Don't look for "my" wines on the shelves of local stores where you live. You won’t find them in expensive wine stores either. I collected the farms where I wouldn’t be ashamed to bring you bit by bit, spending years of trial and error on it. These are small wineries for which the whole family works. In such farms, each vine has its own pedigree and its own character. In such farms, the attitude towards the land is not consumerist, but caring and related. All this in its entirety gave rise to two trends in the way of treating Mother Earth, which began to be called biodynamic and organic.

Wine tasting of the Chianti Valley (Chianti Classico)

A day spent among the vineyards and castles of Chianti will reveal a world where history, nature and tradition are intertwined in a natural symbiosis.

For excursions, I choose family wineries that make exclusively organic wine. Production eliminates the use of chemical fertilizers.

The wines are produced in limited quantities and are completely unknown to the wider market. You will be able to taste and purchase these wines directly from the winery while enjoying the hilly beauty of the Chianti Valley.

For those who love the synthesis of history, art and excellent winemaking, my tours will be remembered by the estates that were once owned by Michelangelo, Machiavelli and the Savoy dynasty of the first royal family of united Italy. Michelangelo sent his wines to the table of the papal court for many years.

What does the tour I prepared include?:

Visit one or two wineries with a tasting of the wines produced, accompanied by a light snack, followed by a visit to the tiny hidden characteristic villages of the valley Chianti.
- If you wish, you can have lunch at one of the establishments where family cooking is done.
- If you visit one winery, you can see a beautiful town San Gimignano- medieval Manhattan, famous for its perfectly preserved towers. There you can buy souvenirs made by local craftsmen. There are enotecas in the city where you can buy excellent wines from local producers. As an alternative, as a “cultural program,” I suggest not neglecting to get to know Siena.

Wine tasting from the Brunello di Montalcino area

Brunello wine owes its birth to the Tuscan pharmacist Clement Santi. At that time, and it was the 19th century, it was called “red selection wine,” which Clement managed to obtain from the best clone of the San Giovese variety - BBS/11 (Brunello Biondi Santi, vine No. 11). Clement sought to obtain a wine capable of long-term storage, and he managed to lay the foundation for the history of a noble drink that made the village of Montalcino and the wine that began to be made there all over the world, starting in the sixties of the twentieth century. Bouquet of famous wine Brunello di Montalcino is a combination of the uniqueness of the territory and the traditions of winemaking. These are complex wines, the understanding of which comes only after certain oenological preparation.

My excursion includes:

A visit to one or two wineries that I have carefully selected, with a wine tasting followed by a light snack, followed by a visit to the village Montalcino or another village.
- If you wish, you can visit Banffy Castle and dine inside, or I can introduce you to the charming Abbey of Sant'Antimo.

Alternatively, we can spend the rest of the day in an atmosphere of discovering beauty Val d'Orcia valley, where I will become your guide in understanding the ideal, postcard beauty of the villages and small settlements of the territory.

Introduction to the world of Super Tuscan wines - the unique area of ​​Bolgheri

Who has not heard about Super Tuscan wines and dreamed for a moment of touching the fascinating world of winemaking in the Bolgheri area? In the soils of Bolgheri, consisting of coastal alluvial and volcanic rocks, the “newcomers” of Bordeaux varieties with wonderful taste qualities feel most comfortable, giving birth to such wines as Sassicaia, Ornelaya, Massetto, Solaia and other equally famous wines.

When choosing wineries to visit, I always rely on annual expert ratings.

My excursion includes:

Visit to one or two wineries with wine tasting accompanied by light refreshments, followed by a visit to the medieval Bolgheri village. Each visit to the winery has a total duration of up to 2.5 hours.

You can organize lunch in Bolgheri or Castagneto Carducci. This medieval village stands on a hill from which there is an amazing view of the orderly rows of vineyards. There you can buy souvenirs made by local craftsmen. There are enotecas in the town where you can buy excellent wines from local producers.

Depending on your wishes, wine tasting tours can be ordered individually or as a mini-group.

In the moment excursion booking you can choose what to visit first: wineries or attractions.

IN food and gastronomic tour By Tuscany. Tuscany is considered to be the most beautiful region of Italy: on a small piece of land, breathtaking hilly landscapes of vineyards and olive groves are concentrated among a huge number of medieval castles, where the winemaking and agricultural traditions of this region are still nurtured and preserved; medieval fortresses and cities that absorbed the spirit of various eras from the Etruscans, through the Renaissance to modern Italy; magnificent sea and mountain landscapes that will not yield to any other region of the country.

Tuscan wines and cuisine are known throughout the world for their traditions and unsurpassed quality. This wine and gastronomic tour of Tuscany created for wine lovers and for wine experts who would like to fully immerse themselves in Italian wine culture.During wine and gastronomic tour in Tuscany we will travel through the main wineries of Tuscany and visit 5 production zones: Carmignano, Chianti Classico, San Gimignano, Montalcino, Montepulciano, and also the unofficial capital of winemaking Florence and of course Siena. Each region of Italy, even each village, has its own peculiarities in cuisine and its own original dishes, and therefore the cuisine of Italy is very diverse.

1 day wine and gastronomic tour in Tuscany

22.25 Arrival to Florence

23.00Transfer from the airport to Carmignano

23.30Check-in at the hotel Economy Capezzana

Day 2 of a wine and gastronomic tour in Tuscany. Carmignano-Florence

Carmignano is a wine that has the reputation of a Tuscan star, was given special instructions by His Highness the Duke of Tuscany under the guardianship and patronage of the royal house in 1716 and allocated to one of the 4 official zones wine production in Tuscany, having received a kind of recognition from DOC at that time. This rare red wine, the product of a skillful combination of Sangiovese and Cabernet, has been DOCG since 1990.

In Carmignano, vineyards were cultivated in the pre-Romanesque era, about 3,000 years ago, as evidenced by vases and wine goblets found in Etruscan burials.

An ancient parchment from 804 was found in the archives of Florence, which is a contract for the rent of land and demonstrates that already 1200 years ago olives and vines were grown in Capezzana to produce oil and wine!

9:00 Breakfast

10.00-11.30 Inspection of the farm, excursion to the winery. Tasting of 5 Carmignano wines Vin Ruspo 2009, Barco Reale 2008, Villa di Capezzana 2006, Monna Nera 2007 and Ghiaie della Furba 2004, the third of which clearly represents the territory of Carmignano and is a historical wine of this estate, in the cellars of which bottles from 1925 are stored. It consists of 80% Sangiovese and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon.

12:00 - 12.30 Departure for Florence

12.45 -14.45 Lunch at a wonderful restaurant called Il Latini in the very center of Florence, which prepares exclusively Tuscan dishes. We will try local cuisine - peasant bread soup with beans and black cabbage, bistecca alla fiorentina or pappa al pomodoro (peasant bread and tomato soup) - with the amazing Castellare wine from Pozzoni (Castellina in Chianti)

Sightseeing tour of Florence- a city of the Renaissance. Florence is considered the birthplace of the modern Italian language, which was born precisely from the Florentine dialect, which Dante Alighieri elevated to the status of an official literary language when he wrote The Divine Comedy. Do you definitely want to visit the church, at the doors of which, according to legend, Dante first saw his Beatrice?

In the 15th century, the city, continuing to develop as a trading center, became the center of not only Italian, but also European culture. Many aristocratic families are fighting for supremacy in the city. Soon comes to the fore Medici banking family, which, starting with Cosimo, actually ruled the city until the mid-18th century. During their reign, Florence - the cradle of Renaissance ideas - gave the world masters who knew no equal - Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo.

If you want to see the workshop where Leonardo da Vinci painted his Gioconda, not wanting to give it to the customer, the husband of Gioconda herself; and also to see the original statue of David, which the young Michelangelo created in just 3 years from a huge block of white marble, which all other masters were afraid to tackle because of its weak structure, then you definitely need to visit Florence.

18.30 Departure from Florence to Vicchiomaggio Castle in Greve and Chianti

20:00 Dinner at the castle restaurant.

Day 3 of the Tuscany wine and gastronomic tour begins with a visit toCastle Vicchiomaggio in Greve in Chianti

Chianti- the world famous and beloved light red wine of the valley of the same name. It is located between the Arno River, south of Florence, and the Ombrone River, north of Siena. Vary several Chianti production areas, each of which has its own microclimate, and the wine, accordingly, has characteristic features: Chianti Classico (DOCG certified), Chianti Hills of Arezzo, Chianti Hills of Florence, Chianti Hills of Pisa, Chianti Hills of Siena, Chianti Montalbano, Chianti Rufina.

The noble Chianti wine was made from a mixture of white and red grapes: Sangiovese (most), Lanaiolo nero, Malvasia and Trebbiano. Currently, Chianti Classico is produced only from red grape varieties. both local and international. This red wine is not of a very high degree, dry, lively, ruby ​​in color. Chianti wine is dominated by aromas of violet and unabi. Baron Bettino Ricasoli(1808-1890) said that to obtain an excellent Chianti it was necessary to mix: 70% Sangiovese, from which the wine was supposed to get its color and body, 20% Lanaiolo for aroma and softness; 10% Trebbiano and Malvasia to maintain light acidity and add refinement to the taste. The current standard for a Chianti wine is to contain at least 80% Sangiovese and 20% other red grapes.

Chianti Classico goes well with Tuscan cuisine, but it can just as well go well with a lot of other dishes. In particular, grilled red meats pair well with medium-aged wines, while more complex meat dishes require more structured wines. Riserva level Chianti wines ideal in combination with game and aged cheeses. Chianti wine needs to be oxygenated before serving after being stored in the bottle for many months or even years, especially if we are talking about Riserva. To do this, the bottle of wine must be opened several hours before serving. If this is not possible, you can resort to the practice of decanting: by slowly pouring the wine into a decanter, it is quickly saturated with oxygen. Serving temperature 16-18 degrees. If it is higher, you risk suffocating the bouquet, and if it is too low, the acidity will be impaired. No less important is the choice of glass in order to To maximize the Chianti Classico bouquet, you need a tulip-shaped glass, narrowed towards the edge, smaller volume for young wines and larger for Riserva.

09.00 Breakfast

10.00 - 11.45Chianti wine tasting San Jacopo, Riserva Petri, Riserva La Prima, Ripa delle Mandorle and Ripa delle More and inspection farms of Vicchiomaggio Castle. The history of Vicchiomaggio Castle dates back to 1400. During its long and illustrious history, many famous figures have lived within its walls, such as Leonardo da Vinci and Francesco Redi.

Leonardo stayed at the castle during the period of painting his masterpiece “Mona Lisa” and even made sketches of the castle, which are still kept in his personal papers. Francesco Redi - academician of the della Crusca, scientist and poet at the Medici court - will write his most famous poem here - “Bacchus in Tuscany” in 1685.

12.00-14.30 Arrival at Castle of Verrazzano.

Tour of the historic cellars of the Verrazzano Castle and tasting of Chianti gastronomy and wines, including Super Tuscan, which are served as the courses change and go perfectly with each of them, and the famous Holy Wine, which, according to the Tuscan tradition, is served along with Cantucci sweets.

14.45 - 15.30Visit to the Wine Museum in Greve in Chianti

15.45 - 16.45Visit to Greve wine cellars, which give us the unique opportunity to taste a variety of Tuscan wines of your choice from the 140 offered by the enoteca!

17.15 -18.20 Visit to the enoteca Symposium in Chianti with oenologist Marco Mucciarelli in Castellina in Chianti, who will talk about the wines of Tuscany, their regional differences and allow you to immediately taste them. “Ambassador of Chianti wine and cuisine”, Marco is an original character who has dedicated his life to the enogastronomic heritage of the land in which he lives and works.

18.30 - 19.00 Visit to the Chianti Museum in Castellina in Chianti, where you can buy rare bottles of wine dating back to 1980.

20:00 – 23:00Dinner in Panzano in Chianti with the most famous butcher in Tuscany, Dario Cecchiini. Today during our wine and gastronomic tour of Tuscany we will definitely try the most famous meat dish - Florentine steak! A piece of beef should have a T-shaped bone, weigh at least 700 grams, be 4-5 centimeters high, cook on specially prepared coals for 5 minutes on one side and 5 minutes on the other, leaving the meat half-raw and very tender inside. When cooked correctly and taking into account the good quality of the meat, the steak, although called “rare”, actually does not release a drop of blood, retaining the tender juices inside the meat itself.

Day 4 wine and gastronomic tour in Tuscany

Vernaccia di San Gimignano (Vernaccia di San Gimignano)- The first wine to receive the status of Designation of Verified Origin D.O.C., known since 1200, is produced in the vineyards of San Gimignano from the vineyard of the same name with the possible addition of other white grapes (max 10%). It has a light yellow color, which becomes more golden as it ages, a refined and penetrating aroma, and a dry taste in harmony with a bitter aftertaste. Minimum degree 11°, aging for at least 14 months using traditional methods, in addition to aging in the bottle for 4 months, after which it will be possible to write “riserva” on the bottle. Suitable for fish dishes.

08.30 Breakfast

09.30 Departure from the castle and transfer to San Gimignano.

10.30 - 12.30 Tour of San Gimignano. This small noble town, declared by UNESCO as a place belonging to the cultural heritage of mankind, is famous throughout the world for its unique silhouette formed by the stone tower houses soaring into the sky, standing guard over the center of the habitat. The towers are the pride and glory of San Gimignano. They make it a historical miracle, a dream come true about the Guelphs and Ghibellines, about Dante, about the pious Sienese Frescanti. In the 14th century, they were built by a tiny city republic, built by local noble families. They still keep the old names, even now one of them is called the Salvucci Tower, and the other - after the irreconcilable enemies of this family, the Ardingelli Tower. There were once towers like these Florence And Sienna.

13.00 - 15.00 Visit Cuzon villas. Tasting of 4 wines paired with lunch of Tuscan cuisine.

18.00 – 20.00 We stay at Villa a Tolli in the Montalcino area. We will stay in the estate of the Matteucci family, who have always been united by a love of nature and who were able to return the villa to its medieval splendor. During our stay in this pearl of the Montalcino region, we will be able to enjoy 4 wines from its production and experience the reality of real wine production in full contact with nature.

20:00-21:35 Dinner at the farm restaurant.

5 day V food and gastronomic tour of Tuscany-includes visit Val d'Orcia and towns Montalcino, Pienza and Montepulciano

After the dull landscape of the island of Malta, where we languish with the desire to quickly board a plane and fly away, here – in Italy – our souls find the harmony and tranquility so necessary for creative people.
We can say that we are now in a cozy and familiar home.

There is an unknown number of days ahead for a leisurely holiday in the Italian countryside.
The number of days is unknown - because we do not have return tickets to Moscow.
Everything will happen according to mutual desire: if you want it, it will be given.

I remembered: the last time we were in Italy (in the spring of this year), we liked the Fashion District outlet in Mantova - there is an Absolut Joy store in it, and after looking at the map of Italy, I decided that the best option would be a one-way trip from Rome.

But plans were destined to change, and of course, no one wanted to return the cost of renting a car one way.
– and this too: you are responsible for your vacation with your own money.

My mistake, but it doesn’t spoil our mood at all, so by entering the outlet address into the GPS navigator Fashion District in Valmontone (near Rome), we leave the airport parking lot towards the Roman ring road.

It's early morning now. The weather is excellent: the sun is shining, not particularly hot.
Inside the car, Sophie Ellis-Bextor sings and Ikrinka and I rush along the long-familiar roads and junctions of Italy.
Having walked through the outlet and bought what we had in mind, we finally turn north from Rome - towards the hilly Tuscany.

But along the way, before reaching the borders of Tuscany and Lazio, we stop and spend the night at the agrotourism of my old friend, Matteo.
Agriturismo Nociquerceto- this place has apparently become familiar to members of the forum, for which Matteo (I will not hide this fact) rolls out a couple of bottles of wine for us upon arrival, and based on the result of our stay, he does not take any money, no matter how much I insist.
That’s what “recommendation from Vinsky” means, haha ​​(like a smiley face).
The smiley dots all the i's - I don't recommend ordering.

Objectively assessing the changes that have occurred over the several years since the first meeting with Matteo: I can say:

How does one sleep outside the city? Great!

The next day the horizon turns slightly gray, but we don’t attach any importance to it.
Today we are going to the heart of Tuscany: the triangle Montepulciano – Montalcino – Pienza.
For the sake of brevity, this birthplace of wine and olive oil can be described as follows: Valley d'Orcia.
There is no human anatomy in my heart allegory.

If this were the case, then to which organ should Chianti be identified?
To the liver? - The answer is not correct!
It’s simply the geographical center of Tuscany and one of the most famous places where wine lovers pilgrims from all over the world go.
I note that there are now a lot of pilgrims from China and it seems that their country has forgotten the leader Mao and switched to the cult of Italian wine.
I won’t say anything about the food - fortunately I wasn’t present at the dinner with my Chinese neighbors eating pasta with chopsticks...

But I got distracted, and meanwhile the horizon was covered with a gray haze and now the first drops of rain fell to the ground.

This was not enough yet!
We came to enjoy nature, the sun and the sky... and then the weather conditions drive us under the roof...
I made an observation for myself: light rain is not a hindrance, but when the drops become larger, death is possible:
– propellers cannot cope with cutting water flows from the sky

Agritourism – Italian countryside

We booked the following agritourism in advance, before the trip, for one night: Fattoria al Meleto
Having arrived and briefly looked at the house, we immediately booked an additional night.
This is truly a real Italian agriturismo:

• the estate with the factory for the production of Brunello di Montalcino wine is located in the middle of the vineyards of the Sangiovese variety from which it is made.
• a house built permanently from the times when the Italian land lord did not yet know what globalization and hiring Albanians to harvest were.
• your own restaurant for guests

I had seen enough wineries around the world that I declined the offer to go see the owners' production facilities and focused on the product being produced.
Although why only me? Ikrinka also tasted it.
The 2007 harvest of Fattoria al Meleto was good:

I passed out on the second glass: streams of rain cut the canvas of the surrounding landscape diagonally, the tart and heavy wine for me smoothly poured from the decanter into the glass from the glass inward, and its fatigue was transferred to me.
I collapsed on the canopy bed and slept for a couple of hours.

During this time, the rain stopped and simple village food from these (or near these) places appeared on the table under the arched arch of the meter-high walls:

• prosciutto, Umbian sausage and bruschetta for appetizer
• pasta with meat ragout
• gnocchi with gorgonzola (Lombardy, prepared according to my request)
• fried-steamed rabbit with artichokes (Lazio).

And the main thing that made me very happy:

• we were alone in this place
• we didn’t have to go anywhere - the food was prepared for us right here, in Fattoria al Meleto (I wouldn’t call it a restaurant, more like home cooking)
• the evening was quiet and slightly invigorating after the rain, but not cold

Thus ended the second day of our holiday in rural Italy

5 /5 (9 )

We have traveled to Tuscany more than once. The region is in great demand and loved by enotourists. Its popularity came thanks to its extraordinary landscapes, historically significant cities and villages, and, of course, the most famous Italian wines - Chianti and Brunello.

Every regular traveler to Tuscany must include wine tasting. They are offered at every step: in countless shops (enotecas) selling wine; in travel agencies organizing excursions to wine production; in hotels advertising their neighboring manufacturers.

The demand was so great that producers of all categories responded very quickly and began to develop the topic of tastings and visits to their farms by foreign tourists at a commercial level, offering different tasting packages, concluding agreements with travel agencies, and hiring special employees responsible for welcoming guests. They got into this rhythm so much that the soul disappeared, the energy exchange disappeared.

Therefore, for me, preparing for a tour to Tuscany is always the most intense, with a biased attitude. I select and show my group farms that an ordinary tourist cannot just visit. On farms I look for meetings with the owner himself, from whom you always learn something new. Our tour is about top wineries, about outstanding personalities, about little-known territories, about aged wines...

The trip in October 2014 became very bright.

On the way from Rome to Tuscany, we planned to visit the Orvieto area and the manufacturer Palazzone. We were greeted by Giovanni Dubini, owner and oenologist. His father bought a dilapidated manor of a certain noble family built in 1299 in the 60s. It took almost 30 years to reconstruct it, step by step. Now it is a premium hotel with 8 rooms with an excellent restaurant, run by the second brother. I would like to note that my “metropolitan” participants were very surprised at first that in the middle of “fields and forests” there could be such service and cuisine. Our photographer Semyon Kuzmin also highly appreciated the presentation of the dishes, and he has something to compare with)) The estate offers a stunning panorama of the city of Orvieto.

Many people associate Orvieto wine with mass-produced supermarket wine. And only a few small producers, despite the general reputation of the region, create deep mineral wines with great potential. We were amazed by the freshness of the palazzo's 1993 Terre Vineate.

Giovanni Dubini

The next day was devoted to a thorough study of the Chianti Classico area. After all, each village here has its own climatic characteristics. We have paid great attention to the farms located in Castelnuovo Berardenga. These are the southern borders of Chianti Classico near Siena. The Mediterranean influence is already felt in the climate, Sangiovese reaches full ripeness, so for many the percentage of Sangiovese in the wine increases, up to 90% and even 100%.

First we arrived at the Le Boncie farm. It is located directly opposite the famous San Felice wine estate. And its owner, Giovanna Morganti, a woman with an unusually kind, radiant smile, soft, dressed in simple work clothes, slowly led us to the vineyard, humming something very quietly, “to herself.”

Giovanna Morganti

Giovanna is an oenologist, and the daughter of an oenologist who has worked in San Felice all her life. For his daughter, he earned a small vineyard, only 5 hectares, where Giovanna cultivates the vines with extraordinary love, using ancient methods. Her Alberello molded vines require nearly 3 times the hours of vineyard work compared to standard trellis molded vines. Fermentation begins spontaneously and takes place in open wooden vats, the temperature is not controlled. Explaining temperature fluctuations during fermentation, Giovanna draws an analogy with the human body. She makes the pajamas herself, by hand, with a special wooden stick.

Giovanna Morganti

From the best grapes, Giovanna makes a wine called “Le Trame”. The label was drawn by a close friend of Giovanna's, describing the drawing as how she sees Giovanna.

After lunch in Siena, in the same village of Castelnuovo Berardenga, another Great Woman was waiting for us - Signora Coralia Pignatelli, a princess of Greek origin.

Coralia Pignatelli

Her 300-hectare Castell in Villa estate includes 50 hectares of vineyards, the same number of olive groves, forests for hunting wild animals and for truffle hunting. The princess herself lives in a 13th century tower, with a 360 degree view, like a real princess))

They bought the estate together with her husband, who was passionate about wine, but after his death in 1985, Signora Coralia took the whole process into her own hands. Her wines are aristocratic, elegant, with an inner core, like herself. She is very attentive to each of her guests, notices which particular wine they like best, and on this basis offers the next sample.

wine production in the estate cellar

Our next destination was the legendary farm Badia a Coltibuono. This is a former Abbey founded by Benedictine monks in 1051. After Napoleon occupied the territory of Tuscany, the monks were forced to leave the monastery. The buildings and lands were first sold through a lottery to one of the generals. But he soon became mired in debt and sold the estate in 1846 to Florentine banker Guido Giuntini, who became the founder of the modern Badia a Coltibuono winemaking dynasty. The former monastic cells have now been converted into B&B rooms, maintaining their ascetic appearance. We were greeted by Roberto Stucchi Prinetti, who together with his sister and brother now run the farm. Roberto is an oenologist. He showed us the historical cellars and conducted an interesting vertical tasting of the old vintages of Chiati Classico Riserva, including 1970, 1983 and 1990.

Roberto Stucchi Prinetti

former crypt under the abbey, converted into a cellar

The next day, in the morning, they were waiting for us at the family cheese farm Podere le Fornaci. Traditionally, Pecorino Toscano cheese is produced in Tuscany from sheep's milk.

assorted cheeses, from far right, clockwise, by age

But this is a completely different story. Marco is a former lighting director who worked with various theaters and traveled all over the world until he fell in love and started a family. And together with his family, he got goats, 150 in total, because his friend and partner was very fond of French “chevres”.

Biological production, free-grazing goats, in winter they themselves feed their newborn goats, so in winter there is a break in cheese production. These breaks are a difficult time for the family budget of Marco, who has three children, but a natural product is more important. In addition to distributing to restaurants, Marco goes to the local market every Saturday, where he sells less and exchanges products with other farmers more))

Near his house, we noticed a camper that had grown into the ground. It turned out that this is a house for “guests”, for everyone who wants to move away from their usual life, to “reset”, those who wish can come for any period of time (from a week) to work with him side by side at the “table and bed” . All you have to do is write him an email and agree on a period. It turns out there are enough of them. Mostly Americans are lawyers, barristers, and bank employees.

After tasting cheeses and eating homemade pasta, carefully prepared by Marco’s wife, we headed towards Florence, to the northern borders of Chianti Classico, to the Castello di Monsanto farm.

Castello di Monsanto

This majestic 260 hectare estate, of which 70 hectares are vineyards, belongs to the Bianchi family, who also have a successful textile business in Milan. They became one of the first producers to abandon the use of white varieties in their Chianti Classico. And they were the first in Chianti to write the name of their separate vineyard, Il Poggio, on the Riserva label. An indelible impression is made by the 250-meter-long cellar-tunnel for aging wines in barriques, dug by hand, which connects the new and old wineries.

tasting room

We had an unforgettable experience of comparative tasting of aged vintages of Chianti Classico Riserva Il Poggio 2009, 1999, 1977.

The next day came. We had already warmed up well in the previous days and were ready to meet the Outstanding Gianfranco Soldera. The harvest was completed 3 days before our visit. “It’s been a difficult year... that’s why it’s been interesting.” When all the winemakers they met earlier looked extremely worried, Signor Gianfranco, on the contrary, plans to make his best vintage - the 2014 vintage. The teacher, il Padrino (The Godfather) ... Such images emerged from the group after meeting Soldera. Yes, at first he sat us at a desk to talk... for just 45 minutes; only then look at the garden, vineyard, cellar.

Fountain in Gianfranco's garden

Gianfranco Soldera

Signor Gianfranco continues to make serious investments in scientific research. Now he is passionate about draining excess water from the vineyard. We wished him good health and the opportunity to drink his Brunello more often, because you quickly get used to good things))

Gianfranco Soldera

Last day. And we are on the Tuscan coast, in Maremma, in the best farm in the region, which the others looked up to, Fattoria le Pupille. Its owner, the energetic and beautiful Signora Elisabetta Geppetti, was on a business trip. And here we felt the human factor. The meeting was conducted by a young man who clearly is not into wine himself. “Step left, step right” in our questions put him in a stupor, and he went to check with “someone.” Unfortunately, without meeting a person who puts his soul into wine, all samples received an underestimate.

“Wine is an associative product, that’s all,” this group decided!)))

Text and tour organizer: Polina Gridasova

Photographer: Semyon Kuzmin