Wine Travel in Tuscany

This is the forgiving region. Tuscan estates receive visitors who did not write six months ahead, the villages sit an hour apart, and sangiovese makes sense by the second glass. For a first wine trip from Quebec, it is the right choice.

One grape, four very different appellations

Sangiovese does almost everything, and yet Chianti, Brunello, Vino Nobile and Bolgheri bear no resemblance to one another. Altitude, clay, limestone and the nearness of the sea are enough to produce four wines nothing links in a blind tasting.

Chianti Classico — between Florence and Siena

The black rooster on the neck of the bottle separates Chianti Classico from plain Chianti: it is not a quality mark, it is a geographic zone, the hills between the two cities. Three levels follow one another: Chianti Classico, fruity and bright, drunk daily in Florence; the Riserva, more concentrated, its tannins settled; and the Gran Selezione, created in 2014, from selected plots and aged at least thirty months.

Brunello di Montalcino — sangiovese taken all the way

In Montalcino, sangiovese is called brunello and is vinified alone, without blending. The rules impose a long ageing before release, which is why a Brunello reaches the shelf late and then keeps for decades. It is the most serious wine of the region, and the village that makes it sits on a hill you cross on foot in twenty minutes.

The Super Tuscans — the revolt that changed Italy

In the 1970s a few coastal producers planted cabernet sauvignon and merlot where the law did not recognise them. Their wines were released under the humblest category in the Italian system, and sold for more than the official appellations. The regulations eventually caught up and created the Bolgheri DOC. This is where you understand that classifications follow the wine, not the other way round.

Which villages are worth the stop?

Greve in Chianti, the unofficial capital, with its triangular square and its butchers.

Panzano, where Dario Cecchini recites Dante while cutting meat — the most theatrical stop in the region.

Montalcino, the fortress, the village cellars and the view over the Val d'Orcia.

Montepulciano, a hilltop Renaissance town where Vino Nobile is tasted in cellars dug beneath the palaces.

Bolgheri and its five-kilometre avenue of cypresses, the most photographed road in Tuscany.

San Gimignano, the medieval towers and Vernaccia, the only white on the list.

When should you go?

May, June and September. Spring gives green hills and available estates; September brings the colours without the heat of July and August, when inland Tuscany regularly passes 35 °C and coaches fill the villages. October is beautiful but the light goes early.

How do you arrange tastings?

Many Tuscan estates accept online bookings, which sets them apart from Burgundy. Two visits a day is plenty: one in the morning, one in the early afternoon, with a real lunch in between. Beyond that the palate stops following and the road becomes a problem. Plan for a driver who does not taste, or hire one for the day.

The table is part of the trip

Bistecca alla fiorentina is ordered thick and rare, and shared. San Miniato truffles arrive in autumn. New olive oil, pressed in November, is tasted on grilled bread without salt — Tuscan bread contains none, and it startles everyone at the first meal.

How much wine can you bring home?

After 48 hours or more abroad, the Canadian personal exemption covers 1.5 litres of wine per adult — two 750 ml bottles. Beyond that you declare the bottles and pay the applicable duty and taxes, including the provincial portion collected at the border. The minimum age to import alcohol in Quebec is 18.

Organising the trip from Quebec

Florence is reached through Rome or Milan, sometimes through Paris. A car becomes necessary the moment you leave the city, and Tuscan historic centres are closed to traffic by limited-traffic zones whose fines reach Quebec months later. An adviser knows these traps and books lodging outside the restricted zones.

Voyages AquaTerra holds a Quebec travel agency licence. Our clients are covered by the Compensation Fund for Customers of Travel Agents, under the conditions set out in the regulation. Call an adviser at 1-866-628-6241. To compare with Burgundy, the Douro and Georgia, see our guide to wine routes.