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A Vineyard in Tuscany: A Wine Lover's Dream | 
 enlarge | Author: Ferenc Mate
Publisher: Albatross
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy Used: $10.47
You Save: $14.48 (58%)
New (40) Used (14) Collectible (1) from $10.47
Rating:  31 reviews
Sales Rank: 138230
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 256
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.9 x 1.1
ISBN: 0920256562
Dewey Decimal Number: 920
EAN: 9780920256565
ASIN: 0920256562
Publication Date: November 5, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Clean text, tight binding, minor edgewear
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Product Description
In this intimate and uproarious story, two daring New Yorkers convert an ancient, abandoned farm into a world-renowned winery.
Finding your dream house with a vineyard in Tuscany is like searching the woods for porcini mushrooms: a labor of love. Such feats require patience, discernment, resolve, and an indestructible sense of humor.
The Mates' future home and wine estate lies amid breathtaking scenery in a community brimming with warmth. In Italy's most prestigious wine zone, Montalcino, they restore a thirteenth-century friary nestled on two hills within sixty acres of forest, olives, and potential vineyards. Here they plant fifteen acres of vines, build the winery, and learn from their famous vintner neighbors, like Angelo Gaja, the secrets of how to grow the best grapes and make superb wines. Within the first years, the Mate wines receive international acclaim.
This highly entertaining tale of how two dreamers struggle and thrive in idyllic Tuscany will enrich the lives of travelers and wine lovers alike.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 26 more reviews...
A book to be savored and enjoyed, just like a fine Chianti November 30, 2007
Bookreporter.com (New York, New York)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
There is something both exhilarating and heartwarming reading the exploits of an author who lives and ultimately accomplishes his dream. The story becomes even more uplifting when his or her aspirations can be shared by readers who have experienced the joys described in the adventure. Ferenc Mate had a dream to move to Tuscany, own a vineyard and produce award-winning wine. A VINEYARD IN TUSCANY is the story of how he and his wife accomplished that goal. For anyone who has visited the beautiful province described in his glorious prose and partaken of the wines produced in its vineyards, this book is to be savored and enjoyed, just like a fine Chianti or other exquisite wine of the region.
Of course one does not just decide on a whim that a Tuscan vineyard is their life ambition. Mate sets the scene for readers by describing in beautiful detail his family life in Italy. He and his wife Candace, a painter, had purchased and restored a small villa in Tuscany called La Marinaia (an apt name for property owned by Mate, who has written several books with nautical themes). While he loved the property, the two acres of land were far too small to allow him to fulfill his dream: the production of a world-class wine with his name on the label. An undertaking such as this requires far more than growing grapes. Italian winemakers toil on the land where their grapes are produced and attend to each and every aspect of the wine production. The end product is the result of personal blood, sweat and tears.
A VINEYARD IN TUSCANY details Mate's search for precisely the right piece of property on which to produce his wine. But the property is but one of many required pieces of the dream. After finding what seemed to be a glorious vineyard of 15 acres, Mate meets his vintner neighbor, Angelo Gaja, and learns the story behind the production of the world-renowned Gaja wines. It would serve as a roadmap and inspiration for Mate. Shortly after their first meeting, Gaja presents him with a $400 housewarming gift: a bottle of Sori San Lorenzo wine. Mate's dinner guests treat the gift as though it is the Holy Grail.
The new vineyard requires several laborious tasks before wine can be produced. The property includes a 13th century friary that will be converted into a home and winery. As the author details the rebuilding and construction effort, readers can almost see the dollar bills (or perhaps, more appropriately, the Euros) hemorrhaging from his accounts. One thing is clear from this book: producing a world-class wine is neither a simple task nor an effort where one cuts financial corners. For Mate the end result is the achievement of his dream. His wines receive international acclaim; in fact, his Mate Syrah is voted the 2007 Italian Wine of the Year. The book's last pages contain information and comments on the various products of the vineyard. Italian food lovers will also find some classic Tuscan recipes to please the palate while enjoying any fine wine.
A VINEYARD IN TUSCANY is a delightful and humorous tale that combines elements of travelogue and wine drinking for readers interested in either subject. Anyone who has traveled to Tuscany or Italy will find pleasure in the detail of the Italian countryside as recreated by Mate. Any lover of wine will understand why the Italians take meticulous effort to produce wines that have no equal in the world. Like the wines he creates, Mate has written a book that readers can consume with pleasure and delight.
--- Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman
Well-written, hilarious story! November 29, 2007
J. Sherman (Boston, MA)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
This book is really a journal describing a personal quest rather than a manual on how to build a vineyard, although that is what happens. The author's self-deprecating sense of humor is key as he describes the sometimes absurd challenges he and his family faced renovating an ancient "ruin" into a functioning home complete with a world-class vineyard. His love of Tuscany is demonstrated throughout by the charming descriptions of the people he encounters. The evident quality of the wine they ultimately produced (I haven't tried it yet, but hope to) makes me wish there was even more detail about how they did it, but this story is more about the journey than the final, bottled result. Great book.
"INSIDER INFO BY KNOWLEDGEABLE OUTSIDER REGARDING: A VINEYARD IN TUSCANY" January 6, 2008
Joycemarie Dittemore (Ceciliano di Arezzo, Italy)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
To all those who yearn to live in Tuscany, own a vineyard and become wine-makers in Tuscany, or simply bona fide wine lovers, who enjoy the finished product: don't miss reading A VINEYARD IN TUSCANY by Ferenc Mate. This is the rollicking and sometimes poignant story, which shoves romanticism aside and gets down to the nitty-gritty = HOW TO DO IT! Candace and Ferenc Mate are the new kids on the block by Tuscan vintner standards; but the age-old makers of Brunello di Montalcino can only smile at their neighbours while welcoming them to the brotherhood.
Just to set the record straight: Candace is the brain and Ferenc is the brawn behind the Mate Vineyards...(va bene, let's give Ferenc credit for spawning the original dream of wanting to own a vineyard.) Mate describes their adventures, which include the search for the perfect land for planting vines; restoration of an ancient friary, "IL COLOMBAIO" which becomes their home, installation of the vineyard, and finally making their own wine.
WOMEN WINE-MAKERS REJOICE!! Candace Mate is your patron saint! Interestingly enough, it is F. Mate's wife Candace, who has always been the steady hand at the helm and the one who gives birth to the dream. Candace Mate did the wine-making R & D, finished a 2 year course in Rome, and is now a certified sommelier. She tended, nursed, pampered, soothed their wine and finally MARKETED the Mate label! And if excellent chef, and fantastic Mom to their son Peter don't suffice, she is also a talented artist! When you buy your first bottles of Mantus, Banditone, Albatro, or Mate Brunello di Montalcino, please note her sensuous paintings which became the labels. You almost want to enlarge them to poster size and frame them!
Now, you ask yourself, where is Ferenc, in the meantime? Like a man, off on one of his "mis-adventures": wrestling with the sand-blasting machine which becomes an uncontrollable cobra, or initiation day on the new FIAT caterpillar-track tractor, where he successfully destroys garden, chicken coop and a portion of the woods. Cool, calm and minute Candace is always there on the sidelines to rescue Ferenc with a piece of her amazing crostata, or a good dose of alcohol to keep his blood-sugar level up. Need I mention that she single-handedly held down the fort & ran the estate while Ferenc has spent the last 3 years between NYC finishing A VINEYARD IN TUSCANY, and Tahiti writing another sailing adventure book.
But, God bless his heart; Ferenc Mate's bumbling, playfully-mad, Hungarian spirit carries us through a delightful & humorous romp...and I don't just mean crushing grapes! I do chide his swashbuckling, Madonna-invoking swearing, (a big NO-NO even among hardened Italian criminals).Yet, he is so candid and ready to acknowledge his shortcomings, that he is loveable, and thus forgiven as he tickles you from chapter 1-38.
I was honoured to see that, Sandro & I make a cameo appearance. Grazie caro Ferenc, but loquacious-soul that I am, please give me longer lines next time!!
Signore e Signori, enjoy reading A VINEYARD IN TUSCANY, the ethereal dream to plant a vineyard in Tuscany and make your own wine. A dream that didn't elude Candace and Ferenc Mate.
JOYCE MARIE DITTEMORE; "VILLA LA TORRE"; 86 CECILIANO DI AREZZO, ITALY
2005girasole@libero.it
Educational and funny December 2, 2007
Maria Ujvari
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
One of the best books on the struggles of establishing a great vineyard and the hard work that goes into wine making. As a fellow Hungarian I am even more impressed by the crafting of this book. Great writing! It is obvious the author had fun with it.
A Tuscan Delight February 3, 2008
C. G. King (Horse Country, VA USA)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
Another funny and fascinating book by Mr. Mate, whom I've had the pleasure of meeting at a book-signing. I found him to be just as charming and personable as you expect after reading the book. I loved The Hills of Tuscany, an earlier work, and was not disappointed by this next chapter in his Tuscan life--pursuing his dream to create a vineyard with noteworthy wine, which, happily, I got the opportunity to taste (and can be ordered on-line). Mr. Mate's warmth and friendliness to his Italian neighbors and his commitment to his dream were key to the successful restoration of a castle ruin in Montalcino and the development of a small, but world-class vineyard from scratch--no small feat. The story is told with such unassuming and spontaneous wit one only wishes to have been there throughout the process toiling and laughing along side these fascinating characters. The vignette about his battle with the Fiat tractor is side-splitting. A wonderful read and highly recommended.
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