Italia! Part 1: Montepulciano

In the past few months, we've been the lucky recipients of 4 wedding invitations ... none of which were occurring in the US. When Jon and Sonali's came, and invited us to spend a week with them at a villa in Tuscany ... was it even an option to say no??

Let me begin by telling the story of how Jon and I met. He tells the story a bit differently than I do but here's my version:

Jon and I were going to be interns at Intel in Folsom, CA one summer during college. I was flying there from Pennsylvania, stressed about how I'd get everything I needed to live on my own for 3 months into 2 checked bags. Luckily Intel had this nice program where they connected the new intern class via email, and a couple emails later he offered (this is where our stories differ ... I think he offered, he remembers me begging :) ) to stop through Erie and pick up some boxes for me. He stopped at my Mom's house one evening while she was at work and, being that it is Erie, PA after all, Mom left the front door unlocked so he could get in to retrieve my stuff, along with some cookies she baked for the journey. Aren't Moms so nice like that?

In Folsom, Jon and I became great friends and did lots of fun things like climb Half Dome together and go clubbing in San Francisco with all of our intern friends. I never really knew him to have a serious girlfriend until Sonali.... and the way he talked about her, it didn't take long to realize this was going to be THE one!

Back to Italy ...

All the Americans arrived in Rome around the same time so we took a bus (graciously organized by the bride & groom) in to Motepulciano together. This was probably the only time the wedding crowd was quiet all weekend - everyone completely out cold from jet-lag!

We were hosted at Villa Nottola, a beautiful historic villa surrounded by active vinyards and bottling taking place right on the premises while we were there. 

We enjoyed many conversations, and quite a few bottles of wine, with our villa neighbors and good friends Amy & Mike.

The first night, we enjoyed an amazing dinner at Osteria Acquacheta Montepulciano 

where we all had a wonderful time - even the vegeterians among us!
   
Tim and the boys met an extremely friendly Italian who had an amazing (and yes, a bit strange) affinity for John Deere.  They promised to send him a JD hat from the States although I'm not quite sure that ever happened...

 

To help us get over the jet lag, we were treated to a day of wine tasting on Saturday.   The more vinyards I visit, the more I realize that - for as different as the Californians think our winemaking is and as unique as the French think theirs is - making wine is basically making wine.  There are more similarities than differences, regardless of what country you're in! 

  

We also visited Montalcino, a quaint town famous for its wine, but equally deserving of accolades for the shopping (how could I pass up that goregeous pair of Italian shoes?)!

After a much-needed nap, we all enjoyed a pre-wedding dinner at Villa Cicolina.  It was a casual yet elegant reception set under the trees at small tables where we could meet the other guests and enjoy many (many!) more glasses of wine together.

The wedding was absolutely beautiful ... picturesque, sunny, and perfectly staged against the backdrop of vinyards, valleys, and rolling Tuscan hills.
And the ceremony, in a style very fitting to the bride and groom, was heartfelt, casual, and only partly planned.  Yet it went so smoothly and was apparent how comfortable and happy these two are together :)

Dinner was lovely ...more courses than I could count, each a tasty tribute to the local ingredients and culture.  I had no idea how wonderful simple cannellini beans could be!


As is usually the case at weddings, everyone's true self started to come out after midnight.  To the voice of our Italian karaoke singer, we did YMCA around the swimming pool and yes, a few of the boys ended up in the water!

Ahhh ... Montelpuciano ... we miss you.  When can we come visit again??