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This is the blog of Steve Burkett of Italy, Our Italy

Beautiful Places: Castello Brolio

Today I want to tell you about a beautiful and important Tuscan castle in Italy -- Castello Brolio. What makes this castle so important? Well, read on.

The Castle

Here is a photo of Castello Brolio as it sits today in mid-eastern Tuscany.

This still-inhabited castle is owned by the Ricasoli family, who has lived in the castle for almost 900 years. Though the first stones of the Brolio Castle date back to the middle ages, the castle did not pass into the hands of the Ricasoli family until an exchange of lands in 1141.

“Barone Ricasoli winery is the fourth longest-lived company in the world in the same place. Barone Ricasoli is the oldest winery in Italy.”

Castello Brolio is on the border between the former city-states of Sienna and Florence and has been the stage for numerous disputes, with the heavy-weight Florentine city-state duking it out against fearsome Sienna. In the photo below, taken from the ramparts of the castle, you can see Sienna in the distance to the right of the photo. [This photo has been made into a tile backsplash which sits behind our kitchen range]

View from the ramparts of Castello Brolio looking toward Sienna at top right

Battle-scarred brickwork of Castello Brolio

Being a castle, one would expect it to be attacked, right? And it has been, as through the centuries the castle has suffered attack and destruction in numerous historical battles; from Aragonese and Spanish attacks during the 15th century, disputes in the 17th century, to bombings and artillery attacks during the Second World War. Evidence of attack can still be seen today, as in this photo.

Here are a few more photos of this well-built castle. As always, click on an image to see a larger view.

And the expansive views from the Castello Brolio are magnificent.

Panorama from the ramparts of Castello Brolio

My wife as she sketches a beautiful contryside

The Baron

Here is photo of Baron Bettino Ricasoli.

What he lacked in looks he made up for in money. At 3,000 acres, the Ricasoli vineyards are the largest in the Chianti Classico area. Because of his integrity and austerity, he was known as 'The Iron Baron'.

This elaborate family tree, reproduced in a print dated 1584, is also one of the first paintings depicting the Chianti area.

The Baron as the Creator of Chianti

Besides being the second and then seventh Prime Minister of Italy, Baron Bettino Ricasoli was a far-sighted wine entrepreneur. As a matter of fact, it was the Baron who created the age-old formula for Chianti wine. After more than thirty years of research and experiments, he divulged his formula in a letter in 1872, where he wrote,

“...I verified the results of the early experiments, that is, that the wine receives most of its aroma from the Sangioveto [today’s Sangiovese] (which is my particular aim) as well as a certain vigour in taste; the Canajuolo gives it a sweetness which tempers the harshness of the former without taking away any of its aroma, though it has an aroma all of its own; the Malvagia, which could probably be omitted for wines for laying down, tends to dilute the wine made from the first two grapes, but increases the taste and makes the wine lighter and more readily suitable for daily consumption…”

— Baroln Bettino Ricasoli in a famous letter addressed to Professor Cesare Studiati at the University of Pisa

You've probably seen wine labels with the designation "Chianti Classico". The geographical location of Castello Brolio puts it in the Chianti Classico region. And note that the 'Classico' extension does not designate more quality per se, but means that it is produced within the classic region of the official Chianti region. If the Chianti region were a donut, Chianti Classico would be the donut hole.

Here you see the neck of a bottle of Barone Ricasoli's Rocca Guicciarda Chianti Classico Riserva (And how do I know that's what wine this is? Because I drank it!).

This seal with the black rooster is your guarantee that you will be drinking Chianti Classico. It is also a DOCG wine, which stands for 'Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita' and is your guarantee that the wine meets the government's control standards for Chianti Classico.

Since 1993, Baron Francesco Ricasoli, 32nd Baron of Brolio and Bettino's great-grandson, has taken the hundreds of years of wine experimentation and experience into the plantings of new varietals and newly created wines.

Our Favorite Barone Ricasoli Wine?

How many times have you been at the wine store and seen a pretty label and you turned to your partner and said, "Hey, this wine looks good"?

With our favorite Barone Ricasoli wine, you can have a pretty label and a pretty wonderful wine. Pictured below is the Rocca Guicciarda Chianti Classico Riserva that we consumed at a little restaurant in Radda in Chanti one fall afternoon.

And hey, there are several. yummy Barone Ricasoli wines. You can see all of them on their website.

And if you happen to be in Tuscany, our instant-friend Barbara here can help you put together a selection for shipment back home. The wine shop is located just below the castle.

And, if you join the Friends of Ricasoli Club, you will get discounts and other special offers.

So, I hope you enjoyed a tour of one of Tuscany's classic wineries, it's creator, and the castle that still guards the ancient vineyards there.

Ciao for now,

Steve

Before and After

Scott Kelby - Founder of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals

As you read this, I am in Las Vegas at the 2015 Photoshop World Conference & Expo. This is a come-together of photographers from all over the world who use Photoshop in their photo processing. The Conference provides three days of intensive training in all aspects of Photoshop.

“The word ‘Photoshop’, like the word ‘darkroom’, it’s not a four-letter word.”

Photoshop has taken the place of the old-fashioned darkroom of yesteryear -- and it is oh, so much better than working in a darkroom with all of those temperature-critical chemicals, and for color, the total confusion of total darkness -- I've been there and it wasn't particularly fun. As I've mentioned before, the processing of the photo in Photoshop and Lightroom (Photoshop's snazzy cousin) is where pure joy enters the picture for me.

So today, I've decided to give you a before and after of a photo that I took in Venice a couple of years ago...a photo that was modified using Photoshop.

Photoshop has taken a rap for the many faked photos that people have created (some obviously for humorous spoofing, but many to pull the wool over our eyes). But I say, count the letters in 'Photoshop' -- the word 'Photoshop', like the word 'darkroom', it's not a four-letter word. Photoshop puts much power in the photographers hands, and like any other power, it must be used judiciously.

In my past blog titled The Venice That Isn’t There I showed you how I have transformed several doors to bring those doors back to the time that they were created by the Italian craftsmen.

This week I want to continue in that vein, but I'll use one of the many religious shrines to demonstrate. These shrines can be found throughout Italy, and in particular Venice.

Just below you see one of the many ancient, charming, religious shrines. Each shrine is dedicated to a particular saint and when created, it was adorned with paintings, statues, and/or relics related to that saint. Who is this particular shrine dedicated to? I’m not really sure -- some shrines have obvious evidence of the honoree and some do not.

If you look hard, you can see a painting of the saint (dark robe) holding the young Christ (yellow top). You can also see that shrines receive continuing adornment from those who respect that particular saint. Though the flowers in the photo are artificial, I've seen many shrines with fresh flowers left by their fans.

Some shrines also act as a collection station for alms for the poor. In a future blog, I will show a shrine dedicated to Saint Antonio which has such an offerings box.

So, what does this particular shrine look like today as you walk through Venice?

Here is the before photo, just below. This photo shows a shrine that must have looked impressive in the days in which it was created, but now finds drab surroundings. So, this is where Photoshop comes in.

Note that I’ve eliminated the electrical conduit that courses down the wall and then into the shrine.

In addition, the unsightly concrete recess below the shrine has been removed...most likely a niche for the former alms box.

I found the crumbling plaster remnant to the right of the shrine to be distracting, so it was eliminated. At one point, plaster covered this whole wall, but time and weather have taken their toll.

As I looked further after eliminating distractions, the ancient, crumbling, underlying brickwork seemed a bit too bright, and it competed with the shrine for attention, so I gave it a richer and darker appearance.

Lastly, I made a significant crop to the photo to eliminate many of the distracting elements, to fill the frame with the shrine itself, and to put it into a vertical format. Now the shrine is taking center stage.

In the final analysis, the finished photo is more in line with how it would have looked 600 years ago without the modern, distracting elements. I hope you appreciate the transformation. And I hope you can appreciate the power of Photoshop.

If you haven't taken a look at the doors of The Venice That Isn’t There, give it a look to see more on my use of Photoshop to de-modernize Italy.

I'll have more Before and Afters in the future, so stay tuned.

Ciao for now,

Steve

And now for something entirely different!

“The other significant difference between this church and others? It’s that the...well, I’ll tell you the difference below in a bit...see if you can tell before you get there!”

In last weeks blog we visited a fabulous off-the-beaten-path, seldom-visited church in Albogasio, Italy. With its clean lines and beautiful painted art works, it couldn't be more dissimilar to the church I will show you today -- the Basilica San Marco. San Marco is the antithesis of that little Albogasio church in so many ways.

One way is that the Basilica sits right-smack-dab in Piazza San Marco in Venice and has hundreds-of-thousands of visitors each year. This photo which shows the exterior was taken in January, 2004, on a cold and dreary day.

[click an image to see a larger view]

Notice the exterior embellishments, like these protected saints enclosed in their spires, visible in this more recent photo.

The other significant difference between this church and others? It's that the...well, I'll tell you the difference below in a bit...see if you can tell before you get there!

This church's embellishments date from the 11th century. In the crypt you will find the bones of Venice's patron saint, St Mark, whose body was whisked away from the Muslim authorities in a daring raid in Alexandria, Egypt in the year 828.

Before you even enter the church, you are treated to magnificent Biblical scenes like this one above the entrance to the church.

In the portico before entering the church, you can see art works depicting Old and New Testament Biblical stories, one of which includes, among other stories, the Genesis story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Can you identify any of the other Biblical stories?

We are now inside the church.

This photo from the left transept shows a bit of the art work and the scale of the church, which was originally designated as the Doge's private chapel. The Doge was the elected leader of Venice -- no monarchy in Venice!

Here you can see the Pala d'Oro, which is gold altar screen embellished with precious jewels.

Can't see the jewels? Here is a more detailed view.

Another interior photo showing religious scenes. Have you figured out what makes this church so unique?

Ready for the big reveal that I promised earlier?

Every art work -- inside and out -- that you've seen in the photos above is composed of mosaics, like these. That's about 90,000 square feet of colorful mosaic tiles.

Here you can see just how colorful these mosaic art works are as Samson and David take a bit of time to sit and talk about their trials and tribulations.

Here is another masterpiece with some rather rough-looking angels meting out justice.

Not convinced that all you see is mosaic? Here is a detailed view of the photo above.

I was fortunate to capture the morning sun streaming through upper windows for this award-winning photo.

Is this is still a functioning church? It sure is. Below you see prayer candles and a liturgical chant awaiting the Bishop of this Archdiocese.

I'll close with more interior photos from this gorgeous church. Remember that you can click on a photo to see a larger view.

So, now you have seen two very distinctly different churches of Italy. The simple, yet elegantly refined church at Albogasio and the more famous Basilica San Marco of Venice. Both are testaments to the faithful artisans who embellished them as a way to glorify their Lord and Saviour.

Ciao for now,

Steve

p.s. feel free to leave a comment in the box below.

Stumbling Upon Something Magnificent

During our travels, we've had occasion to stumble upon some great things. When I think of stumbling upon something great, I immediately think of an absolutely beautiful day while visiting Bellagio.

“We still find it hard to believe what we stumbled upon that day, and I think you will, too.”

We still find it difficult to believe what we stumbled upon that day, and I think you will, too.

We were traveling with our friends Debbie and Scott (see last week's blog) and they decided to spend a day boating on Lake Como while we rented a car to drive into Switzerland.

Bellagio is not a large town and we were surprised to find a small garage that had rental cars. Here is our nice rental, complete with stick shift (do you remember how?).

[click on an image to get a larger view]

We got up extra early and we were just able to catch the last ferry of the day to travel from Bellagio to Menaggio, on the west side of the lake. Why would an early-morning ferry be the last of the day, you ask? A general transportation strike was set to start at 9:00am today, of course! It is Italy, you know.

With Bellagio receding in the distance, we made it to beautiful lakeside Menaggio, with its ubiquitous geraniums.

We took some time to have a light breakfast con Coca Cola Lite, of course...

...and for co-pilot Ellen to check the map for our route into Switzerland.

Along the way, we were treated to the fantastic Italian lakeside scenery, like these white swans skimming across the lake.

These guys were hoping that we would toss a bit of our croisant to them.

And the sun continued to provide gorgeous views as we drove along the lake.

The lakes in northern Italy are surrounded by mountains like this one.

Oh no! What's that blocking the road? It was the first of three buses traveling together that were making their way through a small town with it's very narrow roadway -- this is the main roadway along the lake, by the way.

They each had to move forward and back a few times to make it around the corner. We had to fold our side mirrors in, and with about 3" to spare the buses made their way past us.

Driving along Lake Lugano, which is half-in Italy and half-in Switzerland, we made a turn and came upon the charming little village of Albogasio..

Ellen suggested that this would be a great place to stop to explore life-on-the-lake in Italy. She saw the church you can see at the very top of the town and she decided that it would be our goal. As there are no auto roads in this town (residents park on the small pier that you can see sitting above the lake on the left), we sought out a way up.

A time worn path made its way up the hillside.

As we worked our way up, we had views like this one, which is Melissa's and Max's favorite.

We loved the rustic nature of Albogasio, with gardens and lovely views of Lake Lugano.

As we continued up, it was obvious to us that this village has been here for a long time.

Ahhh, getting closer.

And now the entrance is in sight.

On the lake-side wall, we found coats of arms painted on the side of the church. Each represents one of the seven archdioceses of Milan.

And finally, the door to the church.

We grasped the latch of this time-worn door, and...

...we were staggered by the inside of this small church sitting high on the side of the hill above Lake Lugano!

We've been in many beautiful churches in Italy, but we were stunned by this dazzling site. We found that this church was built in 1628 and was filled with magnificent 17th century paintings.

The ceiling above the altar has a painting of The Coronation of the Virgin.

The altar was adorned by these four silver bishops.

The two side chapels are also beautifully painted, like the one below. One chapel is dedicated to Saints Gioacchino and Anna, and the other to Saint Giuseppe. Notice that the scene below is all canvas with the exception of the alter with Christ's statue. The columns are not real, nor is the base on which the putti sit.

We were sad to leave, but we had miles to go on our day of adventure. Working our way down through the village, we found our way through the stone labyrinths...

...until we finally made it down to the road where we had parked.

This was just the start of a day of unexpected surprises. I'll tell you about the rest of our day another time. So, stay tuned.

Ciao for now,

Steve

Traveling with Friends

We love to travel with our friends. It's such fun to share experiences we can then talk about forever and ever.

Over the years, we have had the privilege to travel with 10 other loved ones to Italy. We look back on the memories created during these visits and find that each moment connected to these loved ones lives within our hearts.

First, here is a short video that I've put together giving you a whirlwind, 2012 trip through Italy in 3 minutes and 28 seconds. This was a trip with our great friends, Debbie & Scott Kennedy. There is music involved -- I hope you listen with quality computer speakers or ear-buds/headphones.

Below the video you will be able to read a few anecdotes of travels with friends over the years.

Like the time we were having a slice of pizza for lunch from Bar Ducale in Venice with Leslie and Craig on a small calle. A gentleman walked by on the way to the Ristorante Raffaele where he worked carrying a 'bouquet' of basil, wrapped in butcher paper. The aroma was marvelous! Now, every time we smell basil, we think of those moments there with Leslie and Craig where Calle delle Ostreghe crosses the Rio de l'Alboro.

I still remember an evening in Florence, walking toward the Piazza della Signoria. Greg says to me, "Do you know what you call cheese that's not yours?". I said, "No". Greg said, "Nacho cheese!". Hah - a joke indelibly etched in my mind, tied to a place I love, with a guy I love.

Or the time we were taking a romantic gondola ride with the Johnsons and the Ponsfords and as we tried to serenade ourselves with singing, we realized that none of us knew any song for which all of us could sing more than the first line. We settled on 'White Christmas'. Was it in December? No. But isn't October close to Christmas?

And then there was Casa alle Vacche, home of the excellent Cinabro Chianti (such a distinctive taste!). Dale was sitting crossed legged and was telling a story and mimicking a friend when he started giggling so much that he couldn't finish his story. We will always remember that spot, and the view of San Gimignano sitting proud in the distance as we had lunch as Dale giggled uncontrollably. [Editors note: it was the wine!]

It was a nice restaurant in Florence, down in one of those whitewashed medieval basements. Ginger looked lovely in her white blouse. While the waiter was placing appetizers on the table, he tipped over a plate of pate' right onto Ginger's brand new, bought just that day, white blouse. As befits Ginger, she didn't miss a beat as she took to the lady's room, club soda in hand, to resolve the situation with absolutely no fuss. When we think of Florence, or when we think of pate', we think of Ginger and her marvelous spirit.

And, how about the time we were in Venice during a rather loud demonstration as it wound it's way through the calle of Venice. Drums. Flags. Banners. A cacophony of chanting. Mike started to walk along with the group, having no idea what the demonstration was about. As he marched, he tapped a flag-carrying demonstrator on the shoulder and pointed at their flag and then himself -- and off he went over bridge and canal carrying a red flag of protest for who knows what. Yes, he did make it through passport control upon departure from Italy. And yes, we are sure it must have been for a worthy cause.

We had told Nicole not to worry too much about how she dressed, her makeup and her appearance, as "what are the chances you will see anyone you know in Italy?" Sure enough, while staring at The David statue in the Academia Gallery, she hears, "Nicole, what are you doing here?!". And a few days later she and about 6 other high school friends bumped into each in the Piazza San Marco in Venice. And yes, she looked lovely, by the way!

And then there's the beautiful verdigris bronze lion at the base of the Manin statue in Campo Manin in Venice. Walking back from dinner in the evening, we heard Judy suggest that this fabulous, century-old Lion of St Mark, needed to have it's nose picked...which she proceeded to do! This was from a normally reserved, but obviously fun-loving Judy!

One of our favorite memories is Scott's and Debbie's afternoon adventure in Venice. I had led them around in circles twice in one day and they were not too impressed with my Venetian map-reading skills (no, it wasn't on purpose -- I'm sure the map must have had a weird crease in it, or something) and we all had a good laugh on my account -- well deserved, of course. On our last day in Venice we decided to spend the morning on our own and meet after lunch to see the Frari. They just knew that they could get to the Frari sempre diretto, so with map in hand, they started off to meet us after lunch. After a good while, they learned that it is, indeed, a lot of fun to get lost in Venice. After several texts informing us that they were sure they were almost there, and often stopping for directions with map in hand (all documented by Debbie in the photos, below), they did indeed join us at The Frari. When we next visited the Frari, Ellen and I had that fond memory etched in our memories.

And there is traveling with that special friend, my wife, Ellen. Italy has brought us so many memories that are catalogued and stored away, and then recalled on so many occasions. Sometimes we are stunned that a memory will just pop into our heads unsearched. But we then reminisce about it and put it away to be discovered another day.

We love each of these people dearly. And we dearly love Italy. What fun it is to combine things that we love in our life as we create memories we will cherish always.

Ciao for now,

Steve