Another Italy Thread! (Seeking Advice in Chianti)

I’ve read just about every Italy post I could on WB and it’s been a great help, so thanks to everyone who’s previously asked and answered!

My wife and I are heading to Italy in September, spending:

  • 2 Nights in Florence - Booked at Enoteca Pitti Gola e Cantina. On our radar is Ristorante Parione, Le Volpi e l’Uva, Osteria Cinghiale Bianco, Il Santo Bevitore, La Cova, Coquinarius, Osteria dell’Enoteca, La Ménagère
  • 3 Nights in Chianti Info Below (Unfortunately we don’t think there’s time to fit in Montalcino this trip, but we’ll be back)
  • 1 Night outside of Modena at Casa Maria Luigia - Booked at Francescana
  • 3 Nights in Bologna - On our radar is Ristorante Da Cesari, Sfoglia Rina, Trattoria da Me, MozzaBella, Sette Tavoli, Ristorante Biagi, Enoteca Italiana, I Conoscenti, Camera con Vista Bistrot, Mò Mortadella Lab
  • 4 Nights in Praiano on the Amalfi Coast - On our radar is Cialì Bistrot, Ristorante Le Tre Sorelle, Casa e Bottega, Il Ritrovo, Franco’s Bar, La Sponda, Il Pirata Ristorante, Melchiò
  • 2 Nights in Rome - Booked at Roscioli. On our radar is Rimessa, Piccolo Buco, Sotto Sopra, Enoteca Ferrara, Achilli, Argot, Pesceria Barberini

Any suggestions are much appreciated!

I’m specifically looking for help with our stint in Chianti. Our draft itinerary is full of some of the more major Chianti producers. One reason for this is ease of planning (hard to find solid recommendations for smaller outfits), but also because we enjoy all of their Chianti Classicos/Riservas, and it will be nice to taste some of their higher dollar wines and still be able to purchase them (due to wide distribution) after we come home if something we haven’t tasted tickles our fancy.

Anything we should skip? Anything we can’t miss? Currently Tenuta di Carleone is the only smaller outfit we’re visiting so it would be great to get a suggestion or two for a more under the radar producer. Also feel free to critique the lunch/dinner choices.

CHIANTI DRAFT ITINERARY:

Sunday:

  • Before Lunch
    • Antinori (Drop-in) - An easy place to hit on the drive out of Florence
  • Lunch
    • Casa Emma (Reservation) - Have heard only good things about their lunch/tasting combo and convenient heading from Antinori to our hotel
  • After Lunch
    • Locanda le Piazze Hotel (Reservation) - Our Hotel for the next 3 nights. No tastings as we decided to take it easy after leaving Florence and spending the afternoon at Casa Emma
  • Dinner
    • Tavola di Guido (Reservation) - Taking advantage of the hotel’s restaurant on the first evening since it looks worthwhile

Monday:

  • Before Lunch
    • Tenuta di Carleone (Reservation) - Still finalizing a tasting with them, but very excited to try the wines from this smaller, buzzy winery
  • Lunch
    • Osteria Di Fonterutoli (Reservation) - Maybe a little touristy, but conveinent to tasting some wine at Marchesi Mazzei afterwards
  • After Lunch
    • Marchesi Mazzei (Drop-In) - Mainly walking over after lunch to taste a glass of Siepi (hoping to conclude that it’s unnecessary for me to ever buy a bottle)
    • Castellare di Castellina (Reservation) - Doing a full tour and tasting here, but mostly to try some Niccolò and Poggio ai Merli (again, hoping to decide they’re not worth the bottle price)
  • Dinner
    • Officina della Bistecca (Reservation) - Afraid this will be a bit of a tourist trap with how famous Dario is, but it looks enjoyable nonetheless

Tuesday:

  • Before Lunch
    • Castello Di Bossi (Drop-in) - Headed down south on Tuesday to Berardenga
  • Lunch
    • Osteria alla Villa (Reservation) - Looks like a tasty lunch from a smaller operation
  • After Lunch
    • Felsina (Drop-in) - Have always liked Rancia and Fontalloro and really looking to try their Vin Santo
  • Dinner
    • Albergaccio di Castellina (Reservation) - Have seen it mentioned on WB, very close to our hotel, and looks delicious

Typing all of this made my mouth water… I think it’s time for dinner.

+1 on Il Ritrovo.

1 Like

It’s Italy. It runs on its own time. Make sure you schedule some time to just enjoy where you are. It’s pretty special.

1 Like

I have comments on a few in your list. I hope they are helpful!

In Florence, Enoteca Pitti Gola e Cantina is a can’t miss. Awesome, awesome. I would consider going to Florence, out of my way, just to get back here. I had a 1970 Volpaia Chianti riserva there by the GLASS a few years ago. Wow. Osteria Chinghiale Bianco is good, nice atmosphere. There may be more interesting spots foodwise but it is a solid osteria. I love Oltrarno in general as a place to wander and enjoy, so you should definitely make it to that side of town.

In Rome, we did not have a great experience at Enoteca Ferrara. Looked great online, execution in terms of food not great when we went. Service fine, wine fine, but we would’ve done better somewhere else. I really like Retrobottega for a more modern experience, with a great wine program too. If all is well, we will be in Rome in August, so I’ll report back here.

Roscioli is great, see Katie Parla’s recs on how to best experience it, they are on her blog site.

1 Like

Yeah that seems like a lot of traveling and scheduling and not enough time to smell the roses-not our style . Different strokes for different folks.

2 Likes

A few random thoughts:

Le Volpi e L’Uva is our favorite place in Firenze and I can’t recommend it enough. In my opinion the best Bistecca is at Buca Lapi, but book ahead.

Yes Cecchini’s place is touristy, but you have to go. It’s a classic.

One of our favorite producers in Chianti is Capannelle, in Gaiole. See if you can contact them and set up a tasting with Emanuele. Great stuff. It’s also a really great place to stay at!

2 Likes

You will have more fun with less stops. Are you traveling to the towns in that order?

I’d cut out either the northernmost (bologna, Modena) or the southernmost.

Bologna is a fine city and fun. But not worth the extra travel given your focus in central and south Italy.

Cibreo for the best food in Florence.

1 Like

Without a doubt Parione is a terrific restaurant in Florence .Marco has a tremendous cellar and service is top notch only exceeded by the quality of the food-been there over 50 times and cannot recommend it strongly enough……cheers​:plate_with_cutlery::wine_glass:

1 Like



Points well taken! We’re definitely guilty of overplanning (maybe more so as a first post-COVID trip), but for us it’s a really enjoyable part of the process. Most of our planning is finding options for lunch/dinner/drinks so that we have spots we can count on (with wine country being the exception). Very happy to stumble in discoveries on the ground though.

As for the amount of traveling, I think the Casa Maria stay of 1 night makes it look worse than it is (the stay and Massimo dinner was a wedding gift that we’re looking forward to, so we can deal). We started with Chianti and Amalfi, then needed flights in and out so put Florence and Rome on the shoulders. Bologna was chosen as a less touristy, young, but still small enough city to explore and meander through. We thought about southern Tuscany instead of Bologna, but in the end though we needed a change of pace after Chainti.


Thanks! Noted about Ferrara and Retrobottega. I’m sure we’ll do a bit of wandering around Oltrarno.


Thanks! Glad to know we’re on the right track. Capannelle looks like a great option to maybe replace one of the bigger producers.

In Florence, we enjoyed Coquinarius so much for lunch that we returned - and we were in Florence for only 3 days. Osteria dell Enoteca is same ownership as Enoteca Pitti Gola. Fine bistecca alla Fiorentino, terrific wine list and service but somewhat redundant.

1 Like

Coquinarius sounds not to be missed. Thanks!

I would consider flying to Italy just to go there again.

2 Likes

Last time we tasted at Felsina, we did the lunch there at the winery. It was fantastic and included an olive oil tasting of 3 different clones.

Tyler,

We just got back earlier this week from Italy/Greece and would look at these two places in Florence as well…

1 Like

Hey Gus- how was the overall trip ? How was Rome ?

We ate at both spots in 2019. The Osteria is posted about a bit here but the Enotoca they also own gets a lot more notice. Wonderful spot.

We really enjoyed Zeb. He’s quite a character and we loved the pasta.

Incredible trip. I have been going to Europe since I was a toddler and was even stationed in Germany for thee years right after the wall fell. I have never seen so few tourists. If you can go now….go. Take a look at my Rome pics….place was empty. Had a few Florence shops tell us we were the first US tourists they had seen in 16 months. Zeb was crazy good. Hands down our best overall meal of the trip. His mother was awesome as well.

Great pics on IG Gus. As long as the passports show up we’ll be there in Sept.

1 Like

I guess I’m in the minority. Food is good, not amazing like Cibreo. The attraction is very aged chianti on a wine list, which I love. But it’s the wine list that’s awesome in my mind, not the food.

You seem to have a full itinerary but FWIW I will throw out some other ideas for you while you are in Castellini in Chianti.

  • Bibbiano is just down the road from where you will be staying. They make nice wines.
  • Pici al Cinghiale which is a wild boar ragu over a distinctive pasta is a popular and tasty dish. Makes a good lunch.
  • if the Gelateria di Castellina is still there and you like gelato then it’s a must stop
  • for a smaller friendly producer take a look at Buondonno. If you’re lucky Gabriele will be there.

In any case enjoy, and as others have suggested smell the roses while you are there ( or at least the dust from the “white roads”)

I didn’t eat there.