Montalcino...or rather Vineria Le Potazzine

Montalcino....another quaint little old town.....also...very beautiful. Mom, dad and Mutti had gone there with some friends for lunch to a place called Vineria Le Potazzine....and they said it was such a wonderful lunch that they would love to go back and show us....in fact...we have been there twice now (them three times) and yes, we will go back again....let me show you a pic of the logo....

Vineria Le Potazzine

The first time we went it was while Kim's family was visiting us.....the boys wanted their mains straight away, while us adults decided to have some antipasto....this consisted of tomato brushetta, various pecorino cheese and various cold meats.....with that...the men decided on some Rosso di Montalcino and us ladies decided on a bubbly.....let me share some facts about the wines from Montalcino...

In the case of Montalcino, gradual economic decline has recently been reversed by economic growth due to the increasing popularity of the town's famous wine Brunello di Montalcino, made from the sangiovese grosso grapes grown within the comune. The number of producers of the wine has grown from only 11 in the 1960s to more than 200 today, producing some 330,000 cases of the Brunello wine annually. Brunello was the first wine to be awarded Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) status. In addition to Brunello di Montalcino, which must be aged five years prior to release, 6 years for the Riserva, Rosso di Montalcino (DOC), made from sangiovese grosso grapes and aged one year, and a variety of Super Tuscan wines are also produced within the comune, as well as the Moscadello sweet white wines for which it was most famous until the development of the Brunello series.

The boys (Rasmus, Ben and Rick)

Me trying our bubbly

I am sorry...but of the antipasto...i totally forgot to take pics....but i can tell you that they were huge and divine. For mains there was some individual ordering and also some sharing.....i am going to share some pics with you....my sharing consisted of buffalo caprese and lasagna.....

Buffalo caprese

Lasagna

Pici ragu

Pear risotto

What is pici......you might ask yourself....and here it is...Pici are thick, hand-rolled pasta, almost like fat spaghetti. They originated in the province of Siena in Tuscany; in the Montalcino area and are also referred to as pinci.The dough is typically made from flour and water only. The addition of egg is optional, being determined by family traditions. The dough is rolled out in a thick flat sheet, then cut into strips. In some families, the strip of dough is rolled between one palm and the table, while the other hand is wrapped with the rest of the strip. It can also be formed by rolling the strip between the palms. Either method forms a thick pasta, slightly thinner than a common pencil. Unlike spaghetti or macaroni, this pasta is not uniform in size and has variations of thickness along its length. Hope this helps....

After antipasto and mains, we were all full....definitely no space for dessert...but yes...some space for some caffe corretto and some cappuccino.....but before that...we received the Brunello di Montalcino wine which i must say was very delicious...we each received a glass...very generous....and so unexpected.....after that....as mentioned....some coffee...let me share some pics...

Red wine we received with our waiter

All of us (boys excluded...they went for ice-cream)

Sofia sleeping on Kim

Mutti had no bubbly so she received the largest red wine glass

After thAt.....it was also time for some ice-cream...back in the main street next to our favourite shoe shop called "Shoes by Claudia".....in fact the ice-cream shop was next to it.....of course....kim and i shared amarena and pistachio....it was good....but not oh my word wow.

Oh yes...i almost forgot...when we paid we were asked whether we were celebrating a special occasion, we mentioned we had some family visiting from Finland...and guess what...Kim's mom and sister both received a small bottle of red wine...what a nice gesture.

Now....let's talk about our next visit....this time...weather was rather bad so we sat inside....very cosy and i love the decor....as we sat down we were greeted with an aperitifo on the house....a glass of white wine for each of us....very refreshing...and again, what a nice gesture....now let me share some pics of the inside....

Inside decor, middle of the pic, their house wine (the blue with the birds)

More decor pics

Antipasto we decided to share....tomato brushetta, melanzane and flan with pear salad....and wow....they were all good....Kim prefered the flan, while I prefered the melanzane...in fact....by myself, i could have that as a main course....it was very yummie....we ravished them all....

Flan with pear salad

Melanzane

Tomato brushetta

Main courses....some sharing...Ben had the special...pici with sausage ragu, dad and Kim had the lamb chops with mash potatoes and Mutti, mom and me shared the cinghiale stew with spinach and potatoes and the risotto....and wow...all very yummie....

Risotto and cinghiale stew

Lamb chops with mash potatoes

Pici with sausage ragu

Dessert....again...too full...just some coffee...and this time we received some cantucci biscuits....with almonds...nice.....so you might ask me....was there something i would not have again...and my answer would be the lasagna...i was a little bit disappointed with the lasagna...i feel that there was not enough meat sauce and in my opinion the top layer should not be bechamel sauce. Kim also mentioned that his lamb was not cooked medium how he wanted, but it was cooked a little bit too much, he would order something else....

Afterwards....of course time to visit our favourite shoe shop......and buy ice-cream...this time....we tried the ice-cream shop closer to our restaurant which says artignale gelateria e yoguteria.....which we were in fact told was the better one....Kim and i wanted to venture...so we tried hazelnut and bounty.....and wow...the texture was amazing...and the flavours really yummie....we should have taken our old time favourite pistachio and amarena....but there is always a next time....ben tried creme caramel and amarena....dad tried amarena, mutti hazelnut and pistachio....mom shared with dad....in fact we all shared...i tried the pistachio and amarena...and hence the verdict that we should not have ventured...but we should have stuck to the norm...hahaha. Anyway...what a nice sunday out...both times have been Sundays...and it was just so nice. We all enjoyed.....Montalcino is 25min from us....so in fact not too bad for a Sunday outing.....now i am off to bed...so from my side goodnight.

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy