wine tours or , do our own?

Hi Jeff - My husband and I went to the BEST wine tour in the Chianti Region just outside of the town Greve. It was called Castello di Verrazzano http://www.verrazzano.com/ . It was an absolute dream and the highlight of our entire trip to italy.

We just took the bus there from Florence on our own. But you can also drive there (unless you want to hire a driver in case you drink too much wine :-) ).

The grounds were just amazing. We did the Chianti Tour which was the lunch one. There were about 12 of us on the tour and it lasted an hour for the winery tour. Then you sat on this huge terrace overlooking the vineyards and tuscany for the tasting. You sampled 4 wines and after they poured they left the bottles for the tables to finish. For the meal there were some huge plates of bread drizzled with olive oil. Then each person got a huge plate of meats & cheeses (there was a vegetarian version available as well). Then at the end you sampled a dessert wine along with a balsamic vinaigrette.

My husband and I took our time and sat there for about 3 hours on our own (the other people were wine hopping so couldn't spend the time). So we got to sit there and finish the bottles and relax.

The people there were so friendly and honest. Our guide Simone was wonderful.

I would definitely recommend this place. If I get back to Italy I would definitely stop again.

Have a great trip!

We are just back from Italy and stayed six nights at an agriturisimo near Montelcino. It was a perfect place to stay--just great for visiting lots of hill towns. We took a wine tour at Banfi and I highly recommend this winery. It is necessary to book a day or so ahead as there were only twelve people on each tour. We just emailed them to request tour.

Jeff, I second Marla's recommendation of going to Castello di Verrazzano http://www.verrazzano.com/. We took the tour last November and thoroughly enjoyed it. We found the tour to be very interesting and the 4 course wine tasting lunch was incredible. I don't think you would regret spending part of the day here. We brought back wine and olive oil from there. Hope you will consider making this part of your trip. Susan, Raleigh, NC

thanks allot for the advice. I think we will try the tour you both suggested. Now, do you have any other advice for a 25th anniversary trip to Italy? I am hoping to make this trip one to remember. thanks, Jeff