Italian Wine Travel Guide 2024 - Find Memorable Wine Tours and Winery Tastings in Italy
For lovers of Italy, wine and travel, everything comes together in the Tuscany region. With fantastic cities like Florence, Siena, Lucca, San Gimignano and Pisa. A beautiful coastline with lovely beaches. And a rolling landscape where breathtaking regions like the Val d'Orcia and beautiful cities like Montepulciano and Montalcino are most likely very appealing to the real wine connoisseur.
A region you can't get bored of. At least, if I speak for myself. We have been there several times. And each time we discover new areas. And -of course- new wines and new wine regions.
Many tourists therefore have Tuscany as their favourite (wine) travel destination. Even as a wine region, Tuscany is among the top regions in Italy. And perhaps the world. With well-known wines such as Chianti (most famous being the Chianti Classico version), Brunello di Montalcino, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and the Super Tuscans from the Bolgheri wine region.
There's a lot to discover.
Let's go.
On the map below you can see that the wine regions are located approximately between Florence (north), Arezzo (east), Montalcino (south) and San Gimignano (west). The famous wine region around Bolgheri falls just outside this area and is located on the Tuscan east coast. And there is another small area of Chianti to the left of San Gimignano.
The most important wine regions are:
A 2024 map of the Tuscan wine regions.
For more information you can check the Tuscany wine region map.
On this page I continue with a closer look to all wine regions in Tuscany.
There are many wine regions in Tuscany. The most famous are undoubtedly the areas in the heart of Tuscany. The delicious Chianti wine is available in the authentic, historical Chianti Classico wine region. Nearby and sometimes even in overlapping wine regions, Montalcino, Montepulciano and Carmignano are well known. It's great to visit one or more of the Montalcino wineries for example. Towards the west coast, the area near Bolgheri has appeared more prominently on the Italian wine map in recent years. The so-called Super Tuscans have now attracted and convinced many wine lovers. Moreover, its location near the coast makes it an interesting region to spend your holidays in order to combine several great things to discover and enjoy.
Besides these wine regions, there are a large number of wine regions that are more than worth visiting. Below is an overview of all 46 wine regions of Tuscany. These are divided into two main wine regions. The wine regions specifically in the 'old heart of Tuscany' and all other Tuscan wine regions.
Carmignano
San Gimignano
Empolese
Colli dell’Etruria Centrale
Orcia
Pomino
Sant’Antimo
Val d’Arbia
Elba
Montecucco
Scansano
Suvereto - Val di Cornia
Costa dell’Argentario
Pitigliano
Candia dei Colli Apuani
Capalbio
Colli di Luni
Colline Lucchesi
Cortona
Grance Senesi
Maremma Toscana
Montecarlo
Monteregio di Massa Marittima
Montescudaio
Parrina
San Torpè
Sovana
Terratico di Bibbona
Terre di Casole
Terre di Pisa
Val d’Arno di Sopra (Valdarno di Sopra)
Valdichiana Toscana
Valdinievole
You might like to discover all 358 Italian wine regions.
Many of the Tuscan wine regions have their own wine consortium, to promote common interests for wine and wine tourism. Part of promoting the respective wine region is, in many cases, having its own wine route. There are many of these 'Strada del Vino (and then the name of the area)' in Italy. It is estimated that there are around almost 100 of them.
Further down is a list of Tuscan wine routes, so you can take a look at which ones you might want to drive while in Italy.
When it comes to wine tourism (enotourism), Tuscany is the first region mentioned in most cases as a place to stay. The combination of beautiful landscapes, authentic culture, delicious food, pleasant temperature and, of course, the enchanting wines, make Tuscany indeed a top region for wine tourism. You can go in any direction, and several holidays or short stays will not be enough to discover everything.
In Italy, so-called wine consortia take care of the promotion and quality standards of their wines for each wine or wine region. This joining of forces gives them more clout to bring their wine -or their wine region- to your attention. The Tuscany region has a large number of these Consorzia del Vino ...
These pages are a great way to explore everything about the featured wine region. Subsequently, you can select and organize your own wine trip, wine weekend or day through the vineyards with tours and tastings.
You can also use the wine routes below for that. It will save you a lot of time. The Consorzio (not all) have already crafted one or more captivating routes within their regions. each wine road will introduce you to all the sights, good food and -of course- the most beautiful wines they make in their region.
Finding a nice wine hotel or winery with overnight accommodation is the best way to end the day. After the final guided winery tour and their wine tasting, you won't have to get into your own car to drive back to the hotel. It is not only safe, but also great fun to spend the night in a winery resort or accommodation.
When you're coming over for your next holiday in Tuscany, you'll definately want a wine experience you'll never forget. Great wine tasting tours are all over the best part of Italy, where climate, culture and great food and wine combine the best.
You can discover the many great winery tours in Montalcino, Montepulciano, San Gimignano, Bolgheri and the famous Chianti region between Florence and Siena. Below you'll find some tasting tours to start with...
Check out all Montepulciano wine tasting tours.
Great tasting tour to discover the vineyards of Montepulciano and Tuscany in the Southern Tuscan wine region with visits of 2 wineries to taste some great Vino Nobile di Montepulciano wines. You will be picked up in Florence and are guided by a local wine expert who guides you around this fantastic day.
Immerse yourself in the winemaking process and relish a private wine-tasting experience at two wineries in the Montepulciano wine region and enjoy the great panoramic vistas of the surrounding valleys.
Wine tour highlights:
Tour guide: Grape Tours
Price: From € 285
A wine & bike tour in which even the journey in itself is full of emotions. Riding on an electric bike, you will cycle from the city center of Montepulciano to the countryside. Cycling with little effort over the rolling hills of Tuscany, you will be able to snap a picture of the most beautiful and picturesque landscape of Tuscany.
An expert guide will accompany you through the gravel roads and the Montepulciano vineyards. You will visit a winery where a cellar tour will be finished with a great Montepulciano wine tasting. The wines are paired with local dishes. From Tuscan salami, bruschetta topped with extra virgin olive oil to Pecorino cheese from Pienza. Once you have recovered the energy to continue, the tour will return to the walls of the city center of Montepulciano.
Wine tour highlights:
Tour guide: Valdichiana Living
Price: €139 p.p.
Enjoy a full day of culture, wine, and delicious food as you visit some of the most impressive destinations in Tuscany.
Departing from Siena to enjoy art, culture, red wine and delicious food. An unforgettable experience in the most impressive places in Tuscany. Visiting wonderful cities and tasting the best wines in one single day.
Combining the tasting in a cellar in the area of Val d'Orcia with visits to both the old Renaissance-style hilltop town of Montepulciano and Pienza with its architectural beauty and harmony.
Unique tastes, smells, and flavors support this natural and artistic heritage. After that you'll take the bus and start to go back to Siena.
Wine tour highlights:
Tour guide: myTour Italy
Price: € 95
Check out all Montalcino wine tours or discover all Montalcino wineries...
An unforgettable long weekend for wine lovers and visiting the Montalcino wine region. Discovering the excellent red wines from Montalcino, Montepulciano, Cortona and the Chianti wine region. You will experience 4 great days in the Southern part of Tuscany. Beautiful landscapes, excellent wines and meeting the local wine makers to taste their great wines.
Tour guide: Valdichiana Living - Tours and holidays in Tuscany
Price: 4 days from € 999 per person (including 4 nights accommodation in a farmhouse and 4 winery tours - Montepulciano, Cortona and Montalcino)
You will visit two distinct wineries of the Brunello region together with a small group of fellow wine lovers.
Tour guide: Tours of Tuscany
Price: on request
Combining a Brunello wine tasting with truffle hunting will be a great way to discover wine & food in this wonderful part of Tuscany. Under the guidance of an expert truffle hunter and his dog you will take quiet forest paths to secret places where truffles grow. If you are lucky enough, you will dig out this delicious gem of nature right from the soil.
For lunch we celebrate the treasures we have found with a glorious 4-course menu based on truffle by the “osteria” headquarters of the local truffle hunters. In the afternoon you will visit a local Brunello winery. You will visit the vineyard and the cellar, before tasting the Brunello di Montalcino accompanied by the winemaker.
Tour guide: MontalcinoWineTours
Price: from € 200 per person (including a great 4-course lunch)
What could be better than tasting the different Tuscan wines yourself while driving alone the routes that are suggested by the regional winemakers. In Italy, the so-called 'Strada dei Vini...' are local wine routes along wineries and vineyards with the opportunity to have a wine tasting tour at the wineries along these routes.
Tuscany offers many of these wine roads. Below you can find an overview of all official Tuscan wine routes. Links have been included -wherever possible- to the English-language versions of the respective site.
Check out all (there are more than 100...!) official Italian wine routes of the Strada dei Vini d'Italia.
You can also find the necessary information on wine and wine tours on the official tourism website of Tuscany and on the website of the Movimento Turismo del Vino Tuscana.
Below is a list of the most famous wines you will find in Tuscany. Below, a list of all the wines in Tuscany and the grape varieties grown and used for them.
The most famous wine made in the Tuscany region is undoubtedly the Chianti wine. The older ones among us probably remember the traditional straw bottles. Back then, Chianti did not fare too well when it came to good taste and quality. Today, that has completely changed.
The Chianti wine region runs roughly from Pisa, Florence, Arezzo to Siena and is the main domain of the Sangiovese grape. Within the Chianti wine region, there are again several wine regions that bear the name of the wine produced there. The Colli Fiorentini, Rufina, Colli Aretini, Montalbano, Montespertoli, Colline Pisane, Colli Senesi and at the heart of the region, of course, the most famous of all, the Chianti Classico. This is the historical geographic center of the Chianti region.
The original wine region in the Chianti wine region is the Chianti Classico. The wine has the highest Italian wine classification, called DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita). If the wine also spent two years in barrels and then had 3 months to mature in bottle, it is labeled as a Chinato Classico 'Riserva'.
Since 2005, the Chianti Classico DOCG has only consisted of red grapes; it is determined that the white grapes like the Malvasia and the Trebbiano may no longer be used.
You can usually recognise Chianti Classico by the logo of the black rooster, the Gallo Nero. This is a label of the consortium of winemakers from the Chianti Classico region. Although it should be noted that not all wineries are members of the consortium. So you might find a delicious Chianti Classico without the black rooster image on the bottle.
Meanwhile, on avinturo there is its own Chianti page with everything about this famous wine.
A little south of Siena and the Chianti area, you'll find the towns of Montalcino and Montepulciano. It’s a good suggestion to visit and discover them both in 1 day. Red wine lovers will have a great day - the wine time of their life 😀
Wine tasting in Montepulciano will include the famous Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. Another wine of the very best quality, the DOCG. Like the Chianti wine, this wine is made by the Sangiovese grape, locally also known as Prugnolo Gentile. Besides this Sangiovese grape, the Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is further composed of the grape varieties Canaiolo Nero and the Mammolo. The wine is kept for 2-3 years in oak barrels.
Together with the Barolo, the Amarone (the Amarone della Valpolicella), Barbaresco, Franciacorta and the Bolgheri, the Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is among Italy's finest wines.
Situated slightly west of Montepulciano you will drive into Montalcino. Labeled as a DOCG wine in 1980, Brunello di Montalcino is among the more expensive Italian wines. Like the previously mentioned Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and the Chianti, this red wine is made from a clone of the Sangiovese grape, the Brunello grape. The wine matures for 4 years; the Brunello Riserva takes another year longer for that and of the 5 years, 2 of them have been aged in wood.
Besides the more expensive Brunello di Montalcino, most wineries also make a more affordable variant using the same grape. This Rosso di Montalcino has the DOC quality label and is often available and ready to drink after just one or two years.
Discover some great Montalcino wine tasting tours or you might check out all Montalcino wineries.
In the Tuscan coastal Maremma region, the town of Bolgheri is the center of the so-called Super Tuscans wines. Its coastal location, unique microclimate and soil of pebbles and stones creates a unique combination to produce great wines with the Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah and Cabernet Franc grapes. The wines are more international because of the grape varieties mentioned although local Tuscan grapes are also used. Under the name Super Tuscans, the wines from this region are becoming a commercial and international success.
Besides some remarkably good red wines, you will also discover some great white wine as well. The Vernaccia di San Gimignano is a dry white wine from the municipality of San Gimignano. The wine was the first wine in Italy to receive DOC classification in 1966. Since 1993, the wine has been allowed to carry the DOCG designation, making it one of the very best wines in the country.
The Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG consists of 85% Vernaccia grape and is further complemented by other white grape varieties from the area.
The different grape varieties grown in Tuscany are: Alicante, Alicante Bouschet, Avarengo, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Canaiolo Nero, Carmenère, Chardonnay, Ciliegiolo, Gewürztraminer, Malvasia, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Riesling, Rondinella, Rossese, Roussanne, Sangiovese, Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah, Trebbiano, Uva Rara, Vermentino, Vermentino Nero, Vernaccia, Vernaccia Nera and Viognier.
The Tuscan vineyards produce the wines below (DOCG, DOC and IGT).
Brunello di Montalcino
Carmignano
Chianti
Chianti Classico
Elba Aleatico Passito
Montecucco Sangiovese
Morellino di Scansano
Nobile di Montepulciano
Suvereto
Val di Cornia
Vernaccia di San Gimignano
Ansonica Costa dell’Argentario
Barco Reale di Carmignano
Bianco dell’Empolese
Bianco di Pitigliano
Bolgheri (Bolgheri Sassicaia)
Candia dei Colli Apuani
Capalbio
Colli dell’Etruria Centrale
Colli di Luni
Colline Lucchesi
Cortona
Elba
Grance Senesi
Maremma Toscana
Montecarlo
Montecucco
Monteregio di Massa Marittima
Montescudaio
Moscadello di Montalcino
Orcia
Parrina
Pomino
Rosso di Montalcino
Rosso di Montepulciano
San Gimignano
San Torpé
Sant’Antimo
Sovana
Terratico di Bibbona
Terre di Casole
Terre di Pisa
Val d’Arbia
Val d’Arno di Sopra of Valdarno di Sopra
Val di Cornia
Valdichiana
Valdinievole
Vin Santo del Chianti
Vin Santo del Chianti Classico
Vin Santo di Carmignano DOC
Vin Santo di Montepulciano
Alta Valle della Greve
Colli della Toscana Centrale
Maremma Toscana
Montecastelli
Toscana
Val di Magra
Do you want to discover the Tuscan wine regions and can't get to Tuscany with your own car? Then choose one of the airports below.
At the airports you can rent a car. With a car, it is easy to explore the region on your own.
We look forward to hearing about your wine adventures in Tuscany! Please share your tips and experiences (also if you miss something on this page)..
Avinturo is an Italian wine travel guide, packed with great tips about the many unique wine tastings tours in Italy.
Celebrate with locals at one of their great wine festivals. Visit one of the many famous wine regions. Or discover the countless hidden gems of undiscovered local wine regions with its unknown wines. Made from one of the many autochthonous grape varieties that Italy has.
Let yourself be guided along one of the nearly 100 official wine roads or plan your own winery tasting by visiting one of the thousands of Italian wineries. Be surprised by their hospitality and delicious wines. Discover and enjoy.
Your most beautiful wine adventure begins on Avinturo.
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