11 November is San Martino, St. Martin’s Day, celebrated all over Italy with festivals and processions, pot-banging in Venice and medieval dressing up all over the country. St. Martin is the patron saint of wine and, amongst other things, of cuckolds. He was born in 316 in Hungary and died of a temperature at the ripe old age of 81. Works of art show him giving a naked beggar HALF of his coat on a cold night.

 L’estate di San Martino – St.Martin’s summer – is the period around 11 November when there is often an spell of amazingly good weather. The saying in various dialects all over Italy is that it lasts “tre giorni e un pochino” – 3 days and a little more.

 In fact, true to form, today in Montalcino was incredibly warm, with blue blue skies and gorgeous autumn colours in the vineyards and woods and the weather is due to change on Saturday.

 Traditionally it is a time for tasting vino novello, which is paired brilliantly with the first chestnuts of the season. We will be trying our newest Brunello which has just stopped fermenting and some Palazzone chestnuts, roasted at the fireplace.

We are celebrating our wedding anniversary: 11 November 2000 was also a splendid day.