| TOUR HIGHLIGHTS:
·seven nights in four-star accommodations
·visits to five wine appellations
·four, including two full-fare Tuscan, dinners
·five full-fare, including two winery, lunches
·cooking cl |
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| Price from 3100 EUR /person |
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Day 1 - Thursday [D]
Afternoon: Arrival at Rome's Fiumicino (FCO) airport and transfer to four-star accommodations in the midst of Tuscany's DOCG (Denominazione Origine Controllata e Garantita) zones of Chianti Classico, Brunello, and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano.
Evening: After an aperitif in our hotel, we can get further acquainted at La Bottega del 30 in Villa a Sesta. The eccentric Franco Camelia and his wife and chef, Hélène Stoquelet, will provide a French-inspired cuisine inir the intimate, elegant home and restaurant amidst a vineyard. | Day 2 - Friday [B, L]
Tuscany • Vino Nobile di Montepulciano DOCG
Morning: The Falco brothers have restored the 19th Century Fattoria Le Capezzine with the highest aesthetic criteria, beautifully marrying old and new in the Avignonesi winery. Eleonora Spadolini will show us their experimental 360° vineyard and 'vinsantaia' where their Vin Santo, Occhio di Pernice, is aged ten years in 'caratelli.'
Lunch: Avignonesi in Valiano di Montepulciano with, time permitting, the owner Ettore Falvo.
Afternoon: At leisure in hotel with time to swim, relax or simply catch up on jet lag.
Evening: On our own in the hotel. | Day 3 - Saturday [B, L, D]
Tuscany · Chianti Classico DOCG
Morning: Giampaolo Pacini is a trained enologist and food researcher who will instruct us in the preparation of three antique Tuscan recipes at Podere Capaccia, a boutique winery Radda-in-Chianti.
Lunch: Our sumptuous class creations, all accompanied by the award-winning wines at Podere Capaccia.
Afternoon: A visit to Podere Capaccia's vineyards and cellars, even some,trekking in the surrounding hills!|
Evening: Light dinner at Osteria Le Panzanelle near Radda-in-Chianti | Day 4 - Sunday [B, L]
Umbria • Sagrantino di Montefalco DOCG
Morning: At the Antica Azienda Agricola Paolo Bea, Giampiero will show us his tiny family winery and vineyards, illustrating a natural evolution in a vinification without artificial or mechanical means. Each bottled is numbered, the production never sufficient to satisfy increasing the market's demand. A relatively newly classified DOCG (Denomination of Origin Controlled and Guaranteed), Sagrantino is surprising for its ability to accompany a large variety of plates and has gathered much international recognition in recent years.
Lunch: Within the silent, suggestive Roman ruins and medieval atmosphere of Bevagna we will sample the local dishes and wines of the Umbrian osteria Enoteca Locanda Piazza Onofri.
Afternoon: Katharina Brunacci will guide us in the Fondazione Lungarotti's Museums of Wines and Oil in Torgiano. a vaste and unrivalled collection of archaeological artifacts, ceramic, textiles, drawings, engravings, and manuscripts documenting wine and olive oil in Mediterranean culture. We will pause for a coffee and walk in the picturesque hill town of Spello on our way home.
Dinner: On our own in the hotel followed by a presentation by Paolo Nanni, wine historian and author of “Vinattieri Fiorentini; Dalle Taverna Medievali alle Modern Enoteche.”
| Day 5 - Monday [B, L, D]
Tuscany · Brunello di Montalcino DOCG
Morning: After breakfast this morning, we will begin another glorious Tuscan day in driving to the hill town of Montalcino where we can browse the shops, visit the fortress, or simply sit in the historic Caffè La Fiaschetteria for another morning coffee. Afterwards, Francesca Arquint will accompany us in the newly renovated Tenuta Caparzo, named after Ca' Pazzo, or madman's house that stood in this northern part of Montalcino.
Lunch: Tenuta Caparzo
Afternoon: "There is nothing in our world similar to Siena," said the American art critic Bernard Berensen, "...a complete medieval city." Aspirations to make its duomo the largest monument to Christianity were thwarted only by the Black Death. Before some leisure time to shop or browse, Chiara Savoi will lead us a walking tour of the historic center where we will experience this city's harmony and heartbeat.
Evening: Dinner at Osteria Le Logge, just off the Piazza del Campo in Siena. | Day 6 - Tuesday [B, L]
Tuscany · Bolgheri DOC
Morning: Patrizia Brogi will show us Vilca, her family's glass factory in Colle di Val d'Elsa just north of Siena. Its unique pieces and limited series of hand-blown wine glasses and bottles have perfected and refined a tradition in crystal dating back to1300. Continuing on. we will discover another Tuscany and the Mediterranean coastline.
Lunch: Luciano Zazzeri's family has been serving some of Italy's finest fish for four decades now. In this most unassuming location, we can enjoy the day's catch from his own small fleet of fishing boats accompanied by a fresh Bolgheri Vermentino.
Afternoon: Visit and tasting at the Tenuta dell' Ornellaia. After twice appearing in Wine Spectator's top ten wines of the year, its Bolgheri Superiore Ornellaia 1998 was awarded as the best wine in 2001. The creation of Lodovico Antinori, in recent years this winery became a joint-venture with Robert Mondavi. In turn, Mondavi join forces before fulling selling out to the Marchesi De' Frescobaldi, the other Florentine nobile family and leading competitor of Antinori!
Evening: Light dinner on our own en route or in the hotel.
| Day 7 - Wednesday [B, D]
Morning: For those seeking some “Made in Italy, ” there is an optional visit to The Mall in Leccio Reggello, a designer shopping outlet hositng top brands as Agnona, Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Burberry, Emanuel Ungaro, Emilio Pucci, Ermenegildo Zegna, Fendi, Giorgio Armani, Gucci, Hogan, I Pinco Pallino, La Perla, Loro Piana, Marni, Salvatore Ferragamo, Sergio Rossi, Stella McCartney, Tod's, Valentino, Yohji Yamamoto, Y-3 and Yves Saint Laurent.
Lunch: On your own at The Mall, en route or in the hotel
Afternoon: At leisure to prepare for morning departure and evening gala dinner.
Evening: Gala dinner al fresco at Villa di Geggiano in Pianella near Siena. An elegante countryside retreat restructured in the last 18th Century, its architecture, interior decor, and gardens with a view of Siena in the distance are now a national a monument preserving a rare historical complex. | Day 8 - Thursday [B]
Transfers to Pisa, Florence or Rome's Fiumicino (FCO) airport for departure or further destinations. |
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| PHOTOS (click on the thumbnail to open a bigger version) |
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| Duration:
8 days - Starts at:
N/A - Finishes at: N/A |
| Payment Types:
Credit Cards |
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Included are:
·accommodations (seven nights four-star hotel; bed & breakfast; double room occupancy)
·meals and pre–selected wines as indicated
·winery visits and tastings
·transfers in air-conditioned coach
·monuments and museum entrances
·services of registered guides
Optional extras not included are:
·any air or train fares
·taxis or transfers to and from airports or other arrival and departure points not specified in the program
·single room supplement
·personal hotel expenses (drinks, laundry, telephone calls)
·meals and additional drinks not indicated in the program
·rentals (car or mobile telephone)
·travel insurance
·obtaining documentation
·gratuities
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