Years ago, there was a cooking show with Lorenza de Medici from her estate Badia a Coltibuono near Gaiole in Chianti. I would love to go there but we need to be in Siena by late afternoon so it's a bit too far. Can anyone recommend a nice winery not too far off the main route to Siena (Via Raccordo Autostradale 6)? TIA.

Instead of taking the fast RA6 road I recommend a slower, but much more scenic route(the distance is only 30km more than via RA6) via Montepulciano which is very famous for its wines and you could also stop in the tiny, but World Heritage listed old town of Pienza.

https://goo.gl/maps/F19vWyYXDq9pZtuR8

For wine tasting you could stop at Cantina Salcheto near Montepulciano.

https://www.salcheto.it/en/

You can play around on maps.google.com, but as near as I can tell, the travel time for the detour on secondary roads to Montepulciano and/or Pienza versus the detour partly on the autostrada to Badia a Coltibuono isn't very different. Yes, the secondary roads to Montepulciano, Pienza and onward to Siena would be (generally) more scenic, but if you really have always wanted to visit the Medici estate at BaC, then you should go there. (It looks fabulous on the website BTW.) Just assume you won't be making stops until after the estate when you see how much time you have.

If you do decide to go to Montepulciano and/or Pienza, I would explore the towns a bit and go to a wine tasting room in town rather than a winery. (But I'm from California and have toured dozens of wineries, so I'd rather walk around an Italian town.) If you weren't aware, many Italian wineries require you make an appointment for a visit.

Hi Jean, sorry for not replying sooner. I liked your advice but I don't think we will do B.a.C. justice and I'd rather check out Pienza. I've already been to Montepulciano and Montalcino. We want to get to Siena no later than 3pm and we will be leaving L'Aquila as early as possible, like 7am, and hoping to stop for lunch in either Spoleto or Assisi, depending on our timing. I've "driven" on Google maps some of the roads out of L'Aquila and I think the secondary roads are the way to go. Someone recommended a tasting room somewhere which I will investigate, but I agree, walking around the town is better than a winery. I, too, am from NoCal (Novato) and have been to many a winery in my time (Napa, Sonoma, Healdsburg). BTW, I came across a great little site or blog which gives hints for places to park in some of the hill towns which is very handy to know:

We Promised Parking Hints?Here They Are | Umbria Bella | Life In Italy

Thanks again.