BillandJanette

There are 3 of us visiting Tuscany in late September - we are planning to take in the wine festival in Greve on Sept 12, 13 and then staying in Greve and using it as our base for a week or so of touring the region. I think we might stay in Montefioralle. Has anyone suggestions on wineries in the region or cooking schools? Has anyone taken in the wine festival in Greve?
Any input or advice would be appreciated.

Also, we will have a car and any suggestions for countryside trips and sights are welcome.

Bill & Janette

bobthenavigator

I find that part of Tuscany to be the most commercial and touristy---you may be 30 years too late. See the festival and then drive 1:30 or more south for the best of Tuccany in the Val d'Orcia. Have fun !

macanimals

Re: Wine festival in Greve. Was there last year and it is fine for what it is--lots of opportunities to taste from lots & lots of wineries. Personally, I found it all a bit sterile without actually going to the wineries and the booths are fairly swamped.
Re: Wineries in the area. Do research on Verranzano, Vignamaggio as both do tours and groups enjoy them. There are literally hundreds in the area that can be contacted and visited.
Re: Greve/Montefioralle as a base. I wouldn't do it for as long as a week if I intended to try to venture very far. Check your map--there is basically one road in from Florence in the north and one out, heading south. You will be retracing routes a lot. Montefioralle is at the end of a road up a mountain--isolated and pretty, but remote. Consider Bob's advice.
Re: Late September. It is harvest time in the vineyards and can be problematic in visiting wineries as they are very busy and do not have available staff for visitors. Great weather however for your trip. My advice is to call ahead and not just drop in.
BTW-Wine lovers revel in the offerings of Le Cantine in Greve.
Cin Cin! Paul

toscoman

Check www.greve-in-chianti.com for info on the area - Greve is actually very central for exploring central Tuscany and Montefioralle is a great place to stay - hardly any tourists at all. Roads run north to Florence and south to Siena, as described by the posters above, then there are a number of roads running west to Impruneta, to Badia a Passignano and points west. The road east runs to Figline and the entire Valdarno. From Panzano, 10 mins south, you can visit Lamole, Volpaia abd Badia a Coltibuono, as well as the castles area around Radda and Gaiole. I find the wine festival in Panzano, one week after the Greve festival, to have a better atmosphere - also food is available and sometimes music. You can have a cooking teacher come to your accommodation for your classes - check the Greve web site for Elisa Berghi. She's a very good cook and also a very good teacher in my experience! The whole area is jammed with wineries, large and small - there's even an outlet in Montefioralle open a few hours a week. To go off the beaten track a bit, spend a day touring the Alta Maremma www.altamaremma.org - that's Tuscany as it was 40 years ago.

BillandJanette

Thanks for the tips - they are really appreciated.

We want to visit Florence as well as Sienna - do you suggest taking the car into town or would you take a train to avoid the parking and driving problems?

ravel

did tour the veranzano winery. enjoyed it. also had lunch there. it was an enjoyable day and the drive there was breath taking. liked their balsamic vinegar more than i liked their red wine though.