Summer Vacation and Tuscany: A Perfect Pairing

The summer season is in full swing and for our summer vacation we treated ourselves to a bucket list travel experience to celebrate my milestone birthday. A previous milestone birthday was marked with a trip to Hawaii where we cruised between Oahu, Maui, Kauai, and the big island of Hawaii. We snorkeled in Hanauma Bay, walked through Volcanoes National Park, kayaked the Wailua River in Kauai, and visited the Pearl Harbor Historic Site. While the scenic beauty of nature in Hawaii was utterly rewarding at the time, my passion for wine pulled me in a new direction.

Italian wine has long been a favorite of mine and as for my husband, it runs a close second to the big California reds he prefers. The Tuscany area has so many wines to explore along with gorgeous scenery and iconic hilltop towns. While mentioning our interest in exploring Tuscany to our longtime, dear friends who are also wine lovers and avid travelers, we formed a plan to rent a car in Rome and tour a circular route up the coast to Bolgheri, inland through Volterra and San Gimignano, south to Montalcino and Montepulciano, and back to Rome with a stop in Orvieto. During trip planning, we identified must-try Italian dishes to pair with our wines, such Florentine steak, and as luck would have it, the timing was perfect for a birthday dinner at the best steak restaurant in the area.

The trip began with a scenic three-hour drive north along the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. Every now and then we would get a glimpse of the deep blue sea to our left. Our destination was the Park Hotel Marinetta, a resort on the beach in the town of Bibbona, near the hilltop wine town of Bolgheri. Wineries in this area are part of the Etruscan Wine and Olive Trail and are known for their Super Tuscan wines. Super Tuscans are red wines that don’t necessarily conform to indigenous Italian grapes but embrace international varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot to create complex premium single-varietal or blended wines.

The most famous of the Super Tuscan wines, and one of Italy’s most prestigious, is Sassiccaia produced by Tenuto San Guido. In 1948 the Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta began a revolution in Tuscan winemaking by planting Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc vine cuttings from Bordeaux in the Bolgheri coastal area. He aged his wine in non-traditional French barriques (small barrels) instead of the traditional Slavonian oak casks preferred in Tuscany. The wine was enjoyed by Incisa’s friends and family for many years, when in 1968, he and his family decided to bring this revolutionary wine to market, and the Super Tuscan tradition began.

Tenuto San Guido is located on Cypress Avenue, a scenic, cypress-lined country road that leads to the town of Bolgheri. Across the road from the San Guido winery in a tiny, quaint village, is the Osteria Enoteca San Guido. This fine dining restaurant and wine bar bearing the San Guido name carries their prestigious (and expensive) wines and has a reputation for a favorite local dish, steak Florentine. Although my heart’s desire was for the celebrated Sassiccaia, the cost was out of reach, and I knew that our local Circle Liquor Store carried it for a better price. Instead, we opted for the more reasonably priced 2021 Vandemmia Bolgheri Superiore from a boutique producer, Campo Fico. It was a classic Super Tuscan blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Cabernet Franc with fresh aromas and flavors of cherry, currants, and spice with bright acidity and full body.

We were all excited about ordering the Florentine steak but there was a moment when we considered becoming vegetarians instead. San Guido’s a la carte menu has a special section for steak where you select your meat based on the cattle breed and where it’s from. For example, you can get an Anglo-Saxon cow from Germany, a Rubia Gallega Spanish cow, or a Finnish Ayrshire breed cow. The Chianina Italian cow is the one recommended for steak Florentine. If the descriptions weren’t enough to help you select the breed of cow, the menu included color photos of adorable, peaceful looking creatures with big trusting eyes that immediately made us feel guilty about having one for dinner.

Although the waitstaff spoke passable English, it was somewhat lost in translation that we would be ordering a T-bone style cut of beef by the kilogram. Depending on the company’s appetite, the Florentine steak can be shared by a few people. We tried their patience as we estimated the number of ounces we would each like to eat and tried to convert ounces to kilograms. The waitress finally brought a raw steak to the table so we could see the size of what we were ordering. Even uncooked, it was impressive.

The prepared steak arrived on a platter, expertly cut from the bone and sliced. The slices were laid out in a circle surrounding golden brown roasted potatoes seasoned with fresh Italian herbs. The tender, juicy steak paired with the local Super Tuscan wine was truly a match made in heaven. After every bit of the steak and wine were heartily consumed, we finished the meal with cantucci (Tuscan biscuits) and Vin Santo, a delicately balanced, sweet dessert wine typically made with Trebbiano grapes.

We enjoyed our Tuscan adventure for all the once in a lifetime experiences it presented, and for everyday moments like strolling on a beautiful day, encountering friendly, helpful strangers, and sitting down to a delicious food and wine pairing at the end of a busy day. And the best pairing for all these experiences is to enjoy them with the people you love.