A few months ago I traveled to Italy and had the most wonderful trip — from wine to weather it was perfect in every way.

I did not discover the very best gift of this trip until several weeks after we returned. It was a bottle of white wine from Tuscany called Vigna della Luna. It showed up at my door, along with some other wines and bottle of olive oil. It was a surprise because I had not tasted this particular wine – I needed one more bottle to make up 6 and, having no whites, I spied this bottle and decided what the heck, why not? Plus, if a name like Vineyard of the Moon, isn’t enough reason to buy the wine, my cat’s name is Luna. I thought it was sign.

I decided to open this wine to go with some bruschetta I was preparing with a dried tomato mix that we bought at a farmer’s market in Venice. I wasn’t too sure about this dried concoction that you add water and olive oil to, but it was cheap, easy to pack and smelled absolutely delicious. It too turned out to be a huge score. I don’t know if it was the pairing or just the wine, but both the bruschetta and the wine were magical.

I didn’t write anything down, but I recall absolutely gorgeous fruit notes, with perfect acidity – such perfect acidity, that the creaminess on the nice, long finish just blew me away.  Coupled with the bruschetta that had such intense flavor, made with the olive oil we brought back from our trip – so delicious. One of those experiences in life that stop you in your tracks and make you thankful to be alive in that moment.

So, in my attempt to order more wine, I had a near panic attack when I discovered that I could not ship it to myself direct from the winery! If I used the Italian version of the website, it allowed me to put the wine in my cart — switch to English and it is removed from my cart. This was the only wine this happened on, all of the others stayed right there in my cart. So I surmised that the Italians know that this wine is such a gem, that they decided to keep it for themselves! I was literally heartbroken!

After I spent about 2 hours googling the closest spot outside of Florence’s city center that I could rent a car from, so that I can drive back to San Michele a Torri and load up a wine suitcase with Vigna della Luna, I decided I should at least attempt to email them and see if there was anyway I could in fact get this wine shipped to me again. You might think that I’m a little crazy, but I prefer to think I have excellent problem solving abilities. Plus, I could maybe pick up some more of that bruschetta mix! Sounds like efficiency to me.

What exactly is in this bottle that had me so enamored? Well, it turned out to be a little mystery. When I purchased this wine, I thought the lady who hosted us (I cannot remember her name) told me it was 100% Chardonnay and I had noticed while I was drinking it that the label actually listed a blend. I looked at the brochure and it said 100% Chardonnay. The website says its the blend.

Hmmm.

So, in my email to San Michele a Torri I also asked about the varietal composition of the wine. Not only did they respond quickly, they confirmed that the wine is the blend – 70% Chardonnay/25% Petit Blanc/5% Petit Manseng – to be exact. But, most importantly they said that the ordering issue was a website glitch and they would email me as soon as it was fixed.  The very next day, I was able to order more of this wine! Hallelujah!

Who would’ve thought that it would be a white Tuscan blend that made me weak in the knees? I literally thought about this wine for days after I drank it. That is so rare and beautiful.

Has it happened to you? Please share.