5:05pm when I arrived and Winemaker William Goldschmidt of Corzano e Paterno already had the crowd whipped but good into a wine frenzy. He looked just like his picture. "Easy on the eyes," just like his importer, Jay Murrie of Piedmont Imports said. Correction! Strike that! Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury: it was not what Jay said but what Jay said women said! Anyway, William has a head full of black hair. Olive complexion. Very Italian looking. But that name, William Goldschmidt? What's up with that?
I had promised "Ciao Asheville," the cultural forum in town, that I would get to the bottom of what seems to be a glaring inconsistency! All I got was that William's mother is British. Well that explains the William. Long line of British Kings sporting that one. But the Goldschmidt? Still working on it. Get back to you as the story develops.
Amidst all the bottle signing, shopping and talk, talk, talk, I found myself running interference between William and a group of women of a certain age who threatened to lock him in their respective basements! I may or may not have been one of them. At times, I could see the silliness of this idea but then.... In any case, once I advised everyone that William was a new and very proud father, everyone settled down. I do, however, believe that if William returns, which he PROMISED to do, he may face the threat of kidnapping with a renewed vigor.
We did find out that Corzano e Paterno has 700 sheep on the property as well as acres of olive trees. So, putting this in its rightful "what else is there?" perspective, Corzano e Paterno makes cheese, olive oil and wine. Better to hold up in his basement! Oh yeah, and if you go, you can stay on the property. You know what they say about possession.
From Website: GUEST HOUSES
Fattoria Corzano e Paterno stretches out over two hills covered with vineyards, olive trees and woodland. It is set in the very heart of Chianti near the main road from Florence to Siena. The historic Villa Paterno, acquired from the Machiavelli family, together with the farm houses on the property, have been restored with great care to their original form.
The AGRITURISMO is comprised of four country large houses for holiday rental, positioned in pristine locations amid cypresses, olive groves and vineyards, views that have escaped the passage of time, and are reached by unpaved country roads. Their restoration has maintained, with the exception of modern kitchens and baths, the original structures of beamed ceilings, open sit-in fireplaces and large, airy rooms. Situated in this classic Tuscan landscape, near fields of our grazing sheep, the houses overlook the verdant valley that lies between the two distinctive hills of the farm.
The restoration of the buildings was undertaken by the architect Wendelin Gelpke himself, who tried to change as little as possible in the layout of the structures and to integrate modern facilities unobtrusively.
Florence 32 km – Siena 56 km – San Gimignano 37 km – Pisa 104 km – Lucca 101 km
Additional information concerning each house or flat can be found by using the links of the specific house/flat page in question.
General Facilities: Fireplaces, DVD, BBQ, washing machine, iron board, hairdryer, dishwasher, free parking, pools, equipped garden, microwave, toaster, wine and cheese tasting, fans, farm shop, reception, wi-fi area outdoor,mosquito screens, cot, highchair, toaster. Pets welcome
Services included in the price: Bed, bath and kitchen linens, water, gas for the kitchen, electricity, weekly change, final cleaning, welcome basket, wine and cheese tasting at our farm
Extra costs: from 1 March Local Tourist Tax, 1,50/pax/night up to max. 7 night
Children under 14 do not pay
Extra costs to be paid according to use: heating upon consumption
Upon request and not included in the price: domestic help, cook, cooking classes, baby sitter, taxi service, welcome dinner, horse riding, watercolour lessons, massages. Bookings can be secured by credit card. A deposit is required for larger groups.
And the women so don't need to know that one of the guest houses is called
"The Gina!" And, apparently, "The Gina" comes with a dog!! Review: Cheese, olive oil, wine and a dog. Pretty well sums it up for me.
Anyway, back to the tasting... Once the crowd dispersed, we went on a tour of our Italian collection of wines @MetroWines. William was impressed. And he knew, I mean really knew, everybody. He knew Arturo Cordero de Montezemolo. He knew the gang at GD Vajra. He knew Paitin! William says they all kind of live close to each other.
Corzano e Paterno wines serve up exceptional quality for the price. I particularly like the 100% Sangiovese Rosé. We still have one bottle of this most magic elixir until the ship comes in, and I mean that literally, the ship carting bottles from Italy. Probably about 2 to 3 weeks for white, reds and this rosé to hit town.
More about the Winery from the Website: The vineyards of the Fattoria Corzano e Paterno lie on the steep and stony slopes surrounding the fortified farmhouse “Corzano” in San Casciano Val di Pesa. Roughly seventeen km south of Florence, the property runs along the ancient Via Cassia and the River “Pesa” which separates our land from the “Classico” region of Chianti.
Corzano sits like a natural stone outcrop, a serrated edge along the hilltop horizon. The building was constructed centuries ago from fieldstones as a watchtower overlooking the valley leading from Florence to Siena. It grows up out of medieval foundations, possibly even Etruscan, as nearby tombs testifies to their presence in the area. In 1969 the property changed hands for the first time in seven hundred years.
Six hectares of the farm’s one hundred and fourty were planted with vines in the very best positions around Corzano. At the altitude of three hundred meters they form a natural amphitheatre facing south-southwest in soil gravely in structure and rich in clay and lime. The farm’s herd of milk sheep supplied the natural manure; traditional local wine making techniques were modified and enhanced by the skills learned by the young winemakers in the Swiss wine school at Wädenswil, near Zurich.
Our first wines were bottled in 1972. Today we have seventeen hectares of vineyard and produce more than 80.000 bottles. Grapes varieties run from the usual Chianti selection of Sangiovese, Canaiolo, Malvasia, Trebbiano, to the foreign varieties of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Chardonnay. In a normal year the farm will produce one white wine, four reds and a sweet wine.
The vineyards and cellars are the domain of Aljoscha Goldschmidt and Arianna Gelpke, both enologist, the nephew and daughter of the founder Wendel Gelpke.
You should try Corzano e Paterno! You won't be disappointed. But get your mind off the basement thing. You have a very long line ahead of you!
Follow William in Italian! on Facebook here:
Thursday, May 21, 6 p.m. EST
Bianca Ottone, founder of 
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