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Drinking Wine in Tuscany

11/24/20 | Airbnb Experiences, Delicious Eats, Florence, Italy, Italy Roadtrip, Tuscany, Vineyard, wine

Tuscany Vineyards

Welcome back to another Italy travel post!  While we were in Florence at the beginning of October I wanted to make sure we at least spent some time in the wine region of Tuscany. I did quite a bit of research on the best tour to do because even though we had a car – driving and a day of wine tasting do not mix well.  While there were many tours on Viator and TripAdivsor with high ratings I opted for a more personal Airbnb experience called Tuscan Winemakers.   We met at the train station in Florence and headed into the Chianti hills just outside of Florence for an incredible day with three stops.  The first was a developer, the second was a castle, and the third was the hosts family’s 300 year old farm. 

As mentioned, the first stop was  Cantina Sociale Colli Fiorentini which process 8M kilos of grapes per year which are produced into wine via a variety of methods.   These are not just from just one or two vineyards thought, over the course of the year they produce wine from more than 850 vineyards.   I loved touring this bottling factory and learning a ton about how wine is actually made along with a ton of the facts like the average vineyard produces 75-100k bottles per year per year and that unless you produce more than 1M per year it does not financially make sense to have you own bottling plant.  Take a look at a few of the shots I was able to capture: 

Commercial Winery Equipment at Cantina Sociale Colli FiorentiniWine Equipment at Cantina Sociale Colli FiorentiniWinery Equipment at Cantina Sociale Colli FiorentiniWine Processing at Cantina Sociale Colli FiorentiniTravel Blogger at Cantina Sociale Colli FiorentiniCellar at Cantina Sociale Colli Fiorentini

After touring the bottling plant for more than two hours, and not tasting any wine, we were ready for the vino.  Our next stop was an 1,000 year old castle called Castello Sonnino which has a 500 year old wine cellar.  We learned about their bottling process and got to explore the depths of the castle and a few others on the tour wanted to head up into the castle to find see the Italian copy of the Versailles treaty that is stored in their vault. However, that was not allowed so we then heading to an outbuilding for the start of our tasting.  

We got to try a few of the vineyards top bottles many of which were Chianti which makes sense as we were in the Chianti region of  Tuscany.  While tasting and in-between glasses learned a ton about the Sangiovese grape, the basis of a Chianti.  I am very glad that during the tastings I took a few notes and also rated the wines on Vivino as we were going along as it makes it so much easier to recall my faovrites.  At this stop it was the super Tuscan Castello Sonnino Cantinino Sangiovese from 2015.

 

Wine Processing at Castello Sonnino Wine Tasting at Castello SonninoSign for Historic Wine Estate Castello SonninoWine and Starters at Castello Sonnino TastingGiant Wine Barrels at Castello SonninoWine Cellar of Castello Sonnino Vintage Bottles in the Cellar of Castello Sonnino

The third stop on our Tuscany wine tour was the real highlight – Fattoria Palaia, the 300 year old farm of the tour organizaer.  When we entered the tasting room not only was there a whole wall of wine but the table was beautifully laid out with all kinds of cheeses, salami, and bruschettas.  We enjoyed this while tasting our first few wines and then were awed by both the pasta course (homemade with butter and truffle) and well as the homemade lemon and ream tart.  , pasta and dessert.

Pasta with Butter and Truffle at Fattoria PalaiaTruffle Pasta at Fattoria PalaiaFood Spread at Fattoria Palaia FarmhousePasta with Butter and Truffle and Red Wine at Fattoria Palaia Lemon and Cream Tart Pasta at Fattoria Palaia

They shared that “the objective is to taste multiple wines, not to get drunk” but seeing as they picked us up at 9am and we did not get back until near 6pm you better believe we had a bit of a buzz.  All of this wine makes me wish I had pulled the trigger and bought one of the wine advent calendars! And if you get confused I found this map of the wine regions of Italy very helpful!

Would you want to go on a Tuscany wine tour? 

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Comments

  1. Margo says

    November 27, 2020 at 8:54 am

    Always looking for a new wine to try and you have great taste Kelly. I will have to pick up a few bottles and do a taste testing with my friends. Good Covid idea. Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving

  2. Tessa says

    November 25, 2020 at 12:06 pm

    The food looks better than the wine almost…what a fantastic day. Those cheeses, the pie, the pasta. Elegant dishes and crystal??? I have never been on a wine tour half as fancy.

    For sure I would love to that as soon as possible.

  3. Erin says

    November 25, 2020 at 10:19 am

    You got such awesome action shots.

    I can’t believe that they let you get that close to all the machinery and watching the grapes come right out of the truck, great timing Kelly.

    Looks like a place I need to visit and taste.

  4. Marsha says

    November 24, 2020 at 5:16 pm

    You must have loved being able to drink wine in a castle! Never heard of a vineyard tour at a castle but I am a fan.

    Will have to try to get there one day. What a treat for you, great wine and a castle in the same visit.

    Looks like a gorgeous spot!

  5. Alice says

    November 24, 2020 at 3:49 pm

    That is so interesting, I have never heard of a Sangiovese grape!

    Especially as I have been on a ton of wine tours and ones that even specialize in ice wine which I became a big fan of on one tour near Niagara falls.

  6. Christie says

    November 24, 2020 at 2:01 pm

    This looks like the best day, I would love to go wine tasting in Italy

Hi, I am Kelly and welcome to Sparkles and Shoes, a fashion, travel, and lifestyle blog founded in 2012.  After six years of living in London I am back in New York with my husband and two littles! 

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