When driving the Chianti valley in Tuscany, what vineyard(s) or towns are a "must" stop for a 1 day car trip?

Question

Will be driving 9/06 from Florence to San Gimignano thru the valley and want recommendations for vineyards/wineries to pass and ones to stop at. Saw the Antinori listed and am thinking of making this a must stop. Any other suggestions?

Answer 1

San Gimignano!  Bellissimo!.  

You will  find many others on the way in Tuscany.  You won't want to leave each one.  But go, go, continua.

While in Firenze, go to Fiesole, just up the hill.  See all of Firenze from the top of the hill.

You will go back again.

You will see many vinyards.  Buy some of their grapes, on the street.

If you can find Fodors travel book, he has a plethora of info on every country.

Answer 2

Antinori is beautiful, and a very large establishment, they have a restaurant, etc., etc.  If you stop there, you won't have time to stop anywhere else.  But if you want to see smaller, family-run places, stop at any that have signs out that they are open for visits (most are not).

Answer 3

i was in italy for 5 months and lived in florence. we traveled through tuscany a bit and one of the winery's we stopped at was called "Vernazzo" we had a lunch/wine tour and it was incredibly good! its about an hour from florence. i also reccommend going to some of the smaller cities like montalpulciano and montalcino to taste the brunello. have fun!

Answer 4

There is a very good map of the Chianti region on Venere.com at http://en.venere.com/mediterranean_sea/c...

The places to visit are Castellina in Chianti, Lucolena, Impruneta

Answer 5

I would recommend stopping in Montepulciano. This tiny, walled mid evil town is breathtaking. Once there, find the Cantucci Cantina and see Adamo, the wine maker who is so friendly and welcoming. The wine is decent & very affordable, but the atmosphere is amazing.  If you like wine, you have to stop in Montalcino and taste the Brunello. There's an amazing castle where you can taste from all the local vineyards and can order by the case to ship home!  And, save some money for San Gimignano...the shopping there was the best, especially for leather bags.

Answer 6

If you understand Italian you should check on Turismo del vino website (a famous italian association). Chianti is in the province on Siena. Here you can find a list of "cantine" (winemakers)

http://www.movimentoturismovino.it/?sect...