Wineries In Montacino Region
 

Hi All,

My Fiance and I are spending 3 days of our honeymoon in Tuscany in the Montacino Region. We love Brunello Wines and thought wine tasting in this region was the right fit for us.
I was hoping I could get some suggestions of your favorite wineries in Montacino.
So far we are thinking of visiting:

Poggio Antico- We hear they offer a great very intimate wine tour where you get to climb a ladder to pier into the vat!

Banfi- We hear this is a HUGE winery and should only go for a tasting, but feel like we should start off at this winery.

Verrezano Winery

Any other MUST visit/ special wineries to taste Brunello?

Thanks!

Because you love Brunellos, if you have particular producers that you like, try to visit those places. Ask your hotel if they can arrange visits for you.

About 10 years ago, my husband did this, while I was on a horseback riding week in Tuscany. He gave the hotel a list of wineries he wanted to visit, and they were able to arrange visits to Biondi Santi, Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona and Casanova dei Neri. He liked all of the visits, they were very small groups. And since he's big into wine, he had great conversations with the people leading the tours. At least at that time, it was different than visiting wineries in the California wine country. For the well-known vineyards, you don't just wander in and there's someone waiting at a counter to pour you wine; you have to make an appointment.

We both visited Castello Banfi. It's a beautiful place, and the tour was nice (pretty much the usual), but it felt much more corporate. (And more like visiting wineries in Napa Valley.)

Verrazano is quite a ways north of Montalcino, near Greve and does not produce brunello. Agree with Poggio Antico, make a reservation. Banfi is primarily a destination visit frequently scheduled with a lunch, it also would require a reservation for a tour.
Right in Montalcino in the Fortezza is a fabulous tasting room with a complete array of producers which can be accompanied by their food. Last fall they had several bottles open from the 2010 vintage--an outstanding opportunity to compare producers.
Most of our winery visits have proven intimate and any effort on your part to contact one that interests you will likely be well received. Look up names of producers you like and make contact, it can be a great adventure.

We went to Poggio Antico and enjoyed it very much...beautiful vineyard and great wine. The tour was just like any other vineyard tour so I would recommend tastings only unless you really have an interest in how the wine is made and you haven't been on a tour before. And I didn't realize this before we went but you can also taste your way through the town as many of the stores offer tastings and of course all of the restaurants will have a variety of Brunellos to try with your lunch. If your goal is to sample Brunellos definitely spend at least one day just walking around the town and you will have many options. I don't think you can go wrong with any of the vineyards though!

Thank you all so much! Does anyone have a private driver that they can recommend to take us around to the wineries?
Thanks again,
Jordana

If you have visited wineries in Napa Valley, there are difference in processes.

Comparing similar sized wineries in Tuscany and U.S., I felt Italian wineries required more reservation than the U.S. counterpart.

This seemed to be two folds. Unless you both understand Italian, not all wineries can provide English visits. English guide might be available only on certain day and at certain hour. Individual visits can be trampled by another group or operational needs requiring their attention. While others might had nothing but smooth sailing, I had to reschedule visits on several occasions.

All this points that you don't always have control on which wineries you can visit. Have fall back plan if you suddenly get informed they cannot accommodate you.

Jordana,
This may help http://www.winetravelsforyou.com/typ...ello-wine-bus/