Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Italy
326
Villa Cafaggio
Classic Chianti
Greve, Tuscany, Italy
The rolling drive is breathtaking, twisting
and turning through Tuscany's majestic
hills, passing olive groves, crop fields, and,
of course, vineyards. Lines of vines follow
the contours of the slopes like a drafts-
man's sketch. You reach a beautiful wood-
land of cypress trees, framing a tiny,
picturesque chapel worthy of a postcard.
The road becomes a dirt track, and as you
turn a curve, a captivating vista unfurls
before you—the legendary
conca de oro
or “golden hollow,” a sweet piece of vine-
yard terrain that produces some of Tusca-
ny's finest Chianti, wine so good somebody
had to christen it “Super Tuscan.”
The lucky owner is a winery called Villa
Cafaggio, housed in a typical Tuscan build-
ing of brown stone and terra-cotta tiles.
Wine has been made in this area for centu-
ries, including a medieval period when
Benedictine monks worshipped God by
making some great wine (and then drinking
it, of course). But then the area went
through tumultuous times. When the Far-
kas family took over Villa Cafaggio in the
1960s, they found it in a sorry estate—
neglected vineyards, poor varietals, and
derelict buildings. Son Stefano Farkas
rebuilt the winery and in turn built a reputa-
tion as one of Italy's more talented and for-
ward-thinking winemakers. He restored the
buildings, planted new vineyards, and even
injected new life into the winery's olive oil
operation. It wasn't easy going—because
the market had collapsed, the winery often
found itself with excess grapes, nowhere to
store them, and no grape buyers. But times
have changed, and now wine lovers cannot
get enough of Villa Cafaggio wines; their
top vintages earn top scores from all the
critics.
The facilities are surprisingly high-tech.
Take, for example, a newfangled bottling
machine that leaves a vacuum in the bottle
top, thus eliminating wine's greatest
enemy, oxygen. Yet there is enough old-
world charm here to warm the heart of
die-hard romantics—a fragrant cellar
room with casks made from Slovakian oak,
or the upstairs terrace where the winery
throws the occasional sun-drenched lun-
cheon or star-sparkled dinner with sea-
sonal treats such as roasted chestnuts in
November. The winery tour includes a
vineyard walk followed by a tasting within
the winery. Super people, super wine,
super Tuscany.
Villa Cafaggio,
Via San Martino in
Cecione 5, Panzano (
&
39/55/54-9094;
www.villacafaggio.it).
(
Florence Airport (40km/24 miles).
L
$$$
Villa Bordón,
Via San Cresci
31/32, Loc. Mezzuola (
&
39/55/88-40005;
www.villabordoni.com). $$
Castello Vic-
chiomaggio,
Via Vicchiomaggio 4 (
&
39/
55/85-4079;
www.vicchiomaggio.it).
