We were very fortunate to find an apartment to rent in between the towns of Montefellonico and Montepulciano in the countryside.  We have a view of both towns from our front porch.  A trip was in order for us to explore the small town of Montefellonico.  We found a park for the kids to play outside of the village walls and toured around.  It was very small and quaint and we managed to pop into a very old church with fresco paintings that are probably a few hundred years old.  From here we decided to drive around and we found a winery called Andreucci.  We pulled up to the gate and were buzzed in for a tasting.  They had a terrace that overlooked a small valley with their vineyards.  The winemaker came out to talk to us and he was such a super cool guy.  He has a sister winery in Texas and gave us a little history about his winery.  It has been in his family for a few hundred years and actually Napoleon enjoyed the wine so much when he was coming through the area he was sure to order the wine for himself and signed a document recording this transaction which can be seen at the winery.  The owners are of french decent but have been in Italy for a very long time.  The wine was great and we purchased a case to enjoy back home.  The kids were in love with his mastiff which he kept cool in the wine cellar.  The kids hung on the dog like it was a giant stuffed animal and he didn’t seem to mind.  Afterwards we had a two hour pranza ( late lunch ) at a wonderful restaurant near our house ( see below ). Just another summers day in paradise.

WINERY: Tenimenti Andreucci  website: http://tenimentiandreucci.com

Pranza. Restaurant La Chiusa: website ristorantelachiusa.it

We highly recommend this restaurant in Montefellonico.  We have been here a few times and although a little pricey you get the best service and meals not to mention a gorgeous view of Montepulciano that overlooks the valley between the two towns.  The kids also have green space to run around if you can secure a table outside under the shade of the trees which is perfect if they get antsy like our little ones.