Fourth Stop: Wine class in Siena!

By Valerie Quintanilla
on September 22, 2010
in Italy, Tuscany, wine

When I arrived in Siena I was ready to learn. First on the agenda, a wine class! The wine class in Siena I enrolled in was with English-speaking Rebecca from Denmark. In March of last year she opened The Tuscan Wine School. It’s a welcoming little place with wines, wine gadgets and a classroom in the back for teaching.

I found her site while searching online for wine tours during my planning process. She offers 2 two-hour wine classes: Tuscan Wines and Italian Wines. Both cost 40 euro and include tastings of six wines, Italian snacks, a map of Tuscany and even a short intro to olive oil! For all I learned, it was quite a deal!

The classes need a minimum of two people. I e-mailed Rebecca before leaving the Cinque Terre to see if I could make the afternoon Tuscany class. Luckily a couple signed up for the class, so I was in! It can be tough flying solo at times. So many things require a two people — like the fish stew in Cinque Terre that looked absolutely amazing, but remained elusive to me. But, I digress.

Additionally lucky were the wonderful newlyweds I met during the class. Chris and his new wife (I am totally going to butcher the spelling of her name, so I won’t even try — it’s a beautiful Indian name) were high school sweethearts! They invited me to join them for dinner. We walked around town until the restaurant Rebecca recommended opened, then ate at L’Osteria. Oh my goodness — the Wildboar stew with tomato sauce and polenta was unreal!

We are both in Rome in a few days so we exchanged e-mail addresses and made plans to have dinner and split another carafe of vino!

But back to the wine class, Rebecca really knows her stuff. She’s lived in Siena for 15 years. She did a fabulous job reviewing each wine, providing historical background and context, and was very engaging. Her wine school is a new concept in Siena. She says the locals don’t get what she’s doing. I really hope the tourist jump on her offerings!

My time is limited on the computer since I need to explore Siena, so a complete recap of the class will have to come when I return to the states. It’s time to hit the famous Enoteca Italiana, then go on my first wine tour through Chianti. Ciao!