Montepulciano Enchants Art, Food And Wine Lovers

MONTEPULCIANO ENCHANTS ART, FOOD AND WINE LOVERS

(ANSA) - Montepulciano, March 24 - Perched on a limestone ridge, overlooking cypress-dotted countryside in deep, southern Tuscany, stands the ancient walled city of Montepulciano.

Sometimes referred to as "little Florence" for its dense mix of fine Renaissance architecture, churches, and art, Montepulciano is also the center of production for the least known - but no less exquisite - of Tuscany's "big three" vintages.

Montelpulciano's Vino Nobile, with its spicy aroma and balanced acidity, earned its name as a wine preferred by nobles and other distinguished figures.

For wine specialists, it ranks favorably with Tuscany's world-famous Brunello di Montalcino and Chianti Classico.

Montepulciano's wine-making roots reach back to Etruscan times, but today most of the vineyards lining the countryside grow a Sangiovese strain of grape called Prugnolo, so called for its prune-like shape, color and aroma.

Visitors can sample wine and drink in the landscape on vineyard tours organized in town.

Alternatively, one can tour the historic center's dense, underground labyrinth of rock-carved cantinas, where wine still reposes in oak barrels.

Other delicacies also tantalize, like extra-virgin olive oil served on toasted Tuscan bread, artisanal pecorino cheese, local plum jam, coarse 'pici' pasta, pork, lentils and honey.

It wasn't gastronomy, but cinematic, dreamy scenery that drew film directors to Montepulciano in recent years.

The English Patient (1996) was filmed here with Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche, as was A Midsummer's Night's Dream (1999) with Rupert Everett, Michelle Pfeiffer and Kevin Kline.

The Italian scenes of The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009) were also shot here.

Montepulciano's narrow streets climb through fortified walls built under Medici rule in the early 1500s.

Its cobblestone piazzas, medieval historic center and a constellation of Renaissance buildings are all easily reached by foot, like the Medici Fortress of Sangallo, the 14th-century Porta di Gracciano, and the Church of Santa Maria dei Servi with its Tuscan Gothic façade.

The church houses a precious Madonna with Child painted by Duccio di Buoninsegna, a 13th-century Sienese artist who was one of the most influential of his time.

Ambling just outside town, the circular walls of the 16th- century Sanctuary of the Madonna of San Biagio, offers a masterpiece of late Renaissance architecture in white travertine stone.

Until March 31, art museums Pinacoteca Cruciani and the Logge della Mercanzia are featuring a Tuscan art movement that presaged the French Impressionists.

The Macchiaioli movement undusted the figurative language of Italian art academies in the 19th century.

via lifeinitaly.com