Refired Roamings: Wine tour

Denise and I had a wine tour while we were in Cortona. We only went to two of the local wineries but had a great time and learned a lot about the wines. Alberto Martini was our personal guide. He was very engaging and he is a sommelier. He is a native of the area and used to work for a large tour company. Two years ago he struck out on his own.
The first winery was a small one that is totally organic. They do not use any chemicals, add no sulfites, and use no technologically advanced equipment. The grapes are all hand picked and processed and the grapes are pressed with the old fashioned "foot" method. We were so engrossed with the owner and his explanations, etc I forgot to take any pictures. You can see him online. His name is Stephano Amerighi and he is the classic young Italian. His passion is contagious and engrossing. He keeps a total control and hands-on Approach to management. He is a small vineyard and after 5 years is up to 12000 bottles for the year. He only produces Syrah and has already won awards in France and Italy.
He took us into the cellar and pop corks from a variety of barrels, used a long glass tube to "suck" samples from them and give us tastes in our glasses. He and the whole operation were fascinating.
The pictures are from the second winery. It is Vignonesi Vineyards and they produce 700000 bottles per year. A medium sized winery for here we were told. The cellars were impressive with over 1200 of the small maturing Harrell's as well as the huge barrels. They make a Vin Santo vintage each year which is not sold until it completes a12 year processing and maturation cycle. A 375 ml (half regular wine bottle size) bottle costs $250.
We had lunch at their gourmet ristorante as part of the tour and they gave us samplings of three of their top wines during lunch. Their wine was very good. When I discussed the best wines with the owner of one of the established Enotecas with a good reputation in Cortona he included their wine in his recommended best list.
All in all the wine tour personalized by Alberto for just the two of us was a great experience.