Wineries in Tuscany

[artnbarb]

My daughter found some great GroupOn deal, so they are coming to Italy and we'd like to gtg. They're staying SE of Florence, at Villa Il Palagio, Via il Palagio, 59, 50067 Rignano sull'Arno FI. I'd post a map but I've tried and failed too many times before!

Anyway, we're staying near Deruta, and they'd like to do some wine tasting, so I'd love any ideas you might have about midpoint for us to meet. It's just over an hour and half drive from our house to their hotel, so I'm guessing someplace in Chianti might work. Any suggestions?

 

[Ian Sutton]

Hi Art n Barb
The one that jumps out is very close indeed to you in Deruta - Lungarotti in Torgiano, about 8 mins by car. They are a very good producer, albeit in a region where they've had to lead the way for quite a while, so no resting on the region's name. Always worth making an appointment and it may be essential (Tuscany is quite the exception in having many manned cellar doors / tasting room shops, the norm elsewhere is for visits by appointment). Don't let them be put off by this - email the winery, telling them which days would be convenient for your daughter and ask if it's possible to organise a visit.

Cortona might make a good mid-point, but despite lots of vineyards, many of these are contracted to chianti / Montepulciano producers, so not too many cellar doors. There are some though, plus a regional enoteca in the town.

Montepulciano is also worth considering. No appointments necessary to cruise the tasting rooms in this attractive hilltop town, with Crociani a recommendation, but plenty to taste at, but also visit the barrel rooms housing enormous historic 'botti' barrels containing many 1000s of litres of wine. If wanting to avoid the town, Daviddi in Stazione Montepulciano are a strong recommendation of a family operation producing very good wines unnoticed by the critics. More well known are Poliziano directly opposite, who do charge for the tasting, but take the option of tasting/tour/food and it is a good experience. The only downside is it's the only place in Italy where they attempted to pressure us to buy - I was utterly taken aback as nothing like it had ever occurred in Italy before. Hopefully a one-off. Nearby Avignonesi are brilliant and well worth arrranging an appointment, and if they offer a taste of their vin santo, then snatch their hand off. One of the most memorable wines I'd tasted, and horrifically I believe the price is fair (about €150-200 a half bottle). Their vino nobile is a lot cheaper, but very good. I'd assume appointments required for out of town places.

Hope this helps

Ian

 

[Diva]

ciao- ok so they are staying off the A1 highway-- so use that as your point of departure. are you looking to meet half-way somewhere? not really clear.
You have the whole montepulciano/montalcino area-- and pienza! rather than one winery- i enjoy the fortezza at montalcino for a lovely tasting-- they can arrange it for you and it is so nice there. then hit sant'antimo.

 

[artnbarb]

Thank you all for the suggestions. Yes, we have so many wineries here in Umbria (Lungarotti wouldn't be my first choice), but our hope was to meet somewhere in the middle, or for us to drive a bit further, just to make it easier on them.

We know and love the people at Crociani in Montepulciano, but I hesitate to ask them to navigate there! We always try to park in the same spot but always get lost and end up parking in different places. It's not a problem for us but I'm afraid my daughter may find it too challenging. She's not the best traveler, from my experiences with her!

Both my daughter and her friend are vegans, so Pienza will hold little appeal for them, unfortunately. Montalcino might be the easiest solution - easy to find, great wine guaranteed but it's a good 1 1/2 hours drive for them, so that's not ideal.

I will continue to research!

 

[Ian Sutton]

In terms of ease with a car, then I'd definitely recommend the Poliziano / Daviddi comparison. Chalk and cheese wineries. Parking at the door in both cases and navigation should be easy.

 

[artnbarb]

Montepulciano is also worth considering. No appointments necessary to cruise the tasting rooms in this attractive hilltop town, with Crociani a recommendation......

........More well known are Poliziano directly opposite, who do charge for the tasting, but take the option of tasting/tour/food and it is a good experience. The only downside is it's the only place in Italy where they attempted to pressure us to buy - I was utterly taken aback as nothing like it had ever occurred in Italy before. Hopefully a one-off.

Ian

We know Crociani well, stopped by there today! As for Poliziano, we had one of their wines today at lunch, so we stopped by the winery on our way home. No pressure, sampled 3 different wines with no charge, and no pressure.

 

[Ian Sutton]

We know Crociani well, stopped by there today! As for Poliziano, we had one of their wines today at lunch, so we stopped by the winery on our way home. No pressure, sampled 3 different wines with no charge, and no pressure.

Really glad to hear that on both counts. Oddly the wine that impressed me most at Poliziano wasn't a Vino Nobile, but rather their Mandrosa di Lohsa (and normally I'm more a fan of traditional local wines/varieties, but this was the exception to prove the rule!)