Wife and I want to take a tour of either the Montalcino or Montepulciano Regions in mid September.
Any recommendations on wineries and transportation from Florence.
Thanks in advance.
So many in Montalcino within a relatively small area
Casanova de Neri
Uccelliera
Ciacci I believe does lunch
Poggio de Soto if you are okay with price
Biondi Santi if you want the history
There probably many threads on here and many more options than I listed
You probably need appointments.
Thank you Peter.
Sesta di Sopra is a lovely, intimate visit.
For Montepulciano, Poliziano and Avignonesi; for Montalcino, Il Marroneto if you can get an appointment
We visited both Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona in Montalcino and De’ Ricci in Montepulciano and enjoyed both, but they had very different personalities.
Ciacci felt more personal and family-run. Their tour had the sense of a successful estate that still remembers it is a family winery, rather than an efficient tourist operation. The wines were excellent, and the Pianrosso was a highlight. If you are in to cycling, they also have quite a bit of memorabilia and museum bicycles.
I’ve attached their current 2026 tour and tasting options in case it helps.
De’ Ricci is absolutely worth visiting for the history and the underground “cathedral” cellar, which is one of the most striking winery spaces we saw. The tasting was good as well, but the overall experience was more polished and tightly scheduled—well rehearsed rather than intimate.
We really enjoyed both visits. We had Val di Suga on our list, but we werent able to fit it in. We did manage to go to our agriturismo’s very small winery: La Grancia near Pienza, and for us it ended up being one of the highlights of the trip. Francesco is just 24 and is continuing and expanding the winery his grandfather started. It was a completely different experience from the larger estates and felt much more like being welcomed into someone’s family business.
Here is the Ciacci tour menu. We did the “rare italian style” in english.
@moderators, please move to Travel forum.
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Conti Costanti for some old-school high quality Brunello.
Plus, visiting the museum-like property and enjoying the quiet beautiful sceneries of Montalcino made my drive to and from Florence such a relaxing endeavor.
We rented a car at the Florence airport (thru SixT) and drove to Montalcino which we used as a base camp for exploring Tuscany. Driving around there is not too bad once you get out of Florence, just have to watch out for the fixed speed limit cameras and ZTLs. Google maps will tell you if there’s a ZTL in your route so you can figure out how to avoid it. The nav in our vehicle pointed out the speed cameras.
We stayed at an amzing apartment in Montalcino which had sweeping views of the Val d’Orca from a large deck. The owner is a fellow wino who is very knowledgeable and keeps a wine cellar in the apartment. It was a 10/10 experience!
Near Montalcino, we hit Casanova di Neri and Val di Suga and I would recommend both and both required a reservation. We had lunch at Casanova di Neri and it was excellent. We also tasted at Fattoria Talosa which is in the middle of town in Montepulciano and I liked their wines but beyond that the tour was really cool as you descend several stories down into their caves for the tasting.
For less driving and more tasting, if you are in Montalcino be sure to hit the Enoteca Piazza that’s right off the main square (Piazza del Popolo) in town. They have many (>100) Enomatic taps and you can get a “credit card” that unlocks pours and keeps track of everything. Can be self-guided or with some help from staff. We ended up getting the tasting comped after putting together a case to send back. It’s very convenient and fun.
We really loved Montalcino. Here’s a pic from the apartment deck:
Thank you Reese.
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Thank you kind sir. Appreciate it.
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