Wineries in Tuscany

Hi Amy,

I just saw your post. There are couple of wineries/enotecas listed in the RS Tuscany guide. Also check out Karen Brown's World of Travel (www.karenbrown.com). Click on Italy and then scroll down to "A list of attractions for Italy." Wineries are listed as food & drink. There's a bunch of them.

Also I read in another post that as you're driving through the countryside look for signs that say: Cantina & Vendita Diretta (Direct Sales).

We leave in just under 2 weeks and are spending 3 nights in Pomarance. So I've been looking for the low down on the Vino too!

Have fun.

Amy:

Two of our favorites are:

Volpaia - the entire ancient village IS the winery. Arrange for the tour ahead of time. It is a terrific experience and their wines are excellent.

Panzanello - sits on a magnificent hillside just outside of Panzano about 30km from Siena. Andrea is a wonderful winemaker and host. I guarantee that you'll have a positive experience. Plus the village of Panzano has a couple of great restaurants and Italy's best enoteca (Enoteca Baldi).

Remember, Italian wineries are not like ours - most do not allow the casual drop in for tasting. Look up their websites and make arrangements ahead of time - then you'll be treated as special guests.

Have fun.

Just back from Tuscany. We stayed in Montalcino & Montepulciano & Orvieto. We live near Napa Valley & have sipped our way through France but Italy is a little more work. You can go on line to www.consorziobrunellodimontalcino.it to download the map and extensive list. The map is also available at the TI in Montalcino but as most require appointments you need to set them up in advance. That also caused us some complications as we were always trying to get to our appointments. Some charge alot & others are free. Last year Wine Spectator Magazine published a great issue on Montalcino. The next challenge is actually driving to them. We had a rental car and even the well known were often on gravel roads. Signage is hard because if you do find the sign it may be showing the backdoor, so to speak, to the winery which is a longer road. Barbi does a nice tour at set times without appointments and is free but you will have to drive on a dirt road at the end (total drive about 10 minutes outside the Montalcino gate).It's very charming and historical. Banfi (we didn't go to) is a little further out (but I think on a paved road) and is considered one of the more commercial wineries for tourism. They have set times but you still need appointments and they charge around $12. We loved Altesino but were a little stressed as we took the back door drive which meant more gravel road. They charge 12 euros for a nice private tour with lovely wines and grounds. We were amazed that these world famous wineries are very rustic and small versus California's. They are very restricted on acreage and if they increase the size of the facilities it goes against the vines. In Montelpulciano on Corso towards the bottom there is a wine cellar in old Etruscan caves with nice tastes at the end. Sorry the names all blur.