My wife, I and some friends have reserved a house outside of Cortuna, IT in late August/early September 2010 for a week. I looking for help with some small wineries to explore. I have done Banfi before(nice, but too big), so looking for a more intimate setting. We do have a car and exploring the country side is something we want to do.
Any help is apprecitated.
Go visit Tenimenti D’Alessandro in nearby Manzano. The wines are terriific and and the people are wonderful. http://www.tenimentidalessandro.it/en/home.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Also, I suggest you dine at La Bandita, Ristorante di Walter Redaelli, in Bettolle/Sinalunga, also not far from Cortona.
Cheers,
Andrew
Lots of info here:
http://www.cortonaweb.net/vini/eng/cantine.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
perfect, thank you
Are there some cant miss small wineries in Montecino you can reccomend
Tenuta di Sesta - viticultori dal 1850 - Montalcino" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.pietroso.it/index.php?lingua=en" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Pietroso is ground zero for Montalcino. From our website:
"The late 15th century owners of this plot of land knew they had something special: a place where grapes ripened earlier and with richer flavors than the surrounding lands. But, at that time ALL grapes were harvested at the same time (and other activities like courts and other official business were suspended to leave labor for the harvest), on the day proclaimed by the Priors of the town. Until on the morning of the 30th of September 1469, when then proprietor Giacomo d’Agostino (whose vines were full of ripe fruit) was shocked to hear the town crier blow his horn and then announce that the harvest for black grapes would commence a full two weeks later on the Day of Saint Francis, Oct. the 14th. Knowing this would ruin him, he begged for and was granted “concesserunt licentiam vendemiandi quamdam eius vineam in loco silvestri dicto al Pietroso” – so he could harvest immediately the grapes that were ripe.
Fast forward five hundred vintages and we find Domenico Berni taking over the property and starting to estate bottle tiny quantities of the highest quality possible Brunello and Rosso di Montalcino. A quick skip to the present finds family member Gianni Pignatti at the helm but still on the same steady course."
Tell them that Roberto from WINE EXPO / Vitis Imports sent you…
I too will be visiting Cortona this June. If anyone has any more current experiences there I would appreciate any leads. 
Italian wines are not my strong suit in terms of knowledge, but I know the big ones like Banfi and Sassachia, looking for more boutique places to visit. Thanks in advance!!!
Well Stazione Montepulciano isn’t far away, so maybe Avignonesi for a possibility to taste one of the great wines of the world in their Vin Santo. Their Vino Nobile is also very good. If you want a small, mostly unknown, but good family producer at rather cheap prices, then I’d very much recommend Daviddi. When we visited they also had some back vintages available. Very hospitable too
The two places are maybe 5 mins drive apart.