Favorite wineries near Montalcino & Montepulciano?
 

We'll be in Tuscany near the end of September and would love to visit a few wineries near Montalcino and Montepulciano. My husband has a passion for wine, recently discovering Brunello's and Vino Nobile. Can anyone recommend wineries where we can at least taste if not tour (not interested in the bigger ones with gift shops, etc), and the wine is top notch?

Thanks!

Castello Banfi is near Montalcino. They have a winemakers lunch and tour that you can reserve.

We are in the same posistion as you are - we are looking to mostly taste, not do a major tour of a property as we are aware of how wine is made etc...We will be visiting the 2nd & 3rd week of October so hopefully harvest will be finishing up.

Banfi is fairly large so we are planning to avoid them. Plus the lunch pairing they do includes Sav. Blanc and other wines we are not interested in - when in Brunello we only want Brunello!

We are so far looking at the following places for Brunello - we will call when we are there and/or have our hotel help us to do arrange just a tasting:

Canalicchio Ph: +39 0577 849277
Poggio Antico Ph: +39 0577 835616
Caprili Ph: +39 0577 848566
Casanova di Neri Ph: +39 0577 834455

One of the larger ones we would like to visit is:
Ciacci Piccolomini d'Aragona Ph: +39 0577 835616

Check out
http://www.consorziobrunellodimontalcino.it

Most people recomend the Enotocas to do tastings - and we will go that route as well...and let us know what you find when you return as we are going in mid October!

Avignonesi is one of the most repected names in the Montepulciano region..you can arrange a private tour and tasting here. It is not in the least bit commercial.
www.avignonesi.it

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There are several Enotocas in Montepulciano, especially after you first enter the gates at the North end of town. At the South end of town, up the hill on Via del Poliziano, 15, Crociani has excellent wines, and they are a few euro cheaper than down in the town. If you decide to head up there, stop by the copper shop on the way up on the right hand side. It's all hand made stiff and everything is a unique piece. ((b))

Stop in at the tourist info office in Montalcino - they will give you a map with about 183 wineries within 10km on it. Then, we asked around (cafes, etc) for some good local recommendations. we visited: Barbi, Petrioso, LaGerla, crocedimezzo, Banfi(very Napa-like and upscale). the TI will not recommend any. We went to the local age old cafe and tasted some wine in the back, then asked the founder's son about good small wineries. he was an invaluable resource. most will not ship to an individual but the cafe in Montalcino can. Its a bit spendy - $165/case to ship but given that the wine is so good, its well worth it

This is going to be extremely vague, but perhaps you can find it. As you enter the north gates of Montepulciano and walk along the main road, there is a small cafe with a white awning on the left (west) side of the road. In the back they have a variety of wines. I think it is the oldest enoteca in the city. We got an awesome bottle of Brunello (which we were able to try first) & the people were extremely friendly & helpful in selecting the wine.

I think one way to approach the area is: if you've seen the label in the US, its probably mass produced and you may want to avoid it. However, some of the biggies (banfi in particular) do have some reserve wines that they don't export. We were able to buy some of that to bring home...two bottles/person are allowed thru customs.

I already mentioned Avignonesi in an earlier post. Let me add that the most interesting about visiting their Le Cappezzine winery was the building where the vin santo is made...for anyone with a passion for wine, I would think this would be a highlight..to see the grapes shriveled and drying on their bamboo racks. Avignonesi wines are very very highly rated in the US publications, if that means anything to you. It takes about 20 minutes to drive there from Montepulciano and you can book lunch as well as a tour.

We thought Fattoria dei Barbi was absolutely spectacular - the tour, the extensive tasting (Rosso, Brunello, olive oil, grappa - all from their farms), location, setting, lunch at the Taverna (reservations needed). And not a gift shop in site! Although their products were for sale. And, since your husbsnd's become a fan of Brunello, he might be interested in the museum devoted to the history of Montalcino and Brunello that's on the property. It's at the top of the hill past the Taverna.

We liked our visit to the Altesino winery. It was a beautiful day out, and we took our wine glasses and wine outside to a bench to do our tastings. We were the only ones there at the time, and sitting on our bench, we had a lovely view to Montalcino. They also make Olive Oil, which I'm sad to say, I've used all up...

We, too, toured Barbi - and thoroughly enjoyed the day. That said, on our second trip, I didn't need to learn how the wine is made. We really, really loved Enoteca Osteria Osticcio in Montalcino for tasting. The gal that helped us knew her stuff! We ended up purchasing a case of Brunello's and having it sent home - arrived intact. (www.osticcio.com)

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