Montalcino: An Ancient Abbey and Brunello di Discrimination

On Sunday we headed back to Montalcino, having previously visited back in September. We originally were planning on visiting either San Gimignano (to visit for the first time) or Radda (there is a picture we want to buy) but unfortunately there were no buses to either city on Sunday. Go figure! With those to options impossible, we considered Montepulciano but there also was no bus, and the train service was very spotty. Therefore, we ended up back in Montalcino. This was ok, because we wanted to buy a bottle of Brunello to bring back and I really wanted to make it out to Sant'Antimo, an old abbey, that I had yet to visit even though I had been to Montalcino twice before.

Being that it was Sunday and that we live in Siena (few buses), we headed to the train station to catch the bus. Why the train station? Well, here in Siena, the bus to Montalcino does not leave from the bus station (which happens to be a 10 minute walk from our apartment), but instead leaves from the train station (which is a 45 minute walk away). Our bus left at 10:50 and we were in Montalcino a little bit after 12. Those 24km sure do take forever!

Montalcino was a lot quieter than last time we visited and the streets already had Christmas lights up.



We were both hungry for lunch so we decided to head to a restaurant that had been very busy the last time we were there. The restaurant looked promising and it smelled great outside. We were really hoping to have a great meal at l'Angolo:


The meal started out fairly well. We ordered some house wine, water, antipasti toscano which had various cured meats and three types of crostini: chicken liver (blah!), porcini mushroom (very good!), and some other one (still not exactly sure what it was! It was the white one pictured below. I'm hoping it was not Lardo!).

Then the meal started to go downhill.....I ordered the papardelle with cinghale and Reed ordered the vitello di Brunello which was described as roast beef with a Brunello sauce. It ended up being pork not roast beef which was probably a good thing. Mine was good-nothing earth shattering but not bad. Reed's was....interesting. We did not take a picture but it was bright purple and according to Reed tasted like they used the house wine not Brunello. Reed said he should have known better that they probably would not have used Brunello since it would be somewhat sacrilegeous to use the Brunello. Regardless, not really worth the 8 Euros.

The real problem came when the only other table in the restaurant (which happened to be seated right next to us!) got their food. One of the ladies ordered the papardelle but she got about twice as much as me and one of the men got the vitello and his was piled high whereas Reed had three slices! Talk about discrimination! If they had been seated across the room it might have been different...different in that we would not have known that we had been gipped! So, if you feel like getting less food for the same price go to l'Angelo. This is all to common in Italy, especially in touristy areas like Venice. Susan, who writes from Venice, wrote here about how non-Venetians truly are treated differently.

[note: we are convinced that they sell some kind of "essence of food perfume" around here. I can't tell you how many times you walk by a restaurant here (by here I mean in the vicinity of Siena) and it smells amazing. You sit down and order and it is well....not that great. Hmmmm.]

For dessert we ordered the Tiramisu. It was actually pretty good and my first tiramisu since arriving in Italy. A double bonus seemed to be that the table next to us got the same size tiramisu. But that might just be because they were pre-portioned.


After lunch we headed over to Rocca, a large castle at the southern end of Montalcino. Inside is a park and an enoteca. You can climb up to one of the towers but only if you pay the enoteca 2 Euros.

One of the interesting things about the Rocca is that it only has one entrance (pictured below). You can also make out the shield above the door which is all over Siena. We have always thought that it kind of looks like a glass of wine.



We headed back towards the tourist office hoping that they could help us get to Sant'Antimo. A cute little doorway along the way.


This is Piazza Popolo.

We had to snap a picture of this but we are not really sure what it exactly is...


Finally we arrived at the tourist office. Apparently because it was Sunday, there were no buses out to Sant'Antimo which is a mere 10km from Montalcino. Not very far but too far to walk. The lady in the tourist office pretty much laughed at us when we asked how to get there and that we did not have a car. She gave us a list of taxi companies and suggested we give a few a call. Well, because it was Sunday none of the taxi drivers were working either! So, we went back to the tourist office to assess our options. Earlier in the day I had half kiddingly mentioned to Reed that we could bike out there (only 6 miles and it is flat). He said he hoped I was kidding. Now, maybe this was an option. But, again since it was Sunday there was no place to rent a bike or a scooter. Our chances of making it out to Sant'Antimo were kind of grim.

We went back outside and tried calling a few more times. Earlier, one of the numbers we had called said they were "occupado" (busy). This time we asked when they would able to come get us and they replied "Domani" (tomorrow). Great! Even if we could find someone to drive us out there, we were concerned that we would not find anyone who wanted to come pick us up. Finally someone gave us the name of a friend to call who was not a cab driver but was willing to drive us there and agreed to drive us back into town. Off we go!

The Abbazia di Sant'Antimo is beautiful and well worth the trek out from Montalcino. One of the things that made our visit better is that there was no tour bus dumping people there. I think if we had been able to take the bus we would have paid a lot less (!!!!) but it would not have been so beautiful. Both Reed and I, who are not church visiting people, both agreed how amazing it was.

Sant'Antimo is an isolated Benedictine monastery surrounded by vineyards that produce the famed Brunello wine and the small hamlet of Castelnuovo dell"Abate. A number of signs around the monastery claim that it dates back to the 900s. Some even say that Charlemagne began the construction of the abbazia in 781 while returning from Rome.



Over time, the abbey became more and more important because it was very close to a number of trade and pilgrimage routes. Sant'Antimo's heyday was in 1118. The abbey had become increasingly wealthy and the monks, who were looking to expand and improve the church, had the ability to look outside of Italy for ideas. The monks looked to the the Benedictine mother house at Cluny (Burgundy) France for inspiration in the designs. Thus, the abbey has a more French design than Italian.


Over the years, the abbey suffered many losses, especially at the hands of the powerful Sienese who in 1212 forced the abbey to give up nearly one quarter of its territory. By 1492, the monks had pretty much abandoned the abbey, choosing to live in Montalcino. A number of the outlaying buildings were destroyed so that the materials could be used in Castelnuovo dell'Abate and Montalcino.


A view of Castelnuovo dell'Abate.



The facade of the abbey (pictured below) was one of the last parts to be worked on, and thus suffered greatly from the lack of funds and is largely incomplete.


The interior of the abbey is very charming because it is very simple. Completely different from the ornate duomo in Siena. The inside of Sant'Antimo is particularly unique because it has an ambulatory and radiating chapels which is unique to Italy and Tuscany.


Below you can see the high alter of the church which has a statue of Christ that dates back to the 12th century.


One of the most celebrated aspects of the interior is said to be the capitals on the top of the pillars. The design of the capitals is said to be more Lombard than French indicating that it is likely that two separate groups, one from France (the Auvergne) and one from Lombardy (Milan/Pavia), simultaneously worked on the interior of the church.


A view from behind the high alter.


It is really hard to describe the interior of the abbey. Simple. Cold. Austere. Beautiful. We really were lucky to visit the abbey on a Sunday (even if it was difficult getting out there). I don't think it would have had the same effect had there been hordes of tourists.


Heading away from the abbey was a dirt road.




The view from this vantage point was really nice, although not as nice as other views. This also happens to be the exact picture that is on the cover of the current Rough Guide to Tuscany and Umbria!


The dirt road continues and continues..


It was getting close to our agreed upon pick-up time so we decided to head back out the main road to get a few more pictures. This is my favorite vantage point.


I think Reed did a great job with the camera!


It was time to head back into town. We still had about 1.5 hours until the bus left for Siena. We decided to stop in a few wine shops in search of some Brunello for us to bring home. Here are some really old Brunellos! Dusty, maybe, expensive, definitely! These were from 1955 and 1957 and ranged from 1,300 Euros to 2,500 Euros. Just a little too expensive for us.

We had wanted to get a Talenti because that is what we had last time, but we were convinced to try two others: Uccelliera and Ciacci Piccolomini d'Aragona. Ironically both these wines were cheaper than the Talenti!


We headed over to Enoteca Il Leccio where we went on our previous trip for a quick pre-bus apertif. I had a Prosecco...


...and Reed had a Brunello....



We had an uneventful bus ride home where I actually did not get sick! Then it was on to Pizzeria Carla and Franca, our favorite pizzeria (we actually had Thanksgiving there!).

We have more posts coming including some upcoming plans we have and some food adventures!