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Favorite Wineries/Restaurants in Tuscany?

Posted by on

Hi!

I'm going in October with 9 friends (we're all 40ish) for a week in Impruneta in Tuscany. We've got our days pretty figured out (Florence for two days, winery tour day, hang at the villa day, Sienna/SanG day, Lucca day), but I thought I'd stop by and ask for some specific recommendations:

1-Wineries or wine tours (because we are 10 people, some tour groups can't take us). We're looking at a few different ones, but I'd love some rec's from this group.

2-Restaurants. We all enjoy really good food. Most of us are pretty good cooks ourselves, so we enjoy and appreciate a really well-prepared meal. While we are definitely into wandering away from tourist attractions, I thought I'd ask if anyone had a particularly memorable meal at a restaurant in any of those locales?

Thanks!

Posted by
1765 posts

A pretty good restaurant - not cheap, mind you - is Battibecco, a couple of kms. out of Impruneta going straight from the back of the main church direction Greve, in the middle of the forest. Is the sort of place where Florentine families go on Xmas day or for family reunions.

Posted by
2124 posts

Don't know if they still do it, but in October 2010 we visited the Montagliari Winery in Greve-in-Chianti as part of a private winery tour/cooking class. It was wonderful. Cooked, drank, then sat and shot the bull for a couple hours with the doors wide open and the afternoon Tuscan breeze wafting in.

Posted by
2215 posts

I have a suggestion that depends on transportation. Do you have cars or are you depending on public transportation?

If you can get there, you can combine a winery tour and a food and wine tasting at Castillo di Verrazzano, which is a few minutes north of Greve on SR222.

It's a lovely winery housed in a castle, part of which dates back to the 12th century. The winery tour lasts a little more than an hour. We elected to follow it by their food and wine pairing. You start with Prosecco and an appetizer, then you taste the Chianti Classico, Chianti Classico Reserva and their Super Tuscan. Each wine is served with a wonderful course, including their own wild boar salami, a pasta dish and a meat dish. You also get to sample their extraordinary balsamic vinegar. You finish with Vin Santo and biscotti.

This was the only meal we ate that day. We chose to linger and take our time and we were welcomed to do so. The meal started at 12:30 and we finished at 3:30, so it's easy to make a day of it. You could then scoot down and explore Greve before heading back to Impruneta.

I suggest you contact them for arrangements for a party your size. If you are using public transportation (the bus), I'm sure they could also help arrange to get you from the bus stop in Greve to the winery.

Posted by
8051 posts

Wineries for lunch is a great idea, but requires advance booking and usually advance payment. Antinori is huge and ready for big groups, but was our least favorite lunch and tasting. We just ate small plate dinners.

Best lunch,with huge wine samples and unusual tour, was Aviognesi, but not near your proposed area. Nearer Siena was Poggio Antico, affiliated but not their own restaurant, very good.

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