that each different method makes the wine taste different!
Some of the goodies we ate along with our wine : ) ... pecorino cheese, chicken liver on crostini bread, pesto on crostini bread, and bologna sandwich.
They also sold us some of their delicious wines and extra virgin olive oil.
...and on our way out, we admired the olive oil trees.
Its a small town on top of a hill.
