sarah de angelis:: ahh, Chianti....

Well, spring has finally arrived in Tuscany along with Granny and Grandpa's long awaited visit to "our casa". My parents joined us for 10 days in May...but as they'd visited Florence before, we thought it would be fun to take them on a little adventure! Since we're a family of wine lovers, Chianti was the obvious choice. With easy access from Florence and plenty of little towns to poke around in, we loaded up our rental and Sandro braved the winding Italian country roads...

Badia a Passignano - the 11th Century Abbey close to our villa.

Poggio al Vento - the 11th Century castle housing our villa.

The Castle of Poggio al Vento sits just above the Abbey of Badia a Passingano and was once a powerful regional settlement. Our apartment was set in the former lord's accommodations just off the main courtyard. The space is newly renovated and decorated in a charming Italian Country style. Lots of white and wood - my all time favourite scheme (check out my pinterest page for evidence).

Whitewashed bedroom with heirloom furniture and beautiful natural light.

A white backdrop is always clean and restful.

I have a new found love for terra cotta floor tiles. These are very common in Tuscany and have a beautiful warm variation in colour along with a lovely rustic texture. The ones in this apartment are set with contrasting grout to highlight the pattern and offset the colours.

An actual Tuscan kitchen....the table is part of the work space.

....the view from our bedroom window.

The castle compound houses it's own chapel which our hostess offered to show us upon arrival. It's a lovely and peaceful space with a beautiful and vibrantly coloured fresco placed above the alter. Originally much larger, the church of Sant'Andrea was reduced significantly in the 19th Century. The original limestone construction is still evident though and the interior walls are washed with a soft green and ivory which offsets the colours in the main fresco.

Castle chapel at Poggio al Vento.

Beautiful fresco with strikingly vivid colours attributed to
Filippo d'Antonio Filippelli.

Secondary fresco in need of a little restoration...

A short distance from our home base was the town of Greve in Chianti. We stopped in for a beautiful lunch at Mangiamo! Mangiamo!, a little shopping, some wine and olive oil tasting...and of course, a gelato!

Greve in Chianti, main piazza. So quiet and tidy in comparison to Florence.

Wine tasting cantina in Greve - check out the concrete floors with hardwood & tile inlay.

Marble sinks for unwanted wine....of course.

Gelato with Granny & Grandpa. Che contentezza!

In search of a local wine producer, we were directed down the road to Poggio al Sole. They offer local wine and olive oil, along with tastings and Agrotourismo accommodation. The wines are lovely and the the oil has that distinctly Tuscan peppery finish...all in an incredibly beautiful setting! Not much more to say....the pictures speak for themselves.