Day 8: from one hilltop to the next

Driving out of Montalcino turned out to be more of a challenge than driving into it. One would think they design their city to keep invading armies out, not in. GPS has a hard time in the small streets so you’re never sure if you’ve passed the street you’re trying to turn into or if it’s the one ahead, assuming you’re on the correct street to begin with (street signs are not easy to see from inside a car as they are high and on the walls). After very slow driving, cautious turning (some of which required a three-point turn), we made it out.

Montalcino and Montepulciano are relatively close (less than an hour drive). But in between are some of Tuscany's most iconic cypress groves. We’ve spent a good part of the early afternoon driving around dirt roads to see some trees. It’s less exercise than hiking, but it retains some of the good parts, like gorgeous viewpoints and stunning photo opportunities.

The thing about Italian roads is they are small and, judging from our two days of driving on them, not always paved once you’ve entered the back country. Of course, the provincial “highway” (by “highway” they mean one-and-a-half-lane wide, barely able to meet, and with next to no place to pass) is paved. But a lot of the other roads are not. The only thing that convinced us we were on an official road and not in someone’s driveway was that Google would route us onto them, and most (but not all) had names. It did bring back memories of New Zealand highways, but with a lot more signage (see previous day log for details).

Still, being in THE wine region afforded us the opportunity to try all sorts of very good wine. Montepulciano, like Montalcino, uses sangiovese grapes but uses different technique to turn them into wine. They’ll tell you their wine is noble, but really it’s just a matter of history. The wine made here was once reserved for the pope and nobles. In the end, both are great wines that keep a long time (we’re given to understand 20 years in the bottle is a good time to keep that wine).

We ended our day in Montepulciano, the larger of the hilltop walled cities we visited in our Tuscany road trip. Beautiful views are a fact of life here!