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Visiting Chianti wineries: our guide

Visiting Chianti wineries: our guide

Chianti wineries represent a real treasure of Italian, indeed world, enology.

Indeed, from this land come valuable bottles, excellent oenological products beloved by wine lovers all over the world. However, the Chianti wine-growing area is wide and varied, offering wines of different caliber and also very different characteristics of each other.

That is why, if you are on vacation in Tuscany, we recommend that you spend a day visiting the most renowned Chianti wineries, particularly those located in the Chianti Classico areas that are about thirty minutes from Gargonza. A tasting of local wines, accompanied of course by typical local dishes, is an experience that is sure to leave you with excellent memories (and an excellent palate).

In this article we give you some tips on how to organize your visit to the best Chianti wineries that offer tastings and guided vineyard tours.

Where are the best Chianti wineries?

Chianti historically was a very narrow area, including the municipalities of Radda in Chianti, Castellina in Chianti and Gaiole in Chianti. Today, however, Chianti is a much larger area, including also Tavarnelle Val di Pesa, Barberino Val d’Elsa, San Casciano in Val di Pesa and Greve in Chianti. We can say that today Chianti straddles Florence, Arezzo and Siena.

Each of these areas offers wines with different characteristics.

Here are some of the areas where the best Chianti wineries are located.

  • Chianti Classico, the most renowned, is an area of about 70 thousand hectares that is home to more than 350 wineries. These make some of the highest quality wines in the world. The wine produced in the Chianti Classico area has a dry, velvety, savory and deeply vinous taste.
  • Chianti dei Colli Senesi extends around the city of Siena and is an area famous for producing very structured, robust and complex red wines. From a scenic point of view, it is one of the most striking areas, with rolling panoramic hills that offer splendid views of the fascinating Tuscan countryside.
  • Chianti dei Colli Aretini is somewhat less well known, but it is a real raw gem. The area is the hills around Arezzo, bordering the province of Florence. The Chianti that is produced in this area is a fresh, dry and lively DOCG, to be drunk young.

These are some of the areas where you will find the best Chianti wineries to visit, although of course the Chianti hills are a much larger area, all to be discovered.

Wineries to visit in Chianti

There are so many wineries in Chianti that offer the opportunity to do a tasting. A particularly fascinating aspect of this experience is also being able to listen to the words of the people who make that wine: the stories of Tuscan winemakers have something magical and timeless about them!

You will discover what lies behind a bottle of Chianti: the hard work and passion for simple, good and genuine things, the respect for tradition, old-fashioned methods and the care of every single step in the care of the vine. All this and more will accompany your visit to the Chianti wineries. Moreover, it is very interesting to be able to take a tour not only of the winery but also of the vineyard.

And now, here are some wineries in Chianti that are worth visiting if you are in Tuscany.

CANTINA ANTINORI

One of the most famous and renowned Chianti Classico wineries is definitely the Antinori winery. It is located in the province of Florence, in San Casciano in Val di Pesa, and still belongs to the historic Antinori Marquis family. The entire winery is designed to have a low environmental impact and is in fact built with natural materials and energy-saving technologies.

Among the most renowned bottles you can enjoy are Chianti Classico Badia a Passignano Gran Selezione, Solaia and Tignanello.
The cellar is developed entirely underground, which ensures that the aging of the wine in the barrels takes place without any air conditioning system; the temperature is the natural temperature of the underground environment.

You will not only taste an excellent wine but also visit a unique place.

TENUTA DI FRASSINETO

The complex called Villa-Fattoria di Frassineto is located in the heart of the Val di Chiana. Due to its architectural features, history and geographical location, it constitutes a testimony, particularly important from the historical and artistic point of view of the settlements with Villa-Farm type, dating back to the 17th century and, later, modified in the 19th century.

Today in Frassineto it is possible to visit wineries and wine tastings.

FELSINA

We move to the Chianti Senese near Castelnuovo Berardenga.

Fattoria di Felsina understood as a winery was founded in 1966 and with a courageous act at that difficult time in Italian viticulture, the owners chose to invest in the quality of the wine and the expertise of some young people. The management of the countryside was modernized without abandoning the spirit of tradition. In the span of a few years the hectares under vine became more than forty and the soul and organization of the winery also changed.

Today guided tours of the winery and tastings are organized for clients.

MARCHESI MAZZEI

For more than six hundred years, the Mazzei family has produced unique wines with spirit and passion that are renewed from generation to generation.

At Fonterutoli, they live by the same philosophy that aims to enhance native grape varieties as an expression of a territory’s identity, respecting diversity and nature, with sustainable agriculture and careful arrangements for the delicate hydrogeological balance to preserve the soil from erosion and maximize the water reserve in the soils.

Wine tours and tastings of their Chianti Classico as well as wines from other estates located in Tuscany and beyond are available by reservation.

Where to stay to visit the best wineries in Chianti

If you have decided to organize a visit with a tasting in one of the Chianti wineries we have recommended, don’t forget to choose the right starting point as well. Gargonza Castle is located in an optimal position because it straddles Arezzo, Siena and a few kilometers from Florence. This allows you to reach the entire Chianti area in a short time.

You can choose a Chianti winery to visit (or even more than one, why not?) and spend a day doing this very pleasant activity. In addition, you can take home a good bottle of Chianti as a souvenir and share it with friends and family when you return home. It will be a delicious souvenir!

If you would like to book your stay at Castello di Gargonza, please contact us.

We can also help you arrange your visit to the Chianti wineries.

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