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Winery visit from Florence or around Tuscany

My friend and I would like to visit one or two wineries on an upcoming trip to
Florence and Tuscany. We're considering a couple of options and would appreciate some feedback/advice/recommendations.

First possibility) Use a day or half -day our time in Florence to do an organized small -group tour to one or two "boutique " wineries for tastings of wine and olive oil, tour their facilities and learn a bit.

Two) While in Florence, organize a trip on our own (possibly using public transit) to a larger winery fairly close by. I gather that some of them do tours of their facilities along with tastings.

Three) Wait until the week we are driving around the Tuscan countryside to visit one or more wineries. Not sure though whether these are typically open to drop in visitors or if we need to make reservations. If so, we'd love some recommendations

Thanks!

Posted by
5503 posts

Look at Tours by Roberto (Roberto Becchi) for tours of Tuscany that include wine tasting. He actually owns a winery, too. There is a short film on Amazon that Roberto partnered with another guy to produce. "Tuscany beyond Expectations. Visually stunning and a great introduction to Tuscany.

Posted by
495 posts

If option three is your choice, I suggest to check the website of the winery. Someones are more concentrated on production and selling, so not ready for drop in visitors. Maybe they have a shop, but you could find only a seller, not a real wine expert or somebody to show you the production area and process.
In general now (due to Covid) even wineries where you could do a visit without a booking, prefer to know if a visitor is arriving. Is even possible that you arrive in a moment when there are other visitors so you must wait a long time before been attended.

A second tip is to don't discard wine shops (enoteche) for wine tasting. Sometimes taste different producers at the same time is a very nice way to understand how different could became a wine from the same grape.

Third tip: be careful to do wine tasting and drive! ;-)

Posted by
2097 posts

All the options you mention are viable, it's just a matter of your choice and how much time you want to spend. The second option would be a little harder to accomplish and would take more planning. There is bus service out of Florence to Tuscan towns near wineries, but the trick will be to get from the in town bus stop to the winery itself.

We actually did option 3, but with a twist. We used Castillo di Verrazzano as our base for our week in Tuscany. It is an agriturismo, so we rented a room there.

They offer a tour of the winery and a food and wine tasting at lunch. We devoted a down day to the experience. The tour began at 11:00 and we sat down for the food and wine tasting at 12:30. To really appreciate wine, you need to pair it with the correct food. We started with prosecco with an appetizer, then went to their Chianti Classico, Chianti Reserva, their Super Tuscan and finished up with Vin Santo and biscotti. We also sampled their olive oil and amazing balsamic vinegar. We finished at 3:30, though we took our time since we had no other plans. We then went to our room and rested, going into nearby Greve later in the evening to check out the Christmas fair (we were there in December).

I encourage you to do a food and wine tasting, if possible. As mentioned, it is hard to judge a wine without pairing it with a food dish.

Posted by
1206 posts

If you go with Option 3, and are driving yourselves around Tuscany, be aware that Italy has a strict drink-drive limit of 0.5mg of blood alcohol. This means that you cannot drink more than one glass of wine without risking going over the limit.

Posted by
11052 posts

In Tuscany, we followed little signs to wineries down dirt roads. No reservations and little English spoken, good experiences every time. Shipped wines home.

Posted by
77 posts

If you are looking for breathtaking views from this hilltop winery, a great tour, a delicious lunch al terrazzo, and a lot of wine and olive oil served at lunch, and good cheer - - I recommend the Verazzano Winery in Greve. It's about a 45 minute drive from Florence. The tour before lunch is 5 stars.