Sant'Agnese Farm

Our next visitors, John and Kelly O'Neill, treated us to a full-course Italian pranzo (calling it lunch does it an injustice) at Sant'Agnese Farm near Castellina in Chianti.  The Farm produces wine and olive oil as most wineries do, but they also specialize in vinegar and truffle oil.  They told us the truffles are collected "by the owner and his dogs." We knew there were different vinegars, but got a real education about ageing and pairings with different foods.  

Kelly and John (another Tilley hat man) at Sant'Agnese Farm

Our hosts Carlo and (didn't capture her name:-(, the chief cook

Here is a photo journey through our meal:  First up is Antipasti

The small plate at right is a scrambled egg topped with truffle oil.  The small dark dab is the vinegar paired with the selection. 

Next was the primo piatto:  Many diners said the lasagne was the best they have had.

For the secondo piatto, beef cooked in a delicious sauce, roasted potatoes, with a flourish of the paired vinegar.

...and there is even a vinegar paired with i dolci.

We then took a tour of the vinyards, orchards, wine cellar, and shop.

Here come the olives; the wine shop had a display of old equipment like this grape press.

Here is one of Carmen's experiments with exposure settings, getting two very different moods from the same scene:

It was a wonderful meal, and we all felt like taking a nap.