9/24/2003 (cont.): Arriving back at Le Chiuse, we met our landlord, Nicolo, and his wife, Simonetta. Nicolo gave us a tour of the wine cellar and a tasting of his 1998 Brunello wine. We were also able to purchase a bottle of his 1997 Brunello (96 points!!!) for €33. We later bought three more bottles to bring home with us.

After the tour and tasting we moved our luggage into apartment 2. It was a large, roomy apartment with a main room, two bedrooms and a bath. There was food in the fridge, courtesy of the Untours folks, so breakfast was ensured for tomorrow, without having to hit the Coop for groceries right then. About the time we finished unpacking, the rest of the Untours travelers staying at Le Chiuse showed up and we went out for introductions. We met our Untours host, Harriet, and got directions to tomorrow's orientation meeting.

By this time it was late and we drove into Buonconvento for fuel and then headed to dinner at Da Marios. We had a good, traditional Tuscan dinner, from antipasti, to primi, to secondi and then dolce, finishing up with espresso. And of course, lots of the vino della casa. Even the basic house wines are good in Italy. By the time we had finished dinner we had had enough for the day and headed back for a good night's sleep.