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When people hear “Tuscany”, most of the time, they think “wine.” And no wonder! Tuscany has been internationally famous for its viticulture since at least the 3rd century BC. C., when writers across the sea in Greece noticed the quality of their wines. Today, the region produces dozens of world-class wines and hundreds more, from excellent to at least drinkable at the very least.
In short, there is a lot of wine to taste, vineyards and wineries to explore, and a history and culture that provide context to discover. Given how vast and potentially overwhelming the options are, including a professionally guided tour or tasting in your Tuscan itinerary is a great way to demystify things.
And really, even if you are already an expert who can distinguish a Chianti from a Montepulciano Vino Nobile while you sleep, a good tour still saves you the hassle of organizing an itinerary and, more importantly, driving yourself, you can enjoy. as many of the best Tuscan wines you want without having to worry about going back to your hotel. See below for the best Tuscany wine tours to book during your next trip to Italy.
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Best of Florence: Private Tuscany Wine Tour Experience from Florence
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Florence is the capital of Tuscany, but to get the true Tuscan wine experience, you’ll want to get out of the city. This private tour begins with your professional sommelier guide who will pick you up from your Florence hotel and drive you to the countryside. Your guide will carefully select three wineries, all very different but each producing high-quality wines. The first will be a large traditional wine estate, where you will tour the wineries and enjoy the opportunity to ask the winemaker questions.
The next will be a farm that grows its grapes organically, and the last will be in a small family winery. In all three, you will have many opportunities to learn, ask questions, and of course try! At the last stop, your tasting will be accompanied by a variety of local cuisine, including homemade pasta, fresh bruschetta, meats, cheeses, and desserts. The sommelier guiding this tour has in-depth knowledge of the wine-making and tasting processes, as well as on the ground in the Tuscan wine scene, making it an ideal tour for those who really want to dig deeper and learn more.
As a private tour, it also offers some flexibility – take the time you need to ask the questions you want to ask and savor every sip.
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Best of Rome: Montepulciano Noble Wine Tours in Tuscany from Rome
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If your Italy vacation is based in Rome, or if Rome is the closest place you’ll be to Tuscany, consider this tour, which allows you to escape Rome’s busy cityscape for a day and head out into the beautiful hills of the Toscana. Your guide will pick you up from your hotel in a comfortable, Wi-Fi-equipped Mercedes and begin your two-hour drive to the beautiful Tuscan town of Montepulciano, home to the famous wine that bears its name, Vino Nobile de Montepulciano.
You’ll visit one of the best wineries in the city and get a private tour of the winery with one of their winemakers, who will teach you about the history of wine, as well as tasting and pairing tips. Then you will go up to the upper floor to taste the farm’s organic wine and organic olive oil. After your wine tasting, you will have lunch in Montepulciano and then head for an afternoon stroll in Pienza, home of the world famous Pecorino di Pienza cheese, made the same way in this small commune for thousands of years. After taking your time to explore this historic city, you will return to Rome in comfort.
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Best for Small Group: Wine and Food Tour in Chianti Wine Region (Tuscany)
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Travel in comfort by climate-controlled minivan from Florence to the surrounding countryside for a wine tasting at two world-class wineries on this small-group tour. Your English-speaking guides will accompany you throughout the day, explaining the history of the Chianti wine region, the process of viticulture, and offering tips and tasting notes to help you get the most out of every sip.
Beyond the Chianti Classico that made the region’s name famous, you can also try some ‘Super Tuscan’, the newest style of Tuscan wine, developed just in the last century (‘new’ is relative in these parts) using cultivated grapes. locally from grape varieties that are not traditional to this region (mainly the famous Bordeaux grapes: cabernet sauvignon and merlot).
After your tastings, you will have the opportunity to explore the medieval town of San Gimignano, famous for its tower. Flexible due to the small group size, the tour will have multiple photo stop opportunities throughout the day.
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Best Value: Food and Wine Experience in Tuscany
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You’re not really likely to find a cheap, high-quality wine tour in Tuscany, but this one is reasonably priced and offers a lot for your money. Offering hotel pickup in central Florence, the small-group tour includes tastings and tours of wineries and other local producers, as well as visits to at least one of Tuscany’s charming hillside towns, in one day full of events.
You will visit two wineries and enjoy two artisanal olive oil and wine tastings. You will also have the opportunity to try other local delicacies, such as balsamic vinegar, cheese, olives, and ice cream. A full lunch, with local ingredients, is included in one of the vineyards. Along with a visit to a small town, your driver will make stops at some particularly impressive clusters of cypress and olive groves to take pictures, as well as a stop at the end of the day at Piazza Michelangelo, offering perhaps the most beautiful panoramic view of Florence.
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Best Express: Desde Grosseto: Tuscany Wine Tour – Sabores de Maremma
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Not ready to log into a great bus tour? Don’t worry – this one-stop tour might be the right option for you. You’ll simply head to a winery in Maremma, a micro-region of Tuscany that recently became the standard lexicon of the oenophile, but did it with a twist. You will tour the estate, learn about the wines made in the region and the process to become a DCOG (an official Italian government designation for wines, obtained by Maremma in just 2007).
And then the fun part: a tasting! The wine bar here offers a variety of wines for tasting, and this tour specifically includes tastings of two fine wines, each carefully paired with a homemade bruschetta.
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Mejor vino ecológico: Bio Bio Wine and Food Tour: Chianti Wine Tour in Tuscany
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Some people may scoff at the idea of organic wine as a kind of new age, something novel, but as the locals will tell you, it is really the non-organic wine that is the newest thing: organic is the way Tuscan wines have been produced over the years. millennia. . This full-day excursion includes a pick-up and drop-off service at your accommodations anywhere in Tuscany (yes, really) and includes visits to two different organic wineries in Chianti, as well as full tastings of wine and other local products (oil from olive, vinegar, cheese, products and more).
San Gimignano is on the record for this tour too, and you’ll have plenty of time to explore this sweet little old town and its excellent architecture (and food markets).
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Best Vegetarian: Vegetarian Tour in Tuscany: Chianti Wine and Organic Food from Florence
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Most Italian wine tastings include appetizers, but these appetizers often include traditional Italian meats and cheeses. If you are a vegetarian, you can consider this private tour, which aims to keep things veg-friendly. You’ll visit two different wineries in Chianti, both of which produce organic wines, and enjoy their wine tastings alongside appetizers made with vegetarians in mind, which means you won’t be stuck with a stack of cookies and a couple of olives.
This full-day excursion, like so many others in Chianti, stops at San Gimignano (it’s so perfectly sweet and medieval that people can’t stay away. Also, the world champion ice cream shop is there, what won’t you? like?), as well as in Michelangelo Square on the way back to the city.
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Best Tasting Lesson: Lords of Tuscany: The Best of Tuscan Wines in Chianti
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Vineyard visits and wine tastings are so much more fun when you really know how to taste wine. Which, as we’ve all learned from the true wine lovers in our lives (or in the movies), is a more complicated process than just having a drink. This class, located in the heart of the small town of Greve in Chianti, introduces students to the history and culture of Tuscany (and how that influenced the region’s wine and other agricultural products) and the basics of how pour, swirl, sniff and drink. You’ll also learn to know what you’re looking for, what people mean when they say “finish” and “fruity” and “heavy tannins” and all those other fancy wine words that may not do much. of meaning to those of us who hardly know our reds from our whites.
Our process
Our writers spent 2 hours researching the most popular Tuscan wine tours on the market. Before making their final recommendations, they considered 25 different tours overall, selected options from 25 different brands and manufacturers, read over 40 user reviews (both positive and negative). All of this research adds to recommendations you can trust.
