On our third Cultural Introduction to Italy class field trip we explored the Tuscan countryside (3/11/11). Starting in Pienza, a small town in the province of Siena is known for its renaissance architecture as well as Pecorino (a cheese made from sheep milk). The town was built under Pope Pius II on top of the medieval castle of Corsignano and then was transformed leaving several landmark works of architecture. We were given a short history and then free time to explore the small town.
We then moved on to a wine tasting at Bindella a famous winery outside of Montepulciano. Bindella was founded in 1984 by a Swiss entrepreneur who took over the estate outside the city of Montepulciano. With Sangiovese grapes as the base of the wine Bindella's aim is to create a genuine authentic Rosso Montepulciano and a Vino Nobile Montepulciano docg (which as I have explained before is a traditional label given for a certain process or protocol to make the wine). After a tour of the winery and some of the vineyards we sat down for the tasting of three red (rosso) wines accompanied by traditional light lunch.
After our wine tasting we got back on the bus to go into the city of Montepulciano. We were dropped off outside of the city walls, which meant we had to climb. Montepulciano is built upon a hill overlooking the tuscan countryside so to get to the center we had an uphill almost hike to get there. After reaching the top our guide for the day Mossimo (one of the schools wine teachers) began to explain the city. One thing we learned was that the second twilight film took place and was filmed at the city center. Apparently that has made the town quite a bit more famous. After hearing a brief history we were given free time to explore. With views from every opening you couldn't go wrong in any direction you walked. After our free time in the city we headed back down to the bus for the ride back to Florence. 
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