My wife and I will be renting a place just north of Siena for our 25th Anniversary in May. (We have a car). This is our first trip to Tuscany and with so many options in the Chianti or Val d'Orcia areas, I'm looking for recommendations for a wine tour and either lunch or dinner at the winery. Thank you.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23318 posts
The choices are endless. Don't brother with a tour. Many of the wineries have a restaurant associated with the winery so do some internet searching and you will be fine. We spent a week in Tuscany last May visiting two to three wineries a day and had lunch at each day. One winery we had a three course lunch with pairings for each course. I will dig out the name and post it later to this posting.
Posted by
OP
4 posts
Thanks Frank. We are not interested in hiring a service for a wine tour. Rather, we'd like to have a tour at the winery, then a meal.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23318 posts
Wine tasting in Tuscany is very different than wine tasting in NAPA valley. Almost all, at least the better ones, require an advance reservation and a fee. So you really need to plan your visits. The fee will generally include a guided tour - but not all - and a sampling at the end. Some of the smaller wineries will have road side booths/shops that is just a tasting for a fee. Those you just stop by. On two different occasions we were turned away from a winery because we did not have a reservation when there was absolutely on one there or a car in the parking lot. We were working off of a list of wineries that our son had taken from a publication listing the best wineries to visit in Tuscany. I believe it was a Wine Spectator issue from the spring of 2013. Gave a lot of info on each winery.
Posted by
OP
4 posts
alessandro,
In searching the web, there are so many choices. We are hoping for ideas from other travels of their favorite wineries to spend maybe a half day with a tour and a nice meal in Chianti region. We will not be needing lodging.
Thanks
Posted by
3 posts
In 2012, we visited the Avignonese winery just outside of Montepulciano for a tour and winetasting luncheon and it was marvelous. The meal is an experience we will never forget. We decided to include the optional vin santo in our tasting but ordered it just for one - it is plenty to share with a partner.
Posted by
Portland, OR
1091 posts
Check out Castello Banfi. It's spendy but supposed to be amazing. We are going there in September.
Posted by
lexington, il
4105 posts
These are two I would recommend.
http://www.verrazzano.com/en/ in Greve in Chianti
http://www.casaemma.com/contatti.aspx closer to Castellina in Chianti Lunch here
The SS222 is a nice drive in between.
Posted by
OP
4 posts
Thank you Gerri, Harris and April.
I'm putting these on my short list. Will probably do two separate day trips.
Has anyone got an opinion on Barone Ricasoli?
Thanks!
Posted by
atlanta, ga, United States
13 posts
Have been to Brolio Castle (Barone Ricasoli) several times. They offer a tour of the castle grounds, wine tastings in their cantina, as well as several more formal tours of the vineyards, Cellars and structured wine tastings. The cantina did not require any reservations in the past and offers tastings of their wines, and purchases. They also have an excellent restaurant. In the same general area, Castelnuova Bearardenga, Felsina Winery offers tastings and tours of the cellars by appt.