Food Tours · Tour

Chianti Vineyard Escape: Two Estates and the Black Rooster

Forty minutes out of Florence and the city stops mattering. Five hours in Chianti, two estates, and a guide who spends the drive on the history of wine production here and on the Gallo Nero, the black rooster that ended up on every bottle of Chianti Classico. Both estates are run by people who treat winemaking as a craft rather than a process, and at each one you walk the vineyards, go down into the cellar, and get the production explained by someone who does it. Then the terraces. Three or four wines at each estate, with the estate's own extra virgin olive oil, cheese, salami and balsamic vinegar. Two stops, so six to eight wines across the afternoon, which is why nobody drives. Transport is a fitted coach with wifi, and the guide works in English only. Up to fifteen people. Lunch is not included, and there is a chance to buy wine, oil, vinegar and other regional products at both estates. Minimum drinking age eighteen. Comfortable shoes: the vineyards are on a slope. If you book separately from friends, the operator cannot promise you the same bus.