Sorry in advance for a long blog post...but if you're traveling to Tuscany, hopefully these will be helpful to you:
Hotels
Casa de Adelina: Set in a picture-perfect, tiny village (like 200 person tiny), this was the perfect base for seeing Tuscany. Our room was adorable and the breakfast each morning as amazing. Fresh pastries, fruit, made-to-order eggs, and coffee. There is a great restaurant in town, but for much of your sight-seeing you'll need a car. We stayed 5 nights and loved our entire stay. Highly recommend.
Agrotourismo Guardestelle: All around Tuscany there are "agrotourismos" - working farms where you can stay in a guesthouse. Some are decidedly unfancy and basic - a friend of ours stayed in a room of a farmer's house who spoke no English. The Guardestelle is most definitely a beautiful, comfortable experience - staying on a winery with a beautiful pool, quaint rooms, convenient location, and delicious breakfast. It was like having your own villa on a winery - within walking distance to a town with fantastic food, shopping, and views. I loved having a pool to myself where I drank copious amounts of red wine. Essentially - this place was heaven!
Osteria De La Porta: This was a beautiful little restaurant in Montichiello. We went to this restaurant and its sister around the corner "Cantina de la Puerta." Both offered the same menu - which was amazing and delicious. If you stay Casa de Adelina, book reservations, they fill up a week in advance. If you just stop at Montichiello - have lunch here. Amazing.
Day One - Sunday
Tenuta Valdipiatta: This was a beautiful, small family-run vineyard. We got a personal tour from the owner who shared his ancient cellar, his wine making process and a wine tasting. Call ahead for a reservation and enjoy a few hours on this beautiful property. Bring your camera
Montipulciano: Montipulciano is an incredibly hilly town with many, many cool, historic wineries. You can walk through the wine cellars and see the huge barrels of wines. Check out Redi winery.
Pienza: A city planned in the 1400s by Pope Pius II - it has wide boulevards, a beautiful terraced street with an incredible view, and quaint shops. If you like Master of None, this is the town where they sampled pecorino.
Day Two - Monday - Siena
Duomo: Order the Opa Si pass before you go. This will give you access to the cathedral, dome, and museum. Well worth it - the Duomo in Siena is truly stunning. Beyond that, walk the streets, we enjoyed the fort area with its long footpath and a stunning view of the city.
Osteria Divo: This was a beautiful restaurant - deep in the vaults under the duomo, it was amazing to see the architecture and they specialize in truffle dishes. Amazing to see them grate black truffle directly onto your dish. Highly Recommend.
Day Three - Tuesday - Cooking + Montalcino
Taste Tuscany: We took a private full-day cooking course with a lovely woman named Leslea. Run out of her home - she taught us to cook an incredible four course meal. We loved it and will try to use all of the recipes back home (P is especially looking forward to Tiramisu!)
Montalcino: The Obamas were in Tuscany the same week we were! They stopped in Montalcino so we made a stop there too. It is an incredibly picturesque down with beautiful views of the valley below. Most importantly, it's the only place in Tuscany that makes Brunello wines. These are hard to find in DC, but plentiful in Montalcino. Stop into any of the Enotecas (wine bars) and try a flight. Amazing!
Day Four- Wednesday - Private Wine Tour
It was our anniversary so we "went big" and hired a private car to drive us to some amazing wineries
Avignonesi Wine Lunch: This was the most decadent, beautiful wine lunch. Four courses paired with unlimited pours of some truly stunning wines. The wines were too price to take home, but the meal and the pairings were truly heavenly...overlooking stunning wine covered valleys. This is pricey, but highyl recommend.
Salcheto Winery: We stopped here for a beautiful tasting. Great wines, great explanations of the wine, and a beautiful view of Montepulciano. Happy anniversary to us with a beautiful view!
Day Five - Thursday - Transit to San Gigmiano
On the Thursday of our trip, we packed up to move to our agrotourismo (aka - winery with B+B). We took the scenic route:
Abbey of Monte Oliveto: Nestled high in some forrested mountains was this beautiful Abbey. Still used today, there are stunning frescos from the 1400's and beautiful architecture. The quiet and solitude of this spot is totally overwhelming. It doesn't take long to visit, but is worth the drive.
Colle de Val Elsa: This is a beautiful medieval village set atop a hilltop with huge imposing gates, a beautiful duomo, and charming streets. Stop in, have a coffee, and enjoy the adorable architecture. Unlike some other towns, it doesn't have the views....but the architecture is incredible.
Day Six - Friday - Chianti:
The started the second half of our trip where we met up with our friend Ian and visited the Chianti (northern) region of Tuscany. Different fun, with more scenery and more wine!
Antico Ristorante Pestello: This local spot set on top of a mountain is on the roadside, but serves some incredible meat dishes. If you are a carnivore...make a reservation here for tasty wild boar appetizers and a huge Florentine steak!
Poggio Amoreli: A Chianti winery, we enjoyed a tasting menu that included 5 different Chianti classicos as well as balsalmic, truffle oil, and olive oil. My biggest regret of the trip was not bringing truffle oil back from this spot. It was amazing. Reservations required (they have to buzz you in at the gate and everything!)
Day Seven - Saturday - San Gimignano
Sovestro in Poggio: Our hotel (an amazing guesthouse) was actually an agrotourismo - so a working winery. It was incredible - and for day 8 - we took it slow to relax by the pool and then do a wine tasting at the hotel. A beautiful tour of the grounds and wine tasting, I would highly recommend this amazing spot! The hotel was fabulous as was the wine tour.
San Gimignano: After drinking and eating too much...we wandered up the street to the beautiful town of San Gimignano. Similar to Pienza or Montepulciano, San Gimignano is well situated for tour groups and has really good infrastructure (bars, restaurants, hotels, shops). We had a great afternoon drinking, eating, and shopping. If you are in the market for leather, highly recommend Le Torri - which is a beautiful leather shop in town. The staff was incredibly helpful and the bags are beautiful...a good spot for my 3rd anniversary gift (leather!)
Day Eight - Sunday - Chianti Part 2
Castello di Brolio: So this family INVENTED CHIANTI! How crazy is that! They have an impressive castle with beautiful views of Tuscany and once a year, they open their winery for visitors. We lucked out and were able to visit. It was the largest of the wineries we visited --- 20 million bottles a year. I imagine it'll be easy to find this wine in the US and UK.
Ristorante Malborghetto: This was hands down the best meal I have eaten in Italy. This is located in a tiny town on top of a mountain, the meals are served on a beautiful patio, and we got to speak with the Chef himself. All of the meals were delicious - but my truffle gnocchi in a parmesean bowl stood out as truly a one of a kind meal. I have never had something with such a perfect flavor / texture combination.
Chianti Sculpture Park: This was a nice distraction after a lot of food and lot of wine! The sculptures are from around the world and set in a small park. What's more impressive in this area are the crazy roads with large-scale sculpture. Admittedly. this was a bit overpriced for what it was
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