The Chianti, you and me, companions without a snack

A destination sought after by Italians crazy for fine labels and wide-brimmed glasses, by Germans in sandals with the taste of Goethe still in their mouths, by tantric English with capital to invest. The Chianti is not only this. It is first of all a rural region of that strip of clay that is Tuscany which, before tourism, lived off the Land. Yes, that Land with a capital L. Land that moves all energies, the most substantial of the 5 elements. A single Saturday to let Nathan taste this flavour. Not the glossy one, but the dirty and dusty one, in search of a crumb of that peasant reality that has soaked our souls. To look for the most genuine there is I have an ace up my sleeve, my agronomist friend, who took that piece of paper to keep up with his century, but who otherwise would have shouldered his spade and poured his silences into the land. This is the route:

"More precisely? To do in one day? I would pass through Impruneta, even just in passing to see the square, then continue to Greve in Chianti and, before the square, turn off for Montefioralle, which is a little medieval village. If you want you can eat there too at the Ristorante la Castellana but I think you should book. If after the square in Greve you want to see a winery, even a small one, you can go there in Greve to a relative of mine, who owns the Terre di Melazzano estate. You can tell him I sent you and to give you a tour of the winery. There you can also do a tasting and buy the wine, the IGT is nothing special but the price is fine, the others are good. At this point if you have time you can go up to Monte S. Michele, though it's a bit cold but it's beautiful, or else head towards Panzano and follow the signs for Volpaia, which is another little medieval village.

Nothing else comes to mind, there would be a very small estate at Lamole but I wouldn't know how to give you directions. Then anyway Gaiole and Castellina are also worth seeing and there are a few wine shops. Other places to eat if you come off the Chiantigiana state road after Chiocchio there's La Cantinetta, or in the square in Greve there's Nerbone which also does offal and has a few dishes that are a bit off the cuff, done on the fly. If you want to eat a lot, well, and spend little, in Gabbiano (between Greve and il Ferrone) there's a truckers' kind of restaurant that inside is also quite nice, the steak is cooked on the grill."

A brilliant idea, my Picone understood what I want! The only thing I still haven't understood is that time for me and Nath is our time. It is turning between the sheets, and always seeking our lips, it is gesturing, joking and setting off all over again, from Love. This great, our own feeling that never ceases to amaze me, every day, every hour, every minute, is a new feeling, strong and full of meaning. We set off late, after a breakfast of sweet things, like us, restorative like the time we spend together....and email in hand, here we are on the Chiantigiana, we pass Tavarnuzze, then Gabbiano, and... -"Nath, look! this must be the truckers' restaurant!...and you know, where there are truckers the food is always good!!" A manoeuvre, we look inside and promise ourselves we'll have a snack there. We carry on. We reach Greve in Chianti.

The square is really pretty, circular with the porticoes overlooking it and the shops that still enjoy the favour of the locals. We smoke a cigarette on the bench and watch the natives go by. A coffee without the 'c', as they pronounce it around here.

We set off again and the direction is Montefioralle. I have a vague memory of a previous visit in my previous present life. I remember the medieval village on the plain. But plain in Chianti? Oh for goodness sake?! Are you kidding?? Indeed. We climb, hairpin after hairpin, and reach a traffic light with two red eyes. That too was in my previous life. I park, check the firmness of the tree with the bonnet and we get out. A sweet village of ancient stones, white cobbles and climbing plants. We circle it quickly, between earth and sky, in these steps I take beside you, suspended 10 centimetres above the ground, while I tell you my most ambitious business dreams. And we set off again, and the shipwreck is sweet to me in this sea... The next destination is Panzano.

We look for parking without bumping too much into the cars of the naive who parked before me, alas for them! We allow ourselves more steps, beyond a hundred, in search of Cecchini, the butcher who celebrated the funeral of the steak, with a powerful handshake and two wild blue headlights in place of his eyes. We don't find him, but it hardly matters. We amuse ourselves admiring how the inhabitants of this hilltop worry about their friend cats getting back home, and how they indulge their tastes for the upper floors, building ramps that take them right up to the attic. Panzano too stays behind us and we look for Volpaia. The road ever more uncertain, the signs ever fewer. The weather darkens but our chatter lights up. Volpaia is a castle among the vineyards of illustrious owners. Fake, so perfect. In low season, in the make-up phase.

We turn back. We retrace the road we came, but with a rumble in our stomach that calls us concretely back to that Land, the same one that bears fruit, including a healthy ham sandwich with a glass of Chianti DOCG in the truckers' dive. But nothing. We are lovers estranged from this planet and even the Chianti has noticed. No snack, neither at Gabbiano nor at Scopeti. It was a sleepy Chianti, not yet ready for spring, not yet ready for other voracious and loving visitors like us.