Montalicino Wineries to vist

My fiancé and I will be vacationing in Italy and France (nice, france) for our honeymoon from the end of april to early may. We will be staying 5 nights at Castello Di Velona, http://www.castellodivelona.it/ which is a winery/Spa resort. The hotel stay includes a winery tour and tasting which we will take fully advantage of but would like to spend some time tasting in the region as well. Any places we have to visit? It’s getting closer and closer so would like to start looking into booking some places if they require reservations. I will be renting a car and driving it from Florence to montalcino (has got me nervous as hell just thinking about it) so will be able to get around with I ease I imagine. thanks!

So far I have reached out to Argiano (no reply) about a week ago and just now emailed Casanova di Neri…

Brandon
Generally driving will be:

• Pleasing and unstressful in the countryside
• Stressful and confusing in the towns/cities

If driving to one of the latter, try to plot where you might want to park & your route to get there.

Petrol pumps are increasingly unmanned, and still come in a confusing variety, but quite common now is a single payment machine, where you pay what you want e.g. €5, €20 etc. and the pump you want to use, and once accepted, the pump will activate and you can dispense the petrol.

For wineries, I can’t advise anything in Montalcino, but in general places do mostly respond between 1day to 1 week from an email. If writing in English it might take a bit longer, especially if they aren’t confident in writing English. If worried, I’m sure I could cobble together a note in Italian (my Italian isn’t great at all, but has improved over the years). Most places require (and even if not, reward) reservations so you’re doing the right thing.

Montepulciano isn’t far away, and barring having to park and walk uphill, it is an attractive place. The wines are ‘bonier’ than Montalcino - better to my tastes, but the market seems to prefer the softer appeal of Montalcino. Plenty of ‘cellar doors’ though I still like to reserve as you get a lot of respect / attention for doing so (I think you’re seen as a serious enthusiast, rather than a casual tourist).

regards
Ian

+1 on Ian’s comments, including going to Montepulciano.

Most places in Montalcino require an appointment and even with an appointment, expect to pay ~10 Euros.

On our last trip we went to Uccelliera, Ciacci and Casanova di Neri. The first two are near the abbey, the latter just down the hill from the village of Montalcino. All were very nice visits but quite different. Ciacci is a bigger operation with a more developed tour/tasting progam, Casanova di Neri has a walk in tasting room but the tour is worthwhile - walking the grounds is very educational, and Uccelliera is a much more low-key and personal visit (though they were building out the space when I was there two years ago, so it might be more formalized now).

It may take a little while, but I’ve never not gotten a response to emails. At least the places I’ve been or tried to go have been very welcoming and appreciate your interest in their wines.

I’ll be going back this May. Now you’ve got me thinking about where to go this year.

Have a great trip.

thanks ian I really appreciate it. I will def take the time to communicate with the hotel employees and ask about parking so there’s no confusion when I plan to visit the wineries and visit Siena. I’m haven’t looked into montepulciano yet so I will investigate it further.

jeff, thank you as well. I have booked a tour at Casanova di Neri, they got back to me right away with a list of what tours and tastings they provide. I heard back from Poggio di Sotto as well and have booked a tour there as well. I think I will try to email Ciacci or Uccelliera since I believe they are in the same village as Casanova correct?

Anyways looking very forward to this trip. thanks again and enjoy yours as well when you head back in may!

Brandon
I wish I could recall the place we had lunch in not far from the Campo in Siena. Normally I want to get a long way from a major tourist attraction to find quality/value, but this was maybe a minute’s walk away, yet good food and a great selection of artisan beers that went well with the food.

What I remember well is the farmer’s market in Piazza del Mercato on Fridays. Small (~ 20 stalls) but of the very highest quality, from great bread to stunning Porchetta. IMO worth aiming to make that day the day you visit, but check with the tourist office. Wednesdays is the day of the huge sprawling market in Fortezza Medicea – stadio communale area. More lively, less quality. Vast number of stalls.

For parking I find Google maps very useful as a default, but local advice can often point you towards a large/safe/cheap or free parking area that’s easy to reach, so ask in the hotel when there.

One final thought on the wineries. Sometimes a small, relatively unknown place can prove to be a real gem. Daviddi in Montepulciano (actually Montepulciano Stazione - as often in Tuscany - miles from the town!) was one such semi blind appointment. I’d looked for somewhere in walking distance of Poliziano and they were close by, had a quick look at their website and they seemed professional enough. However they were more than that being a small family winery, making very good wines at very cheap prices. A very warm welcome and the mother insisted on dropping us off in the car to Poliziano because it was raining. Such wineries may not feel like the peak of quality/prestige, but can offer exceptional value and more importantly a wonderful boost for the soul. There are as many of these places as there are famous names.

regards
Ian

p.s. Crociani are also well worth popping into in Montepulciano. Very good Montepulciano normale/riserva and a decent vin Santo

Ok you’ve convinced me to visit montepulciano again! I did a family vacation about 7 or 8 years ago to Italy. My dad had us wine taste for a day and one of our stops was Poliziano. I remember the staff being extremely friendly and enjoyed the wines although I knew nothing about wine, other than it got you drunk! We visited another smaller little winery that day called Contucci in the piazza grande! It was an awesome experience. It would be awesome to visit again, I think we’ll def take a day out to do this but just walk around the main piazzas looking for signs that mention wine tasting rather than making any reservations. I love the idea of discovering a gem!

and thanks for the notes on Siena. Unfortunately we made an appointment to visit Casanova di neri on the Friday we are visiting so I will investigate what other days would be ideal to visit siena.

So far our schedule is to fly into Florence and spend 2 first nights there… then drive to Montalcino and stay at the resort for 5 nights(Thursday - Tuesday)… then drive back up to Florence to stay the night… following day train to Nice, France and stay there for 5 nights… then its a train ride to Milan for the night… and flying home the following day

haven’t even looked to see what wine options there are from Nice, France… maybe Provence? Bandol? well see

Hi Brandon
Contucci are certainly a very interesting producer. Traditional, yet with a business model that focuses on direct contact with customers. This might ordinarily translate into a tourist-led winery of middle-low standard, yet they have a reputation that suggests they are middle-top standard, and that they handle the volume of visitors with some skill. Definitely easy to cellar door hop in Montepulciano.

For Nice, don’t discount a hop over the border to the small town of Dolceacqua (nr Ventimiglia) for their Rossese di Dolceacqua wine. Small production but slowly building a reputation. Also nearby is the Hanbury Gardens, just over a km over the border into Italy, that might have a wider appeal to the families. If you want something unusual, there is also the ‘Wonder Train’ from Ventimiglia to Cuneo, which apparently has stunning views as it winds through the mountains. Cuneo is an understated/underrated town but has fine food and a compact centro storico which is especially pleasant for aperitivi.

Sorry no advice on Florence, after all my trips to Italy, I’ve yet to visit the classic trio of Rome, Venice or Florence!

Hi Brandon,

Was just in Tuscany touring at the end of October/beg November. I visited a few places all around Montalcino.

I’m so happy to hear you’re staying at Castello di Vellona…looked amazing.

You will enjoy Casanova di Neri. I visited there as well and love their wines.

My recommendations:

Stella di Campaltohttp://stelladicampalto.com/en/ She is an amazing woman. I have had her wines long before visiting her. Her winery is literally around the corner from you. There is a little road JUST before Castello di Vellona, unmarked, on the right if you are coming from Montalcino. It is a stone road, very steep grade that winds for about 10 minutes. The views from the tasting room are stunning. Her wines are great. She got back to me within a couple days.

Le Ragnaie http://www.leragnaie.com/ Just so happened James Suckling just named their Vigne Vecchie as one of his “top 5 2010 brunello di Montalcino.” Beautiful property, nice people, great wines. They also get back to you relatively quickly.

Le Potazzine http://www.lepotazzine.it/ Also get back to you right away. I bought and shipped a case home at reasonable prices. Amazing expression of Sangiovese.

Two others I have not visited YET but have had their 2010’s at a recent tasting:

Le Chiuse and Le Macioche…these two are on my short list for my return trip in June. Ridiculously delicious wines.

Restaurants:

In the town of Montalcino, right near the big fort there is Drogheria Franci. One of the best meals I had the whole trip. Braised rabbit…yum!! But then I didn’t have a bad meal the entire trip either.

Also in Montalcino, Le Potazzine owns a restaurant there right near the clock tower. Also great food.

Enjoy!!!

thanks again Ian! You have to eventually visit Florence, I actually preferred it over Rome last time I backpacked Europe! I thought Florence was amazing and cant wait to spend a few days there again!

Maria, thank you so much for those recommendations. I will email Stella di campalto. I’m looking at google earth and just noticed its right next door to Poggio di Sotto in Castelnuovo dell’abate, so maybe we can visit both that day!

And thanks for the restaurant rec, I think we’ll plan to visit the town of Montalcino the day we visit Casanova di neri since the winery is right outside the city walls. Noticed Drogheria Franci has a facebook page with what looks like a pasta dish with bacon on it on the homepage. If we can find it when we visit the town, i’ll pull up their facebook page and point at that image to signal that’s what I want!

so this is what I’m thinking so far
21st - fly into Florence in early afternoon
22nd - day in florence
23rd - drive from Florence to Castello di Velona ( looks like a 2 hour drive)
24th - Montalcino city Visit / Casanova di Neri tasting
25th - hotel lounge day - velona winery tour
26th - maybe drive up to montelpulciano or siena, stuck on this one, both 1 hour drive or just stay at the resort and visit a nearby village that’s much closer in the afternoon…
27th - winery visit day - poggio di santo tasting / stella di campalto tasting? sort of a resort lounge day as well since these two wineries are 2-4 miles away from the resort
28th - drive back to Florence to stay for the night
29th - train to Nice, France
Fly home may 5th

Hi Brandon
For the 26th, I’m always a fan of slipping something low-key in such as a local village / easy day. It’s often been rewarding for us.
On the 27th, I’m wondering whether there are any walking options. The weather may be great for walking and if the routes are good (Barolo/Barbaresco regions spoil us, as all the vineyards are open to walk through). What better way to work up enthusiasm for a tasting, than walking through the very same vineyards to get there. Maybe get the hotel to make you up a picnic to eat en-route?

Although there is a bit of location changing in your schedule, it does have a nicely sensible view of what can be achieved easily in a day. All too often people are aiming for 4-5 winery visits a day, plus a big lunch.

regards
Ian

Hi Brandon,

Stella is not next door to anything. LOL Let me tell you google earth, google maps…I made the mistake on relying on their directions only ONCE. Get directions from locals, written on napkins…LOL seriously! Distances are deceiving. A few miles apart can mean much longer than a few minutes drive because of the winding, mountainous roads.

Driving to Siena is a challenge…and I stayed there!!! I never found the same way in or out of the city. haha But you have a navigator with you. I did not. I was alone. It always took twice as long to get somewhere than I was told. I anticipated this and allowed for it…you should too!

It will be a great adventure! That’s how I looked at it and cannot wait to do it again!

Enjoy!! Can’t wait to hear all about it.

Ian, I’m thinking we are going to try and organize some bikes for the 27th… Looks like were a 2 mile bike ride away from poggio di sotto. I guess we will spend the day biking there and check out anything nearby / town… and ya I am trying to avoid moving around too much that’s why im thinking about giving up on montepulciano or siena. I’d like to be able to relax at the resort a fair amount of time. Now if this were a trip in California, we’d be crashing 4-6 wineries a day! Ha

maria, I am going to have the hotel verify all these things! They have been very helpful and answering our emails within 7-9 hours. They’ve been extremely helpful! I will take your advice and make sure I know where the hell I am going! I had a dream the other night I was driving us thru Tuscany following my gps and managed to drive us down the wrong ally down a flight of stairs wrecking the rental! Ha

and thanks again you guys for all the advice! It has got me more and more excited for this trip!

Hi Brandon
Even better having the bikes - though better it’s Montalcino than Montepulciano as the hill up to Montepulciano would be a fitting finish for the toughest ‘puncheurs’ in cycling and not an ideal place to return to after a day in the saddle.

Out of the cities you’ll be fine driving, as the roads are very good in rural Tuscany and it’s easy to ease over and let anyone in a hurry go past. Plenty of notice on directions too (though I do like to consult a map beforehand to get a feel for the place names en-route). Florence, Siena and other cities are more of a challenge especially if you have to get closer than just the 1st decent car park. When driving back to Florence I’d definitely prep the route you want to take via googlemaps or viamichelin.

regards
Ian

Brandon,

Very wise not to schedule too much on a honeymoon. I wish you many wonderful years together in which you’ll have ample opportunity to return to Tuscany and other great destinations.

While personally I would pick Montepulciano over Siena, that comes from experience, and most people would disagree. As Maria notes, driving to and in Siena can be a challenge. There are big parking lots around the center city, but they can be a son of a bitch to find without a good GPS. It is worth it when you get there, though.

That many days in Nice may get a little challenging that time of year. Hopefully it will be warm enough during the day for sunbathing/relaxing, but it can be cool sometimes, particularly in the evening. There are a couple of good museums (it’s worth trekking up to the Matisse and Chagall museums), but Nice is general is kind of boring (and you’ll be too early to go star watching in Cannes). If you’re willing to drive, it will take you about 1 1/2 to 2 hours to get to the Bandol area. Le Castellet is a cute little historic town and close by you can walk in without appointment to Domaines Ott, Tempier, Le Bastide Blanche, Pibarnon and many others. Terrebrun is a bit out of the way but well worth a visit.

Depending on your budget, I strongly recommending driving to Menton (a small beach town on the Italian border about 1/2 hour from Nice) for lunch or dinner at Mirazur. An amazing restaurant, one of the best meals I’ve ever had (#11 on Pellegrino’s Top 50). I’ll be back in late May.

Brandon
Castello di Velona is really beautiful and now they have a spa with hot water springs which should be pretty nice.
Some restaurants recs for you:
You are about a 30 minutes drive from SIlene in Pescina. It’s a very good place and if you get a driver it’s worth it
In Montalcino: Giglio, Osticcio (especially for a light meal and good wine selection)
In S.Angelo in COlle both Il Pozzo and Il Leccio are really good solid traditional restaurants.
In Florence it really depends on what kind of food and setting you’d like as there are plenty of options. I Highly recommend going to Pitti GOla wine bar as they have a very cool selection especially of older chiantis, you can eat there or just go for the wine

We ate at Il Pozzo and Il Leccio a few years ago on Riccardo’s recommendation and they were both good. All of Riccardo’s recommendations are very good (Roscioli, anyone?) and I would go wherever he recommends.

In my opinion, Florence has become intolerably busy, noisy, and dirty. Formerly, my wife’s and my favorite city in Italy (we’ve been dozens of times since our first visit in 1975), we won’t go back except for maybe a day trip. I’d stay somewhere near Greve as a base and take day trips to Florence, Siena, and elsewhere in Chianti/Tuscany.

Mark
Is this a case of just too many tourists?

I have my own prejudices here in that I hate what mass tourism brings to Italy (though other countries also suffer). It is the reason I’ve not been to Rome, Venice & Florence (it’s not that I won’t necessarily go to them in the future, but if I do it will arguably more carefully planned than other locations, to seek out those parts not blighted by mass tourism, or to carefully time my visit to a famous site).

Pisa gives a very striking example, of needing to avoid the overpriced, dirty, tacky areas from the two stations to the field of miracles. Instead walk 5-10 minutes to the city proper and you’ll find a pleasing city that has (perhaps surprisingly) not been blighted by tourism. Good food, well priced and plenty to please the eye. We had better food (also cheaper) in Pisa than Siena. Yet millions of tourists see Pisa as a tacky overpriced dump (except for the field of miracles). They give it half a day in their whirlwind itineraries and that is why the city is such a contradiction - an appalling reflection of mass tourism and an under the radar gem.

Similar to what you’ve seen in Florence, some friends joined us on holiday just over a year ago to Verona. Whilst not dirty, they did lament the sheer volume of tourists and the detrimental effect that had on quality of food / range of shops (shocking amount of high-end jewellers & watch shops etc) / overall experience. When we got to Trento they felt the place more closely resembled the Verona they remembered than Verona itself. We’re going back to Trento / Trentino this autumn having been so impressed with it. The seasonal mushrooms were a factor as well!

regards
Ian

thanks for the kind words jeff, appreciate it! And ya I’ve been looking at the train schedules to see if maybe a day to Bandol would be worth it. I believe its under two hours, might be worth it to get away for a day and visit Domaine Tempier!

Riccardo, I’m going to listen to Mark to try to make it to those restaurants! Thank you for the recommendations! We will def stop for a few glasses of wine at Pitti Gola, looks awesome!!!