Visiting Wineries in the Chianti Region of Tuscany, Italy
by Terry Sullivan
The Chianti region of Tuscany is a vast region of rolling hills set in the countryside of central Italy. Eight zones divide this region, each with a unique terrior. Wine Trail Traveler visited seven wineries in late October of 2007. Two of these wineries were in the Chianti Colii Senesi zone while the other wineries were in the Chianti Classico zone. Visiting wineries in Italy takes some preparation before you begin your travels.
It is best to make an appointment with the winery for a tour and tasting. Most of the wineries have set prices for tours and tastings ranging from a few euros to 25 euros per person at the wineries we visited. One of the differences we noticed in tasting in Italy compared to the United States was in the stemware. Five of the seven wineries used large stemware by either Schott, Bormioli, Spiegelau or Riedel. In the United States, we only encountered fine stemware at three wineries out of 130. Another difference you will encounter is the number of labels. The average number of labels we encountered at the Italian wineries was six. Many American wineries offer twenty and occasionally over thirty different wines. Most wine tastings offer three wines to taste in Italy, five or more at wineries in the United States. Often the amount of wine poured for a tasting is greater in Italy than at wineries in the United States. Tasting rooms are generally larger in many of the wineries we visited in the United States.
Locating the wineries in the Chianti region can be a challenge. Their address is often the name of a town rather than a street with a physical address. We added the GPS coordinates for the wineries we visited at the end of the articles. Using the coordinates and a GPS will make finding the wineries an enjoyable experience. Although there are superstrata (expressways) that you can travel, much of your traveling will be on country roads. The traffic on these country roads is minimal. We encountered more traffic on California Route 29 in late February in two days than we did on country roads in the Chianti region in two weeks. This afforded us the opportunity to view the beautiful countryside and negotiate the winding roads. The country roads are wider than the country roads in the United Kingdom, so you do not need to cringe each time you do encounter another automobile or bicycle.
When visiting the Tuscany area of central Italy, take time to visit some of its wineries. There are hundreds to choose from, and many are small production and not open to the public. Read the Wine Trail Traveler reviews of these wineries to begin your search.
