Touring Wineries in Tuscany

The roads in southern Tuscany are winding tight curves, up & down the mountains with no shoulder so a designated driver is strongly recommended if your main purpose is to drink. Wine alcohol runs in 14% range. We were there last week based near Pienza & there were lots of cyclists to watch out for everywhere. We enjoyed the tasting at Avignonesi near Cortona, the 10yr vin santo, sublime! The towns all have wine tasting stores as well. Hire a driver or join a small tour & enjoy yourselves!

My boyfriend and I just booked a food and wine tour of Montepulciano, Pienza, and Montalcino through Viator! We leave for Italy tomorrow and return in two weeks, I'll report back about th tour!

MsMaroonEsq, looking forward to your report.

A few years ago, two friends and I toured the area on our own; the designated driver was bummed completely. No one over-imbibed, but he didn't want to chance our safety. Take the tour!

You can do either, but beware that Italy's drinking and driving laws are pretty strict, so you should have a designated driver if you go on your own. If you rent a car and do it yourself, two wineries I like south of Montalcino are Le Potazzine - wwwlepotazzine.it and Ciacci Piccolominid'Aragona - www.ciacipiccolomini.com. I recommend reserving ahead for both.

That being said, I prefer to take tours. That way, I can drink to my hearts content and not stress about driving and/or getting lost! Last summer I did nice tour out of Florence in the Chianti region through Florencetown - http://www.florencetown.com/160-tuscany-wine-tour-chianti.html. I also did their pizza and gelato making class in Florence which I really enjoyed. Out of Siena, you might look at Robertos Tuscany Tours - www.toursbyroberto.com. He offers several group tours of the Crete Senesi and Chianti or you can hire him as a private guide.

hope that helps!

Thanks for the very helpful replies! And I'd say they make a very compelling case for taking tours. But even though that question is resolved, I'd still love to hear any other advice you have about touring wineries in Tuscany.

Driving in Tuscany's country roads is no different than driving in the same type of roads of California. I often drive through the Santa Cruz mountains, in the San Francisco peninsula between the bay and the ocean, and if it weren't for the signs in English I couldn't tell them apart from where I grew up in Tuscany.

But I don't know where you are from and what type of roads you are used to driving on, therefore I can't advise you.

If you do them yourself look into getting an appointment at Biondi Santi

If you decide to tour wineries on your own, be aware that, unlike the USA, not many are open for drop-in type tours and tastings. You may need to call ahead to make arrangements.

Last year, we took a Chianti wine tour operated by Walkabout Florence (Chianti Wine and Food Safari?). We actually booked through Viator...

This tour far exceeded our expectations. We're not really "escorted tour" people but this one was a clear exception. It was a small group tour and both the tour guide and the driver were wonderful.

We hit three wineries, including the lunch stop, and the town of Greve in Chianti. The wineries were wonderful and we tasted three wines at each stop. The tastings were also accompanied by local food specialties and hosted by wine experts. BTW - I've looked up some of the wines we tasted and all are considered premium. Principe Corsini and Ciniano were the two wineries, in addition to the agriturismo below, that we visited.

To be honest, I wasn't expecting much out of the lunch as I had read reviews of other tours that really criticized the lunch services. Some reviewers (of other escorted wine tours) even posted pictures on what appeared to be grocery store prepared food being served on disposable plates... Well, this tour's lunch couldn't have been more different. We stopped at La Cantinetta di Rignana and had a wonderful five course meal with four courses of wine - all served family style. The courses were almost cicchetti in nature with a variety of selections making up each course so everyone could sample each item. The agriturismo staff did a splendid job of explaining each item being served and how the wine paired with it.

This tour was the highlight of our Italy trip for sure. As you can see, I would not hesitate to recommend this tour.

We stayed there a few weeks ago and booked the Chianti tour " Tours by Roberto" and would do it in a heartbeat again. The other winery we visited alone https://avignonesi.it/en I was there in April and returned in August because that's how awesome it was. We had the luncheon and tour. Both choices are excellent in my opinion. Enjoy your trip