We had about a 2 hour drive to reach the Val di Chiana area in South Tuscany. There are several hill towns of note and we hoped to get to see a couple of them. The weather was marginal but by the time we reached Montepulciano the sky was fairly clear even though it was cool. We had to park outside of the town gates and started what would be about a 30 minute walk until we reached the highest part of the town. On the way up we got to brouse in the many shops selling leather goods, wine, local meats and cheese. At the top we went into Palazzo Contucci. This building is owned by one of the oldest families in Montepulciano and still live in the area. We got to sample 4 of the wines that the family make. We met Andrea Contucci, quite a character who really demonstrated his passion for the art of making wine. We also got to tour the cellers where the wine is ageing in large barrels. We are bringing a bottle of the best home with us to put away for a special occasion. As we were leaving for our walk down to the car a thunderstorm sprang, up and fo a short period of time there were hail stones. The skies stayed dark and it continued to rain and so once again we were shut out from further sightseeing. We continued towards Siena and the weather improved but just as we got back to Panzano the sky opened up accompanied by fierce winds. We thought that we were in a huricane. We had little choice but to retreat to our room and wait it out until we could go out for dinner. The weather has been very different in Tuscany this year. We met some people who have been here for 3 weeks, and their comment was that the theme was more like "Under the Tuscan Rain". Well it is not exactly what we had expected but we still have been able to do something every day regardless of the weather.
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