We are so thankful for the friendship of Kate and Rachel, Wanda and Mario, and the countless others who made our stay so rewarding. As Tom says, we didn't meet an Italian who wasn't nice to us. We are either very lucky or Italians are uniformly generous and kind. I'm thinking the latter. And that goes for people who have chosen Italy as their home, as well.
Friends on our Poggio, Wanda and Mario, invited us for dinner our last week in the Maremma. Guests included winemakers up the road near Scansano. Wanda, who hails from the Swiss border on Lago Maggiori, prepared a traditional fondue (beef cooked in boiling oil at the table for those of you who might be thinking the more common cheese fondue) accompanied by the freshest, sweetest vegetables (fennel, carrots, celery, peppers)offered simply with homemade olive oil, salt and pepper. Of course, Mario offered his own red wine and his guests brought theirs.
We have mostly bought wines from the surrounding wineries of the Maremma, of which Morellino is the dominant varietal. As one winemaker said, "[Morellino] is the full, steady expression of the land...young, soft, fruity wines make day-to-day life more pleasant." Adding to our enjoyment was the fact that we bought plenty of 1+plus Euro wines that were pretty darn drinkable too. No need to be a wine snob here. In Italy wine is like water, it's a necessity not a luxury.
Despite busy schedules, complicated (in a good way) by the arrival of Rachel's niece Cassidy was embarking on her own teen adventure of attending an Italian high school, Kate and Rachel and Cassidy made time for but another wonderful meal at their beautiful hilltop home.
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