Tuscan Vineyards and Gingham Sets

If you couldn’t already tell from my constant instagram posting, I am absolutely IN LOVE with Italy. I am in complete and utter awe of the impeccable beauty that this country has to offer. Everything I see and do seems to be in one way or another better than the last. As mentioned in my previous post, I spent my first week abroad traveling around Italy. As a whole, Tuscany is extremely stunning; however, the most incredible place that I visited in this region was a charming winery located in Castagneto Carducci.  The beauty of the winery, Caccia Al Piano 1868, quite literally took my breath away. I feel as though I’ve been saying this a lot recently, but upon arrival, I felt transfixed into another universe. It was like nothing I had ever experienced before.

For this day spent at such a beautiful vineyard, tasting some of the best wines in the world, I decided to go for a chic European look. Recently, I have been OBSESSED with the gingham trend, I mean come on. Gingham is super chic and is absolutely perfect for transition into fall and fall weather. Because I have been loving this trend so much lately, when I spotted this trendy set at LF in Boston, I fell in love and knew I had to have it. The weather in Tuscany was rather warm, so a high waisted shorts and cutoff tank set was perfect. Aside from being very on trend, this gingham set is extremely flattering as well as classy–perfect for wine tastings 😉 To add to my ~European~ look, I decided to accessorize with a super chic neck tie. I have been really into neck ties recently, but I’ve never really had the opportunity to wear them. Because of this, I was thrilled to finally get to style my neck tie into this look! I purchased this ivory, crochet neck tie from JCrew. I love this one because its coloring makes it easy to pair with many looks and the crochet detailing gives it a unique flare. As always, I further accessorized with my go-to tortoise shell sunnies from Madewell and for shoes sported my favorite Birks.

As touched on before, I am in absolute love with the Italian culture as a whole. Italians have so much pride for their culture and their roots and this is constantly displayed though the passion they display for their professions. While at the winery, our tour guide very enthusiastically brought us around the vineyard, letting us taste the grapes used for wine, and showed us the inside of the winery, describing to us the lengthy process of creating wine. She showed us the wine cellar and the countless barrels in which the wine is stored during the process of fermentation in which the grape juice is transformed into wine. In hearing and learning of the long process that is necessary to produce something that so much of the society I’ve been used to takes for granted, I have developed an entirely new perspective on life. I have gained a new understanding and respect for the things that I, in my life, take for granted. Nothing is just handed to us. Everything has a backstory and deeply-rooted history. Because I am legal to drink wine here in Italy, now when I order a glass of, lets say Chianti, at dinner, I do so with the understanding that it took the hard work and devotion of many Etruscans to produce this delicious treat.

Following our interesting informative tour of the winery, we ended our visit on a rather classy note. We ended the day with a relaxing, delicious wine tasting. Up until that point in my life, I had never felt so content or at ease with life. It was truly an incredible experience. At a slow place, we tasted four of the best wines in the world–three reds and one white, which were enjoyed with a side of pears, cheese, peppers, fresh bread and olive oil. The experience was decadent to say the least.

I am in the process of editing my other Europe posts and have a lot of amazing content in the works, so make sure you subscribe to stay up to date! Also be sure to follow me on instagram: @shaecronin13 for even more of an inside peak into my European lifestyle:)

xo Shae