morrowd

I was debating whether to buy a wine guide that lists wineries locations and contact info. (We'll be in the Tuscany region). I would be setting up appointments with any we wanted to visit in advance but wanted to know if anyone reccommends a good guide to get me started?
Amazon listed about 6 but I wanted any opinions of guides anyone has used.
Thanks,

David

drbb

While in the Milan area last year my husband picked up the 2008 English version of the Gambero Rosso guide. Lists producers by region and town, gives background information on the winery and the wines produced and has ratings for recent releases. We didn't visit any wineries but used it to select wines at restaurants. It was so helpful that we bought the 2009 version to plan our Fall trip to the Piemonte. We'll take it along with us for sure since we'll be visiting wineries nonstop. Unfortunately it's not slim or lightweight, but it's worth lugging it around. For sale at Amazon.

ekscrunchy

For background reading, try the Joe Bastianich's/D. Lynch Vino Italiano.


http://www.amazon.com/Vino-Italiano-...7918447&sr=1-1

Lexma90

It really depends on what kind of book or guide you're looking for. Sounds like Gambero Rosso might be VERY detailed; Vino Italiano sounds good - I might buy a copy for my husband.

For previous trips to Tuscany, we used The Food and Wine Lover's Companion to Tuscany, by Carla Capalbo (I think we have an older edition, though). My husband, the very knowledgeable wine lover, used it to pick out vineyards he liked (based on already knowing their wines), based on proximity to where we were staying. Then I emailed our hotel a list, and asked them which they could get us into. We used a similar technique last year when visiting the Piemonte - we sent the B&B owner a list of places my husband wanted to visit, then the B&B owner suggested two producers that he knew personally, from the list we provided.

Before you buy anything, unless you want a good reference book on wines, you might check out the selection at your local library.

morrowd

Thank you all for the comments. Lexma90, the libray is one of my favorite places to check out but didn't have most of these.

While these seem some options for advanced reading, does anyone have any favorite pocket guides?
Would like a lightweight one of the vineyards to plan some of them last minute as well if possible.
Thanks

Lexma90

I don't know that there are any pocket guides to vineyards, but some of the more general guides to Tuscany or Italy may have listings and descriptions of some of the producers. If you felt like purchasing a larger book, like The Food and Wine Lover's Companion, you could photocopy the sections for the portions of Tuscany that you'd be visiting.

Keep in mind that, unlike Sonoma and Napa Valleys, most of these producers aren't generally open to the public, and generally aren't set up for hordes of casual tasters. The biggest, and the one that reminded me most of Napa, is Castello Banfi. You can visit their store/tasting area, and have tastings, but for a tour there, you need to reserve in advance. None of the others that I know of have walk-up tasting rooms - but all of the other producers that me or my husband visited are much smaller, higher-end producers.

That being said, there are also much smaller producers that you'll drive by, and there will be a sign by the side of the road inviting visitors in for tastings. We've done that, too, to buy a bottle of wine for a picnic lunch. It's more acceptable in Italy, however, if you're going to stop for a tasting, to purchase a bottle of wine, as these tastings are otherwise free.

morrowd

The last publish date of The Food and Wine Lover's Companion to Tuscany was 2002 so I guess they don't have a newer edition. Obviously if this was used recently it may still be valid.

Has anyone else used:
Gambero Rosso guides (previously suggested)
Vino Italiano: The Regional Wines of Italy (previously suggested)
The touring club wine guide (has ads in it?)
Any other good suggestions?

Thanks to all!