An Osteria In Chianti

"Ultimo is Chianti." The truth of these words—and the century-long existence of Ultimo Gori—is the essence of Dario Castagno's fourth book. A native "Chiantigiano" himself, Castagno explores his land through Ultimo's epic life, which begins with his 1908 birth as the tenth child of ill-fated sharecroppers in Chianti Senese. When Dario initially meets Ultimo in 1983—after the then-septuagenarian tosses his Vespa into a tree as if it were a sack of wild mushrooms—it is by chance. But the 25-year friendship that followed was clearly meant to be, in the most profound of ways. Tales of pre-modern Tuscany, family tragedies, unrequited love, the ravages of war, and friends humble and noble alike—including Castagno's own bond with Gori—interlock. Ending with glimpses into a realm of magic, and the power of Ultimo's legacy, Castagno takes the reader on a riveting journey that—spiritually and historically—is Chianti.