Wine Tour

This is a story about a little Tuscan town called Montepulciano. I came here with Erasmus Land organization on a trip called Wine Tour. Therefore, you won't be surprised if I told you that here you can find an abundance of wine and this has always been so. In fact, in the past there has been more wine than water. So much that they started organizing games every year where they compete who can roll the barrel filled with wine up a steep hill. These barrels weigh about 80 kilos each. Can you imagine that? Seems like a real test of both speed and strength. Although, this competition exists to this date, I don't believe that they still use wine to fill the barrels. Now, the barrels are being filled with water to prevent the eventual loss of the wine.

Our guides took us to a winery to show us where the wine is being held and to tell us a fascinating history of it. The wine is being held in huge barrels in the basement that looks more like a cave. These barrels can contain an enormous amount of wine, several thousands of liters. However, it is not enough simply to put wine in them, you have to carefully monitor them. Depending on the temperature, the amount of wine can vary and with it the taste. The wine should not be to condensed nor to diluted. This means that there has to be a certain amount of the wine. And if this is not the case, more wine has to be added or removed from the barrels.

These barrels are made from wood, but not the Italian wood. Apparently, Italy has to import wood from Eastern Europe for this purpose. This is because different kinds of wood make different tastes of wine. And the bigger is the barrel the bigger effect it has on the taste. And for some reason Italian wood gives an awful taste of wine. So awful, that in the past metal barrels were used for storage of the wine. And since wine did not have a nice taste it had to be mixed with honey. However, it seems that besides the type of wood, little has changed since the time of the Etruscans. Wine is being made almost in the same exact way, at least here in Tuscany.

The Etruscans were much shorter than the average men today. In fact, in this winery the passage ways are so narrow and short that even I had trouble walking there. In order to clean the big barrels that are being held here, someone has to go inside them to do it. However, judging from the opening on the barrels that someone has to be very very small the size of an Etruscan. I was explained that the barrels have to be cleaned every now and then in order not to have bacteria, but since the wine gets its taste from the wood it is not a good idea for the wood to be too clean. This is why they clean these barrels only ones a year or so. I imagine it is also very difficult finding someone small enough to actually do the job.

We also had the opportunity to try some wine. I tried three different red Tuscan wines and one white wine. The white wine was actually a type of liqueur that was about fifty years old. Of course, this means that I was allowed only a small sip of it while the rest of the wine was cheaper and I could drink more of it. Yes, after this I was a bit tipsy but luckily I didn't vomit in the bus but unfortunately some passengers did. It something they don't tell you before a Wine Tour. Tuscany is winding and filled with hills. This makes the scenery very beautiful but you won't appreciate it that much if you are drunk and have to ride in the bus.