We saw a lot of wine.  Some of us drank a lot of wine.

But it was the stories behind the wine, the olive oil, the food, the estates.  it was these stories that I wanted to absorb - sponge like - because it's these stories that are the essence of Italy and the real foundation for Jamie's Italian.

Tuesday.
We landed in Florence on a glorious afternoon and met our tour guide - the extraordinarily knowledgeable and passionate David Gleave from Liberty Wines - before heading 'out west' to the town of Vinci (that of Leonardo) where we met the handsome Giacomo Alari at Dalle Vigne.  Giacomo is the absolute master of co-operative wine production and 'quality' is the key word.  Quality in every part of the operation means outstanding Chianti wine, full of intensity, colour and value.  Listening to him talk was humbling as you realise that the key to creating great wine is ultimately down to Mother Nature.  "These hills here" he says with a little knowing smile, "they are our friends because they protect the grapes from the cold nights and we have our friend the river down there that floats the early morning fog away from the vineyards so the grapes don't get too damp".  Giacomo clearly has a lot of 'friends' in nature because the wine he produces at Dalle Vigne is generally considered to be excellent.
Lunch was next  - all of us were familiar with the selection of cured meats brought to the table first - fennel salami, prosciutto and ermmm something called 'soppressata' which I later discovered was veal brain cured for six months with herbs and fennel seeds.  (I passed).  After a primi course of duck pappardelle we were treated to a suckling pig which had been cooked on hot coals thrown down on the patio outside.  Dessert followed and then coffee.  Lunch was a long affair and a wine tasting with every course was a real treat but it was time to go and taste some Vin Santo from the barrel before heading off for.... dinner.  We learned that the Italians drink Vin Santo almost like us Brits drink tea (perhaps not first thing in the morning but you get my drift).  They make it for themselves and sell any that's left over.  Giacomo told us that you'd be in serious trouble if your Mother was coming to stay and you didn't have any.
So we got back on the bus and headed to our base camp for the night - Capezzana in Carmignano about 20km North West of Florence.
A lease of land found on a parchment stored in the Florence State Archives and dated AD 804 reveals that grapevines and olive trees for oil were already being grown at Capezzana more than 1200 years ago.
Even in the dark we could tell that this was a pretty magical place.
We saw their olive oil production in full flow and marvelled at the Peter Pan of olive oil making who must have been over 60 but whose hands were as smooth as a childs.  We were shown the 'secret wine vault' that successfully kept out the Germans in WW2 and so saved some fine vintages, we were shown to the room where hundreds of thousands of grapes were drying ready to be turned into Vin Santo (the table tennis table parked in the corner, a clear reminder that this was still primarily, a family operation).  Then we were shown to dinner.
Dinner again, was a delicious course by course showcase of the Contini Bonacossi family's finest wines but their incredible olive oil (as peppery as you're ever likely to taste) was right up there, snapping at the wines' heels for a mention.  Secondi was an interesting delicacy which had a mixed response.  On the menu as 'Lingua muscola' there was some debate as to what it actually was.  What it was, actually, was 'tongue'.  It tasted better than it smelled!

Wednesday
Opening the shutters on the bedroom window the next morning was like opening the curtains on a Puccini opera while the orchestra played the overture in my head.  Seriously - the view was breathtaking.
After breakfast it was back on the coach for a long journey across the Chianti region to the Fontodi estate, a certified organic estate where the principles of respect for nature and sustainability are rated high importance.  It's also where we meet the suave and debonair Giovanni Manetti.  His family have owned this estate since 1969 but have been in Chianti for centuries.  The family's primary business is making Terracotta (Chianti's finest) but they don't do a bad job making wine and olive oil!  Giovanni is a chap that secretly all men aspire to and many women must want to marry - he doesn't have a single wrinkle despite working on the land in the hot Tuscan sun, he runs an incredibly successful business, he has the most amazing house in the middle of his vineyard and he looks like he could model for Prada such is his prescence and immaculate grooming.  as well as all that, he exudes an extraordinary aura of calmness when he talks about wine and olive oil which is simply captivating.  He is full of stories that illustrate the passion for wine making and depth of family tradition that go hand in hand.  He told us about buying a piece of vineyard from a 90 year old Gent who insisted on putting a clause in the contract that meant every year Giovanni would have to personally pick a basket of figs from the fig tree that stood on the land and deliver them to him.  He flatly refused to sell the land if Giovanni didn't agree to this.  This Gentleman wanted the opportunity to talk to him about his wine making and this was the way he did it (plus he liked figs - a lot!)  Sometimes it isn't about the money.
Lunch was in nearby Panzano but first we met the indomitable Dario Cecchini the butcher.  He's been a butcher for 250 years he tells us (via his American wife who translates - now there's a romance I'd like to hear about someday!) because that's how long his family have been butchers here.  He talks to us about his philosophies about respecting the entire animal, no single cut of meat is better than any other, just different.  He carries this over into his own life and says that he respects and values every part of his life too and encourages us to challenge ourselves to do the same.  While he talks, he's butchering the most enormous hind leg of beef that I've seen outside of a field.  He butchers that bad boy like it was a lamb chop and anyone who was tempted to comment on his rather gaudy combination of high waisted green cord trousers with red crocs soon thinks twice.
Lunch was just over the road and was a celebration of 'all things cow'.  "To beef or not to beef" were Dario's parting words to us.  We
"beefed".
We 'beefed' 7 different ways in fact and it ranged from 'Ramerino in Culo' (translated on our menu as 'rosemary up your bum') to 'Tenerumi in insalata' (boiled beef and vegetable salad) not surprisingly all washed down with a selection of wine and finished off with the sweetest Vin Santo and then some coffee and hair raising Grappa.
This is what the Italians do best - cook, drink, look after you and make you feel like you're part of the family.  The stunning views from the restaurant window and the beautiful sunshine were just thrown in for good measure.
We headed off for what many believed would be the pinnacle of the trip - a night at the Petrolo Estate.
Petrolo is now one of the most talked about estates in a stunningly picturesque area of Tuscany bordering the Chianti hills.  The coach dropped us off at the bottom of the hill and we walked off a bit of beef up to the house.  The house was like something out of The Sound of Music and I was half expecting Captain Von Trapp to whistle us down to dinner but instead we met the second group for a beer and Luca Sanjust who, a little disappointingly for me, looked nothing like Christopher Plummer but boy, did he know a thing or two about making great wine.  Another great philosopher, he told us how when you taste some of his Torrione wine you are actually tasting a piece of Tuscany.  His simple, yet all important theory about great wine was about giving the land lots of love.  This way you "get the love back in the wine it produces" he said with a glint in his eye that reminded me of when Gennaro talks about love being the most important ingredient in pasta.
This was an evening to let our hair down.  We ate well.  We drank good wine and we partied (some for longer and louder than others!)

Thursday.
The view from this bedroom window didn't so much take your breath away, rather it grabbed it from you, threw it round the room a couple of times and then delivered it back to you with a quick morning smack round the mouth.  It was ALL THAT.  In fact, I've no doubt that if I lived here I would be so in touch with nature and beauty and the creative side of life that I'd probably be a world renowned artist, opera singer or dancer before long.
As you can probably tell, some of us were brighter and breezier than others.
We arrive derci to Petrolo and headed off on the final leg of our whistle stop tour to the estate of Selvapiana where we stopped for an olive oil and wine tasting.  When we stopped at the olive groves at the top of the hill Federico Giuntini (the estate manager's son) told us that they were 85% down on last year's olive oil production.  There was no negativity, no moaning about the reasons why, just a plain statement of fact.  He told us that they produce the olive oil "because the trees are here and we have a duty.  The trees are part of the landscape, the trees are part of Tuscany."  Mother nature hasn't been kind to them this year and they've just had to do their best with the weater they were given!  Federico said that global warming was having a very real impact on them as wine and olive oil producers.  It was difficult to know when to harvest their fruits because of the unpredictablilty of the weather now.  They are learning to become much more reactive than they used to be he told us, with a wry smile.
The house was living history at its best.  Art work, centuries old were hanging on the walls well within everyone's reach.  Old wine barrels that had been used many many years ago were still sat neatly on shelves in mint condition and the wine cellars stored hundreds of bottles of wine dating back from 1948.  Any wines before that had been destroyed by the retreating Germans at the end of WW2.  In the UK most of this would be in a museum but here in Tuscany it's just part of them and who they are.  It's tangible and you get the sense they want it to remain this way.
Another wine tasting session was probably not top of everybody's 'to do' list today but nevertheless we soldiered on!  Three more full bodied reds and a thick Vin Santo challenged the stamina of most and there were some pale looking faces round the tables by the end of it but nobody could questions the dedication and passion of the family run business in this small corner of Chianti.
So that was it.  Our whirlwind tour of Tuscany was over and we headed to Pisa for the flight home.

We had learned about grapes and vintages and wine making.  We had learned aobut olive oil and what a responsibility it is for many producers to manage but we learned about the people too.  We learned how their philosophies have been moulded by family values and tradition and how they carry that over into their wine and oil making.  Everyone we met had an aura of calm resignation and understanding that it all boils down to respect.  Respect for the land that you're working on and with and respect for the elements - Mother Nature is key and she can be your best friend or your worst enemy!

Massive thanks to David Gleave and Fran De Paolis from Liberty Wines and to all the people we met over the 3 days that demonstrated Italian hospitality at its best.