Workshop week, Day 1: Truffle Hunting

This is the puppy breed that searches for truffles!  So adorable.  

         So we begin our morning destination to San Giovanni d'Asso to dig for truffles.  There we meet up with Marco and his two dogs.  I do not remember both their names only one of them, Furla, and only because she was named after a purse I just bought in Milano this weekend.  Too  funny.  Anyways so for the concept of the truffles, you need to have a dog sniff them out in the woods, typically near water.  They have a strong sense of smell and very much enjoy truffles.  The idea is that you let the dogs sniff around, trained dogs and  a certain type of breed, and if they start to dig, you must, the trainer/owner, get over to the spot fast enough to stop the dog from eating the truffle.  It was amazing to see them, very trained, but also very friendly dogs, searching for the truffles.  We were given an introduction of the truffles, what it was and why people were so crazy for it.  We searched a bit with the dogs, we must have walked a few miles into the woods.  It was an adventure.  After some time we found a few small truffles, we then found a larger one.  It was around 15 grams and by the cracks you could see in the truffles this told us that it was only grown just that day.  

After the search we returned to the town and enjoyed a lunch prepared with truffles.  There was a restaurant that prepares everything with truffles.  We enjoyed our feast as usual, I always feel like they feed us agriculture kids more than any others.  We then started our destination to the vineyards of Montalcino.  It is owned by the Banfi brothers.  It is a private company owned by the two brothers who are from Long Island New York.  The operation was huge, amazing and a hell of a lot of wine.  I would encourage anyone in the states to try some.  They are famous for their Brunello and many other vino rossi wines.  We got a tour and saw the amazing production and the storage, it was unreal.  The land combined was over 7,700 acres of vineyard.  It was crazy.  We then did a formal tasting, without the spitting patoon of course of the Rossi & the Brunello.  They were both incredible.  I was partial to the Brunello.  I did not buy any because they are offered in the states so if I want to entertain a liking to the wine while at home I can find them, and of course it saves me time trying to find a way to get all this extra stuff home that I keep accumulating.  It is not good to be a foodie, wine drinker, shopper, lover of all things italian.  My tastes have begun to change, I find myself saying in my head, wow those colors together are so "classic."  I'm like "classic" who am I, but soon enough I am walking out of the store with shopping bag in hand a addition to the wardrobe and accessories i am slowly accumulating!!!  Too funny.  I live so sustainably here.  

This was the dog that was named "Furla"

Theses were the truffles we found, the dog at one of them and this was the collection of about 15 grams. This was the large one that grew all in one day!

This is a funny story.  I despise the smell of truffles mind you and we were standing in the "truffle kitchen" and the smell was too much, i had to go outside for fresh air.  So as I go outside I see next to the fence this fig tree with all these ripe figs.  So I couldn't help myself but to have a treat!  Uhh amazing.  Next to the fig tree is a peach tree, so I grab a peach.  Next to that tree is a pomegranate tree.  I mean really is this Italy? Because I pretty much ate lunch in this guys driveway!

 These are the humungous fermentation barrels that are patented by the vineyard and the brothers.  They were taller than my house!

Each of these barrels holds 450 bottles of wine, and they have thousands of these size barrels!

 These are the biggest barrels I have ever seen.  These are taller than most SUV's, and they were stacked.  They came pre-assembled and they are filled in this room and they use hoses to get them out!  So much wine, so much wine!