Eating & Drinking
Vernaccia di San Gimignano is the characteristic white wine - crisp, full-bodied, golden-hued, and popular since Dante’s day. To round off a Tuscan fest, dip cantuccini, crunchy almond biscuits, into Vin Santo, the region’s amber-hued dessert wine.
Tuscany’s olive oil has long been famous for its quality and excellent flavour and texture. The San Gimignano locals are passionate about olive oil, where olives have been grown locally since Etruscan times. Such is the case on the Montenidoli estates. This cru of Extra Vergine di San Gimignano is a tasty example.
Meats are to the fore, with fennel salami often on the menu, as is rabbit. The meat dish par excellence is still the bistecca alla fiorentina, a vast, tender, juicy and succulent T-bone steak. That said, given San Gimignano’s closeness to Siena, expect plenty of Sienese dishes, too. In the Sienese countryside, the white-striped Cinta Senese breed has been producing the region’s finest pork and charcuterie since the Etruscan era. Hunting is a popular sport, resulting in plentiful offerings of cinghiale (wild boar), which come in many guises on local menus. Despite conservationists’ pleas, small birds, from sparrows to quail, are still considered fair game.
