Tuscan Wine Tours©

 

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The wine tours

1. Chianti Classico

2. Brunello di Montalcino

3. Nobile di Montepulciano

4. Chianti / San Gimignano

5. Bolgheri Etruscan Coast

Private tours

Joinable tours

Special tours

Booking

Uncorked

Visit Colle, crystal town

Bringing home the vino

Links & Tips

FAQ & Feedback

Winology


2009: Small mixed group tour (max 8 p) every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday
 

Q: Is the tour van non-smoking?
A:
Absolutely. Neither smoking or eating is accepted inside the van as not to bother other passengers
. Smokers may smoke when outdoors as in Italy there is a law that prohibits smoking in indoor public areas.

Q: Are the roads windy?
A: Ye
ah, a little. It's hard to avoid windy roads as one goes into the country side, even though they are in a very good condition. If you have an inclination of a sore stomach, it might be recommendable that you take a travel tablet or use sea-bands that can be bought under the same name in most pharmacies.

Q: Do the wineries accept credit cards for payment?
A:
Most do, however, if you don't want to be disappointed it's probably a good idea to bring some cash in Euros. Some wineries are too small to accept credit cards or sometimes phone lines are down
! Italy is still very much a cash country, but you will find ATM machines in every little town so all you need is a debit card and you should be able to get out around 250 Euro a day. Make sure to notify your credit card company when traveling abroad as they tend to block cards if not.

Q: Is there any specific dress code for a wine tour?
A:
Not really! Wear comfortable clothes and depending on the season it is recommendable to wear layers as it often is a bit cooler out in the country, and it can vary greatly from morning to day to evening. Comfortable shoes are also a good idea as there might be an opportunity to take a short hike through a vineyard.

Q: Which wine region should we tour? Can we do more than one in a day?
A:
First of all you should consider what kind of wines you like. If you like wines like medium bodied wines, Sangioveses as well as Cabernets, a good idea would be to tour the Chianti Classico region. If you are a Sangiovese fan and love more complex and elegant wines, you should
probably choose the Brunello region. If you like whites (and unfortunately there is very little white wine production in Tuscany) you should choose the Vernaccia region. If you're favorite wines come from Bordeaux but you find yourself in Italy, you might want to try to go to Bolgheri that follows in the footsteps of fantastic Bordeaux wines.
Bear in mind that it matters where you are staying in Tuscany when you choose a region. The regions are rather distant and not always connected by fast highways.
For this reason it is not advisable to try to go to two different regions in one day as most of the time would have to be spent commuting from one place to another. But, of course, the final word is yours...

Q: We will be staying in Rome. Can we do a Tuscan Wine Tour anyway?
A:
Well, unfortunately pick-up in Rome is not an option. But if you want to do a wine tour badly enough, it is definitely possible to take an early train up from Rome (it takes only an hour and a half) and start a private wine tour from the Florence train station and ending it there in the evening. Trains run to Rome from Florence until around 11 pm. If you are wanting to join a semi-private tour, you can still take the train up and then catch a cab to our meeting point.

Q: Your recommended tour options include visits to a few wineries - we would like to visit more than that. Would that be possible?
A:
No problem!! First of all you should choose a private wine tour. Let me know where you are staying, what you have in mind for the day, and I will get back to you with the different possibilities. Bare in mind that winery visits in Italy take a little time, so it will be possible to do 3 maybe 4 in a day - but hardly more than that. If your main goal is to purchase wines from specific wineries, let me know and we'll work on a customized itinerary just for you.
The suggested tours (e.g. the joinable tours) are "slow wine tours" meaning that there will be a fair amount of time visiting the different wineries and time for visits to towns and other monuments

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WINE INFO

The Endless Vineyard

Throughout history, Italians have cultivated the vine wherever they have settled. As the Romans colonized Europe, they introduced viticulture to much of the continent.
Today Italy resembles one endless vineyard. The vines stretch across a range of climates, from the slopes of the Alps in the north to the island of Sicily off the tip of the Italian boot, producing more than 300 different wines in 20 distinct regions.
It's no wonder that Italy produces more wine than any other country.

Classification Timeline

1700s Chianti zone mapped out
1800s Baron Ricasoli of Brolio determines Chianti blend
1963 Italian wine classification system introduced DOC denomination of origin modeled after French AC laws
1980 First DOCG level awarded to Brunello di Montalcino
1992 IGT added to comply with EU standards. On par with French vin de pays.
2009 DOP will be introduced as new denomination of all new wine regions

Contact Info

Enquiries & questions are more than welcome. I'll get back to you as soon as possible.
Email: info@tuscan-wine-tours.com
Phone: (+39) 333-7229716

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