A War Eagle Moment

That night we stayed at the Verrazzano Winery and Agrotourism outside of Greve in Chianti, Tuscany.  We had visited this place in 2012 for the Thursday "Dinner at the Farm."  It was one of the most amazing experiences we had on that trip.  We wanted to repeat this special dinner (with a winery tour preceding) and to also stay on the estate.  They rent out some rooms in a Tuscan house on the estate.  It is not fancy but it is comfortable.  We were the only ones staying that night so we had the place to ourselves and the winery staff were so welcoming to us.  (It is also worth noting that if you stay at the bed and breakfast on site you get a very good discount for the dinner and a 10% discount on all purchases of wine and other products.)

We were told that a party of six were the only other ones booked for the dinner and they had booked it a long time before.  We met this group of six - three couples - and could tell they were Americans from their speech.  But we were all very surprised to find out that we are all Auburn people.  One couple, Jan and Gregg Hearon, live in Auburn while the other two couples have strong Auburn ties and live in the Mobile area (Jan and Jim Cooper and Diane and Mike Cowen).  We all enjoyed our English guide, Gillian, who took us around the winery.  We enjoyed even more the dinner of lots of wine, tons of food and great company.  It was a chance in a million, but being part of the Auburn Family is like that.  War Eagle!

The wine shop and check in for the bed and breakfast on the main road through Chianti, just north of Greve

Our friendly and knowledgeable guide Gillian explains wine production at Verrazzano

Randy seems a little bored as he has heard this all before (in 2012)

At the dining room before the feast

New friends of the Auburn Family meet up in Tuscany

Dinner started with sparkling wine and olives from the farm, then moved onto house cured meats with garlic bread and the first red wine, potato and leek soup, pasta with roast beef tomato sauce with the second red wine, roast chicken and white beans with the third red wine, roast slices of steak with the fourth red wine, a green salad, an apple tart and biscotti with Vin Santo, and finished with a shot of grappa.  Oh my!

Some of the wines of the evening - all very good

The open fire where the meats are roasted / grilled.  This also warmed the dining area on this very chilly evening.