Every once in a while a book comes along that grabs me- one that I don't want to put down, that I want to get through.
This was one of those books. This was one of those times.
A Vineyard in Tuscany, Ferenc Maté's memoir is about his (and his family's) trials and tribulations of acquiring an abandoned property in Montalcino, Tuscany, restoring it and creating a vineyard from scratch!
As fate would have it, he was lucky enough to be offered help and advice from his neighbors- none other than Banfi and Gaja- two of the biggest wine giants in Italy!
The author had me rolling on the floor on more than one occassion.
Not wanting to "give everything away" – let's just say some of his funniest stuff involved single-handedly bringing down part of his rebuilt house at the hands of a crane, trying to get deer from eating his vines, over-filling the barrels with their first elixir and creating a grape explosion of huge ( and messy) proportions and almost destroying his property- trees, vines and chicken coup- in an entire chapter dedicated to his learning to use the tractor with four-hundred ninety-seven levers.
And if he wasn't lucky enough already- his wines get rave reviews and he unearths treasure after treasure on his land- both of the historic Etruscan and the culinary variety.
This memoir is a romantic style Under the Tuscan Sun– with the addition of a vineyard- and more descriptive, humorous prose.
If you like Tuscany, Wine and Laughter- you'll love this book!
What is one of your favorite memoirs about Tuscany? Or Italy?