Tuscan region is known for both of its wine and food. Castello di Monterinaldi in Chianti was one of the wineries we chose to go for a lunch with wine tasting (advanced booking required). Unexpectedly, we were served the best pasta dish on the trip - it was home-made pasta with a simple yet delicious sauce. It had such an exquisite taste when paired with their wine. Outside of this wonderful experience, we generally found the pasta in Tuscany much less salty or saucy than the ones we were used to in New York. Occasionally the Tuscan pasta even tasted bland to us. Our acquaintance with heavier and saltier American-Italian cuisine must have biased our palate enough such that we could not appreciate the delicate flavors of home-made pasta in Italy! To be fair, the texture of the pasta in Italy was superior. We later learned how to make our own pasta in a cooking class at Fattoria Tregole, and finally understood what made the pasta texture superior in Italy.