San Gimignano and the Vernacchio grape

Saturdays are meant for travelling, and this Saturday I went to San Gimignano with Sheila and Mia, a woman Sheila just met while they were both struggling to get online at an internet café. I think café owners put the “free wi-fi” sign up as a joke to watch us crazy Americans stress out.
San Gimignano was gorgeous. It is a medieval town with lots of towers, wine, and cured meats. They had me at wine. With towers and cured meats, this could be heaven. The weather was warm and crisp like only a fall day can be. The town was pleasantly empty of tourists. We climbed a tower to take pictures and work up an appetite for lunch then went to an out of the way Osteria. I had ribollita, a delicious traditional Tuscan soup that is yesterday's bread soup reboiled, and a side order of spinach with garlic and olive oil. We tested a San Gimignano Vernacchio, the local white wine, which is made from the vernacchio grape. It was fresh (high acids, low sugars) with pear and minerals, a very Italian wine. Afterward, we continued our tour of San Gimignano with some church hopping and wine tasting. See pics…