On the 18th of October 2009 the 3th annual Chianti Ecomarathon at Castelnuovo Beradenga, (15 km  from Siena) will be held. Castelnuovo Berardenga  is one of the Italian  “Slow Cities  and and the centre of the Cities of Wine” .

The route will take you on paths (only 2.5 km of asphalt) through some of the most important and historical places and very impressive landscapes of this corner in Tuscany.

To read more about this, their website is http://www.ecomaratonadelchianti.it/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=64&Itemid=1

We are running a special offer for this event:

Apartments for 2 to 8 people, daily rate for this weekend is 35 euro per person.  Single supplement is 30 euro more.

The cost includes :

• Welcome Basket kit for breakfast for the first morning.
• Guided visit of the Villa garden the old wine cellar and wine tasting
• gas, heating, water and electricity
• Bed and bath linens
• Bathroom kit (shampoo, soap, shower cap)
• 10% discount at the mini grocery in Ponte a Bozzone (2km. from your apartment in the village of Ponte a Bozzone)
• 10% discount at the restaurant “La Vecchia Osteria” in Ponte a Bozzone

Photos and other details can be found on our main site  www.monaciano.com .

On Monday (21/9/09) we started the wine harvest, picking the white grapes that we grow here.  We took some pictures to give you an idea of the fun we have.

Trebbiano Grapes

The process for white grapes is different than for red grapes due to the facta that it is always done by hand, one bunch at a time.

Hand picking the grapes

The grapes are put into plastic baskets

which are then emptied in a the cart of a tractor which when full is then brought to the cellar and emptied.

The cart is emptied into a machine that removes the grapes from the stems and then using a pump, the grapes are then brought to the press to get the juice.

The resulting juice is called “must”.

The wine harvest has begun so we conducted an interview with the head of our wine cellar,  Donato, to explain the process.

When will the harvest begin at Monaciano?
We plan on starting on the 21st of September.

Which types of grapes are harvested and how much?
The prevalent grape of the Chianti Classico is Sangiovese and we have about 45 hectares  of which most goes to the Chianti Classico, some is also used in Chianti Colli Senesi, Rosso Colli Toscano Centrale and Rosso Colli dell’Etruria Centrale. We also harvest about 2 hectares of Canaiolo and Merlot.  For our white wines, we have Trebbiano and Malvasia, about 2 hectares that are distributed  through 15 hectares of other vines.

How long does the harvest last?
The harvest lasts for about 20 – 25 days of which only a few days are for the white grapes.

Which grapes are harvested first and in what manner?
We harvest the white grapes first, always by hand and then we move on to the red grapes which are picked by machine.

How do you measure th sugar content in the grapes?

We use a °Brix and a Refractometer.  Shortly before the harvest the measuring process are performed daily in the vineyard to control the optimal ripeness.

How do these two instruments work?
The °Babo is a tool used to determine the sugar content of grapes, and therefore the potential alcohol content of wine that you will get. It is made of glass and is placed inside a cylinder containing wine, and is left floating, the number read on the scale of the instrument gives the degree of the must which, multiplied by 0.64, giving the alcohol potential  the wine will have after fermentation.

To achieve the measurement with the refractometer some grapes are crushed and you dribble a little juice on the surface of the prism. You point the instrument toward a light source and look through the eyepiece to read the sugar content in degrees Brix, which simply expresses the percentage of sugar by weight of a solution. In the case of a must, with the presence of other substances besides sugar and water, the Babo measure gives an indication of what the alcohol content of the wine will be.

Do you expect a good harvest?
Even with the draught this summer, the grapes are healthy and at the perfect level of ripeness.

How many people are needed during the harvest at Monaciano?
Normally 4-5 people in the vineyards and another 2 in the cellar.

What happens whenb the grapes arrive in the wine cellar?
As soon as the grapes arrive in the cellar they are emptied into a large tub and are brought to a machine that crushes the grapes and removes the stems.  Using a pump, the must is then put into a cement tub where it begins the fermentation process.

Replacements are performed each day via a pump (which allows you to mix and aerate the must) to obtain an optimum fermentation, which lasts from 15 to 20 days.

After fermentation, the wine obtained is decanted to remove impurities. The solid part is pressed to separate all the pomace from the wine. At this point, we let it rest for at least 4-5 months to become a wine for all purposes.

On Friday (21/8) we held another concert, this time in the Ballroom of the Villa.

We had the lovely Marina Ortona Ascarelli playing this time.

Here is the program for the event:

Villa di Monaciano – Sala della Musica

A Gift to the Great Music of America

Pianist: Marina Ortona Ascarelli

Friday, 21 August 2009 at 6 pm.

Bewitched – Rogers & Hart

I Loves You Porgy – George & Ira Gershwin

Just in Time – Styne, Comden & Green

Misty – Burke & Garner

Moment to Moment – Mancini & Mercer

She’s Funny That Way – Whiting & Moret

The Man That Got Away -  Ira Gershwin & Arlen

Let’s Do It – Cole Porter

Laura – Mercer & Raksin

It Had to Be You – Kahn & Jones

Embraceable You – George & Ira Gershwin

Ain’t Misbehavin’ – Razaf, Fats Waller & Brooks

Blue Moon – Rodgers & Hart

A Sunday Kind of Love – Belle, Prince, Leonard & Rhodes

Moonlight Seranade – Miller & Parish

Night & Day – Cole Porter

And after the concert we were greeted by this fabulous sunset!

On Friday (14/8) we held an open wine bar for our guests here at the reception. When one of our guests was checking in, we told her about it and she asked if we would be interested in having her play her harp in the background. We of course took her up on here offer. How lucky could we get, 2 concerts in 6 days!

This amazing woman is Francesca Tondelli and she holds the first chair harp position in the orchestra of La Fenice as well she is on tour with Paolo Conte. You can read about her at her website (linked above). She played for close to 2 hours and while we thought it would be just background music, it was impossible to not sit and enjoy the music.

If you are ever lucky enough to see her (she is available for weddings etc.) cherish the moment!

This morning at around 8 am, the bottling truck arrived so that we could finally bottle some wine. When the truck arrives, everyone gets to work. If you have never seen a mobile bottling station, it is a site to be seen!

One person loads the bottle on one end
then it goes down to get filled (photo is fuzzy because the bottles are filled behind a glass partition so that there is no spatter on the ground) then they get the corks put in (again fuzzy due to spatter)
then the capsule tops are put on and sealed then the labels are put on Once they arrive at the end, they are put into boxes by our hard workers here at the farm. Our wine is now ready!

Yesterday evening one of our guests honored us with a wonderful jazz concert inside of the Old Wine Cellar of Monaciano. Unfortunately the photos were taken at the start but after about 10 minutes, everyone else arrived and we had over 60 people enjoying the music, drinking wine and relaxing.

And what a guest he is. His name is Jim Snidero and he played for 4 years with the Frank Sinatra orchestra (did the recording of SInatra’s Duets) as well as played with Tony Bennett and Sting just to name a few.

The original plan was to hold the concert at the swimming pool of Poggio Poggino but dark black clouds rolled in at around 5pm and thunder started so we decided that the best place would be the Wine Cellar.

Now that we have organized this, we know that it has to be an event as often as possible so next time you are here, don’t be surprised if there is a concert or a play or something else!

Monday 15th August – Consegna del ‘Mangia’
Teatro dei Rozzi, Organizer: Comune, www.comune.siena.it, Phone: 0577 292230

Thusday 10th August – Chalices full of stars
Palazzo Pubblico, Piazza del Campo, Info at 0577 292302

Monday 14th August – Historical procession of the votive candle.
Start: Piazza del Campo

from 5th to 20th August – August Palio Fair and Market
Piazza Matteotti, Piazza Gramsci, Viale XXV April. Info at 0577 292401

Until 4th November – Guided tours to Palazzo Chigi Saracini
Palazzo Chigi Saracini, Via di Città 89, Saturday: 10-19.30, Sunday: 10-13.30: Info at 0577 286300

Friday 10th August – Presentation of the banner for the Palio
Cortile del Podestà, 7pm, Info at 0577 292230

Monday 13th August – Selection of horses and 1st trial race
Piazza del Campo, Organizer: Comune, www.comune.siena.it, Phone: 0577 292230

Wednesday 14th August – Palio Trial Race
Piazza del Campo, 9:00 a.m. / 19:00 p.m.

Tuesday 14th August – Concert by the Città del Palio Band
10:00 pm, Piazza del Campo, presso la Fonte Gaia. Info at 0577 280218

Wednesday 15th August – Prova generale or dress rehersal
Piazza del campo, 7:00 p.m.

Thursday 16th August – Palio: last trial race (Provaccia)
Piazza del Campo, 9:00 a.m.

Thursday 16th August – Palio di Siena
Piazza del Campo, 4:00 p.m.

20th 22th, 23th, 24th August – 76ª Estate Musicale Chigiana
Different location, info at 0577.22091

until January – ‘NUMERICA’ exhibit
Palazzo delle papesse, Info at 0577 22071

until 23th October – Franci Festival: concerti sinfonici e cameristici
Info at 0577 288994

until 4th November – ‘Pulcherrima res’ preziosi ornamenti dal passato – exhibit
Santa Maria della Scala, Info at 0577 224811

from 28th to 31th August – ‘La città aromatica’ – festival
In Piazza del Campo – Fonti di Fontebranda, Info at 0577292230, free entrance

from 28th to 31th August – ‘La città aromatica’ – festival
In Piazza del Campo – Fonti di Fontebranda, Info at 0577292230