We have one full day and one night in Montalcino. If you could pick just one winery to visit and one restaurant for dinner, what would they be?

We love this one restaurant (and of course I cannot remember name, will have to locate it for you) located on Piazza Garibaldi. Irt is the only restaurant there. Our other favorit is around 20 minutes from Montalcino in Bagno Vignoni, called La Parata. The courtyard seating is so charming. The whole village is absolutely charming and it would be a great place to stop after spending day in Montalcino.

Trish, You will love Montalcino--where are you staying? South of town there are 2 places that can fill both needs. The Poggio Antico and Fattoria Barbi--take your pick. In town, the Trattoria Schiame is very good. Of course, the enoteca at the Fortezza is hard to beat for wine shopping. Good luck !

Stayed a week at Fattoria Barbi a few years ago. Good restaurant and interesting winery tour.

Thank you all for your replies. To Bob the Navigator, thanks to your advice, we are staying at II Giglio hotel. This is our first trip to Italy, we enjoy casual restaurants, great food and great wines. Your help is greatly appreciated.

I too am a lover of Montalcino. Be sure to go visit the enotecca Fortezza in the Fortezza Medici to taste a variety of Brunelli.<BR><BR>I am not a fan of Poggio antico, you can read my rant in Fodors Siena with Tuscany section. I do love La Chiusa for a blow out dinner, wonderful food. My Toscana suggestions posting has more details of our spectacular dinner there. We hope to enjoy our anniversary dinner there this October if my health permits a trip this year.<BR><BR>Be sure to go see Abbadia St Antimo just a few minutes out of town. Gregorian chants every evening. Check at the tourist office for times.<BR><BR>You are also close to Monte Oliveto as well. Great freschi by Il Sodoma and Signorelli.<BR><BR>As for a winery, Barbi si quite a nice winemaker. I believe Argiano is open for touring by appointment and it is one of my favorite Brunello proucers. <BR><BR>Do try and taste Costanti if you have never had their wines. Silky smooth style of Brunello.<BR>

Dean, thank you for your helpful information. We will be there the 17th and 18th of October. I hope that you will be there for your anniversary. What year will it be?

We had lunch at Castello Banfi - another very good producer of Brunello - 15 minutes south of Montalcino. It was Saturday, so a winery tour was not possible. Lunch was very good (a quiet elegant affair) and the 1997 Brunello had just been released (spectacular). Reservations a must. www.castellobanfi.com Make sure you pick up a bottle of their '97 Poggio Alle Mura - a 96 WS rating. Only 38 euro - released @ 70 in US. Good drinking in 10 years!

Trish, How did you find Il Giglio? It is one of my favs. Please report back on your experience there.

Oh yes--almost forgot. Try to get a copy of VANILLA BEANS & BRODO before you go. It was just released in the states and I am reading it now. It is about life in Montalcino.

Trish, I loved Il Giglio and Montalcino. The Food channel just did a segment on food and wine of Tuscany and featured Montalcino and the Brunello wines. Have a great time.

Our 14th anniversary is the end of October and we hope to be in the area from October 19 to 26.<BR><BR>I saw a recommendation for Castello Banfi quoting a high spectator score. I know that all opinions on wine are just that, opinions. But this score just points out my issue with the spectator. I feel that this wine is in the "International Style" that the spectator promotes and loves. It is a wine that, to me, does not have the heart and sould of Brunello. There are wines like it being made all over the world. A great Brunello should have some funk-- terroir. The taste of the place it is made. The Banfi, again in my opinion, lacks this. <BR><BR>I would recomemend Argiolas, Costatni, Le Torre Bianco, Chacchi as wines with more of the traditional taste of Brunello while maintaining high standards of modern winemaking.<BR><BR>This is a major reason I like to go to one or more enotecca instead of just visiting one winery. That way I can try more variety of styles. Try Drogheria Franci and Produtti Montalcino as two of my favorite wine shops in Montalcino.<BR>

I'd love to hear if anyone has eaten at Boccondivino (just outside of Montalcino) and what their experience was like. As well, has anyone eaten recently at La Chiusa (in Montefollonico)? I've come across some recent reports that it has lost some of its lustre.

As you point out Dean, wine tasting is an individual experience and Wine Spectator is just one resource. Banfi is American owned & the style perhaps reflects that. But, I still love it. For Brunello info see http://www.consorziobrunellodimontal...om/company.htm There is a map showing all Brunello estates, phone numbers etc. Also nice drinking are the Rossos from Montalcino - think of them as Brunello 'lite'.

Trish,<BR><BR>I was in Montalcino last Sept 11 (yes, that fateful day) and although it was under those circumstances, we fell in love with the city. We were all over Italy (Rome, Venice, Milan) and I decided on my next trip I am going to plant myself in Montalcino. My favorite restraunt was this one:<BR><BR>Taverna del Grappolo Blu<BR>Via Scale di Moglio, 1, Montalcino<BR>Tel. 0577 847150 / Fax. 846 400<BR>Closed Fridays<BR><BR>It was casual but the food was out of this world. In particular, my husband had the wild boar dish that I frowned at and then tasted and was amazed at how good it was.<BR><BR>We had the royal treament at Banfi because friends we traveled with were wine distributers (Banfi's customer) so we were treated to a 7 course lunch in the private dining room with a different wine pairing for each course including the '96 brunello. It was outstanding!! <BR><BR>Definitely buy as much wine as you can bring back to the US, it is roughly half price. Banfi's prices are lower at the vineyard than the enotecas in town.<BR><BR>Have a wonderful trip, and happy anniversary, ours in Oct 10th <BR>Nicole<BR><BR>

To Ian<BR><BR>I don't want this to devolve into a lengthy wine discussion, but I disagree with your popint about american ownership of Banfi having anything to do with my opinions of the brand. Most of my wine collection consists of American owned wineries. I love California wines to distraction while the wines of Italy would be my second love. I was buyer for a major wine oriented restaurant group for over 7 years and my lists were honored by the wine spectator both in their awards process and in an article about where they liked to drink wines in Los Angeles. So if anyone has a reason to like the Spectator I do. However, I find the spectator a dangerous force int he wine business along with Robert Parker. The reason is that they have distinct style of wine that they prefer to be grown no matter from where. Wines that are ripe and made with loads of oak win high accolades from the wine press today. When a wine gets a 95 plus score I can usually visualize what it will taste like before I ever taste it. <BR><BR>When I did wine buying for both the restaurant and for a major retail chain in Southern California, when a winemaker from Italy would visit, they would always comment that I must have spent a lot of time in Italy because the wines I bought had the characteristic fo the area they were grown in. I had not arrived at this preference by travelling but by tasting. I made sure to be open to all styles of wine and looked for the harmony between the wine and the food of a given region. <BR><BR>My issue with a Brunello from Banfi is the same as that with Sassicaia, Barbaresco from Gaja or a meal at Poggio Antico in Brunello. I don't know where I am from the character of the food and wine! That isn't to say that some of these wines can't be stunning, they are just another in a faceless crowd to me. The wine world is becomming homogonized and, in my opinion, bland from this international style of wine making. I am looking for earthiness, taste of place, in my wine. <BR><BR>As much as I love Brunello, I also love Sagrantino di Montefalco from Umbria. I would not want a wine from either of these regions to resemble each other, but to taste very different. Same with Barolo and Barbaresco or Chianti Classico. I am saddened to see the traditional flavors lost instead of modernized. I don't want a throwback to oxidized wines with off noses as Italy was famous for up until the late 70's. And Gaja was one of the first to bring on modern winemaking. But now, to me, his wines are just a brand, a house style with no taste of place left. Banfi too. Not bad, just not grounded in the heritage and tradition of where they come from!

To Ian<BR><BR>I don't want this to devolve into a lengthy wine discussion, but I disagree with your popint about american ownership of Banfi having anything to do with my opinions of the brand. Most of my wine collection consists of American owned wineries. I love California wines to distraction while the wines of Italy would be my second love. I was buyer for a major wine oriented restaurant group for over 7 years and my lists were honored by the wine spectator both in their awards process and in an article about where they liked to drink wines in Los Angeles. So if anyone has a reason to like the Spectator I do. However, I find the spectator a dangerous force int he wine business along with Robert Parker. The reason is that they have distinct style of wine that they prefer to be grown no matter from where. Wines that are ripe and made with loads of oak win high accolades from the wine press today. When a wine gets a 95 plus score I can usually visualize what it will taste like before I ever taste it. <BR><BR>When I did wine buying for both the restaurant and for a major retail chain in Southern California, when a winemaker from Italy would visit, they would always comment that I must have spent a lot of time in Italy because the wines I bought had the characteristic fo the area they were grown in. I had not arrived at this preference by travelling but by tasting. I made sure to be open to all styles of wine and looked for the harmony between the wine and the food of a given region. <BR><BR>My issue with a Brunello from Banfi is the same as that with Sassicaia, Barbaresco from Gaja or a meal at Poggio Antico in Brunello. I don't know where I am from the character of the food and wine! That isn't to say that some of these wines can't be stunning, they are just another in a faceless crowd to me. The wine world is becomming homogonized and, in my opinion, bland from this international style of wine making. I am looking for earthiness, taste of place, in my wine. <BR><BR>As much as I love Brunello, I also love Sagrantino di Montefalco from Umbria. I would not want a wine from either of these regions to resemble each other, but to taste very different. Same with Barolo and Barbaresco or Chianti Classico. I am saddened to see the traditional flavors lost instead of modernized. I don't want a throwback to oxidized wines with off noses as Italy was famous for up until the late 70's. And Gaja was one of the first to bring on modern winemaking. But now, to me, his wines are just a brand, a house style with no taste of place left. Banfi too. Not bad, just not grounded in the heritage and tradition of where they come from!<BR>

RATS! Bob the N beat me to it! I would also recommend Taverna dei Barbi and Poggio Antico. You might also enjoy lunch at La Cucina Di Edgardo and like the poster just above Montefalco is a wonderful little town but the only hotel I know is the Pambuffetti. We visited this area from Locanda delle Amorosa in Sinalunga. Locanda la Bandita is another choice in Sinalunga.

Trish, see restaurants/Tuscany Umbria thread below.

Thank you Bob, Dean, Nicole and Kam for all the great information.<BR>Bob, in answer to how I found out about II Giglio, I used information given by you in a previous post (thanks!).<BR>Dean it sounds like you know your wines. I live in Northern California and a lot of our weekends are spent in various wine areas - needless, to say we enjoy our wines. Maybe we will run into you in Montalcino.<BR>Wish we were staying longer so we could visit everyone's suggestions. We will be going on to Bevagna, Umbria....any suggestions?