50 Shades of Delicious: 2 Chewsy for the Catwalk

Lining the northwest border of Umbria is Tuscany and on our last full day at the Villa de  Tenuta Le Velette  in Umbria we ventured North to the Tuscany region and the sun-kissed hilltown of Montalcino.   The town of Montalcino is set high at the top of one of the many regional hills surrounded by vineyards growing Sangiovese grapes.  The town is famous for their Brunello di Montalcino wine made from a hybrid Sangiovese called Sangiovese Grosso grapes grown in this area.  The warm, dry climate allows the grapes to ripen almost a week before other Tuscan wines.  The wine has become so popular with the number of producers growing from eleven in the 1960s to more than two hundred today. The wine has been said to have single-handedly reversed Montelcino's economic downturn into an upswing.   We arrived at Montelcino after an action-packed van ride (let's just say we went around a certain roundabout like it was a merry-go-rou...

Our first glimpse of Orvieto amongst the Le Velette vines Town of Orvieto Harvest Time Le Velette  One of the movies we watched before coming to Italy was Under the Tuscan Sun.  It gave us a preview of what life in the Italian countryside might be like.  But honestly, how do you imagine a week in a Umbrian country house on the grounds of a centuries old Italian vineyard?  Add fourteen American women, the guest of honor celebrating her half century mark and throw in a farm yard cat and you've got a recipe for a very unforgettable experience. Birthday girl! The star of this Umbrian story is Ms Betsy Bruce who hatched the idea of inviting her friends to share in celebrating her half century mark.  She contacted her former tour guide of Rome, Cecilia, whose family has owned Le Velette Estate for several hundreds of years and arranged to rent one of the homes on the property and host her friends for an Italian birthday celebration. ...