Tasting Rooms vs Wineries

We spent a week in and around Florence hitting the wineries. "Tasting rooms" are general little areas in town or nearer the roads but separate from the wineries. Generally they are walk-in, sample the wines but a bland experience other than the wine. The better wineries will require an advance reservation and a fee but generally that include a tour of the winery and perhaps a better selection of wines. Some will have restaurants associated with the winery and some will offer multi- course lunch/dinner with wine parings. Sometimes as many as five courses so go easy if driving. These parings are not cheap but terrific experiences. When we were wondering through Tuscany we were doing two or three a day. Two if we were doing lunch. But all were prearranged via the internet. In the Wine Spectator magazine one year they list the top wineries of the Tuscany area around Florence. That was our guide for selection. Worked well. I am sure you can find an equal reference for your area. We did have a car and that probably is necessary. That week was one of our best trips ever.

Honestly, the costs to ship back to the US and pay the duty may be prohibitive. You might do better by asking where in the states their product is sold and then purchasing from that retailer.

Duty is nothing. At most a couple of bucks if you go over the limit and customs is interested in collect the cash -- they are general not and just shake their heads and waved us through. If bring wine back you might want to take some special carriers with you.

Frank makes some excellent points. I suggest quality over quantity. Wine tastings are OK but it is really not the best way to experience and judge.

Most wines are not sipping wines, they are meant to be paired with certain dishes. Tasting them out of context isn't a good way to judge them, especially with the more robust reds. Make sure you do at least one proper tasting, where you have a meal with the wines paired with each dish. We toured Castillo di Verrazzano winery in Tuscany and did a lunch pairing. Lunch began at 12:30 and we didn't leave until 4:00, long after everyone else had left (we were staying there and knew the staff by then). It was heavenly!

Consider saving CT for another trip. It's a long way from Turin and Asti. One of the northern lakes like Maggiore is closer and would provide a great experience.

As for wineries in Piedmont, this may help.

In our experience private tours that our FOOD and WINE are the best way to experience wine in Italy. Enotecas are also a good way if they are offering tasting they usually have some bites. We just shipped wine back from Tuscany - to us it was not cost prohibitive to ships a case of wine that there is no way you'd find in the US.

Really appreciate all of the good input, thank you! Definitely like being told we need to eat every time... Such a great excuse... 🙂

We spent a week in Alba in the fall of 2019. We stayed at Tenuta Barac (https://www.barac.it/en/) and loved our stay there, as well as their wine. Additionally, we did a tasting at Bajaj (https://www.bajaj.it/en/wines-and-vineyards/), which we all agreed was one of our very favorite travel experiences ever. The owner/winemaker, Adriano, is so passionate, and the lunch included with our tasting was cooked by his very own mamma. You leave their winery feeling like part of the family.

When we were there in 2019, cost to ship a case home was 130 euros ($150). Two days ago, we shipped wine home from Valpolicella for 150 euros ($150) meaning the extra cost per bottle is $12.50. When you're buying quality wine that you literally cannot get in the US (maybe the same "type" but not from the same winery), the cost is not prohibitive, at least for us. If we're buying REALLY good wine, sometimes we request that the winery hold it until the weather cools down (we live in Florida) so the wine doesn't get too hot during shipping. Sometimes we don't worry about it. We've never had any wines arrive damaged or ruined, and we always love having drinkable souvenirs from our trip!

Also, if you visit multiple wineries, ask if they can consolidate your purchases so you can get the volume discount for shipping. Sometimes you don't have to purchase a full case from each winery; they may be able to aggregate six bottles from one place and six bottles from another to make a full case. It doesn't hurt to ask.

Have a great trip!

In Siena right now and through private tours visited 6 wineries in Montalcino over the course of 2 days. All charged around 100€ to ship a case. On place had a special going if you shipped a case the shipping was free. Seemed to be about 60-70€ to ship 6 bottles. Experienced some great wines!

Jed: We will be in Siena at the end of September. Can you tell us what wineries you visited?