My wife and I are planning to take a trip to Italy this fall and I’d like to do some tastings in Barolo and Chianti. Any recommendations on a good driver/guide who could do the winery arrangements? Thanks in advance for your help!
Friends of mine highly recommend Sandro Minella (s.minella@gmail.com) in Piedmont. You can mention my name if you like.
Thank you–much appreciated!
For Tuscany, you should reach out to Donatella at Wine Tours in Tuscany. She is amazing. Has lots of connections with small, family run wineries in Chianti and Montalcino. You can pass my name along if you end up contacting her. I have sent several people her way over the years.
Great–thanks!
In Piedmont, you might consider Amanda Courtney: https://www.amandaswineadventures.com/ I met her at Brezza in Barolo three years ago, where she hosted me. She was a somm on LA but has lived in Piedmont for eight years and is married to the assistant winemaker at La Spinetta in Barbaresco.
We had a very long talk and she was very plugged into the local gossip and is very knowledgeable about wines. She was delightful to chat with and she bridges the traditional (Brezza) and modern (La Spinetta) wine worlds. I’m sure she’d be a great guide. From her website, I gather her husband is also involved in the tour business.
I used these guys in Florence for one day, https://www.tuscan-wine-tours.com/, visited one winery each in Chianti and Chianti Classico and had lunch with the mad butcher of Panzano Dario Cecchini. I went during the off season so there were limited wineries open for tastings.
I did one other day self guided, rented a car and visited Badia a Passignano for the Antinori tasting.