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HILLS
>> VALDICHIANA
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INTRODUCTION
Passing Pienza, the territory of Siena sweetly descends towards
the borders with Umbria, crossing the nice hills of Montepulciano
and Chianciano Terme until Chiusi, on the most southern part of
the Valdichiana, which is a reclaimed marsh which today only features
the lakes of Chiusi and Montepulciano. The main towns of the Valdichiana
hold lots of history and preserve important monuments of the past.
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The
rural landscape offers hills around Montepulciano and the vast cultivated
land of the Valdichiana, where excellent products are grown. Of course
we have to mention the Chianina cow, a very big cow with white mantle,
which produces an excellent meat which have become famous in the whole
world. The meat, very tasty and soft, comes from 12-14 months-old
cattle which breeds freely. If you come to the Valdichiana you can
not miss a grilled steak.
Very common is the growing of vegetables and fruit on the plateaux,
and the vineyards and olive-trees on the hills, not to mention once
again the meat from the Chianaina cow which is used to make excellent
sausages, milk and cheeses with natural spices. The pecorino cheese
of Pienza is famous for its quality and is produced with milk from
the sheep which breed freely around the Sienese hills. Regarding the
wine production, Montepulciano dominates thanks to the Vino Nobile
which is famous world-wide due to its unique quality. The Vino Nobile
features the mark Docg and the bottles are marked with the prestigious
red brand. You can also try the excellent local Chianti wine. The
wines of Montepulciano which feature the mark Doc are the White, the
Red, the Rosé, the Chardonnay, the Grechetto, the Sangiovese
and the Vinsanto. The Red wine and the Vinsanto of the Valdichina
feature the same quality-control recognition. So the area feature
an excellent wine-list which goes hand in hand with the local specialities.
The fertile land of the Valdichiana made it a contended area
between Siena and Arezzo during the Middle Ages. But the land was
abandoned in the following centuries and the area became a marsh.
The reclaiming started in the 19th century and the Valdichiana once
again turned out to be an agriculture area plotted with villages and
castles on the hills. |
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