Curiosity Escapes
Menu
  • Home
  • About me
    • Where I’ve been
  • Destinations
    • Asia
      • Hong-Kong
      • India
    • Europe
      • Austria
      • Belgium
      • Denmark
      • Estonia
      • France
      • Italy
      • Portugal
      • Spain
  • Escapes
    • Cultural / City Breaks
    • Nature Escapes
    • Villages & Old buildings
    • Roadtrip
    • Adventure Escapes
  • Travel Thoughts
  • Contact
  • enEnglish
    • frFrançais
Curiosity Escapes
  • Home
  • About me
    • Where I’ve been
  • Destinations
    • Asia
      • Hong-Kong
      • India
    • Europe
      • Austria
      • Belgium
      • Denmark
      • Estonia
      • France
        • South-East
        • South-West
      • Italy
        • Liguria
        • Lombardy
        • Tuscany
      • Portugal
      • Spain
  • Escapes
    • Cultural / City Breaks
    • Nature Escapes
    • Villages & Old buildings
    • Roadtrip
    • Adventure Escapes
  • Travel Thoughts
  • Contact
  • enEnglish
    • frFrançais
Italy, Tuscany, Villages & Old buildings

The Chianti Wine Route in Italy

posted by Estelle
Apr 29, 2015 3894 0 0

This post is also available in: French

I’ve just spent a wonderful week in Italy. We went to the Cinque Terre in Liguria and then headed to Tuscany to visit medieval villages but mostly to drive the Wine Route in Chianti region.

Chianti vineyards
Chianti vineyards

The Chianti is a wine region of Tuscany, located between Sienna and Florence. You should visit this region not only for the wine but also for its small winding roads and its picturesque landscapes with Middle-Age castles surrounded by vineyards and olive trees. If you travel by car, drive the Wine route, get lost and stop in one of the many vineyards for a Chianti wine tasting.

As for us, we stopped at the Castello di Verrazzano, near Greve in Chianti. That was a wonderful introduction to the Chianti Classico wine.

castello-verrazzano

The visit

vignoble-chianti

The Verrazzano castle was built in 700. Its name comes from the latin: the vineyard was located in the middle of a forest full of wild boars. The son, Giovanni da Verrazzano was an explorer. He discovered the bay of New-York. A bridge has his name over there.

Our guide, Gillian, was very interesting and she knew how to get our attention. During the visit, you will learn lots of stories and anecdotes about the Verrazzano family and the conflicts that were happening at the time.

We also learn about the production process of the Chianti Classico, the Vinsanto while visiting the historic cellars of the castle. You will get to walk by the Grand Cru collection of the family, the ham drying room or the balsamic vinegar barrels.
Visite du château de Verrazzano, Chianti, Italie

Drying room and fermentation room of the Vinsanto
Drying room and fermentation room of the Vinsanto

The Wine tasting

dégustation-chianti-verrazzano

Was this visit mouth-watering enough ? Good then, because it’s time for the wine tasting. We enter the castle’s restaurant et set ourselves on the table.

We are being served four glasses of red wine: one table wine Verrazzano Rosso of 2013, and three Chianti Classico of different vintages: 2012, 2011 and 2009.

The making of the table wine is not as much regulated as the Chianti Classico. Only 30% of the grapes must come from the official Chianti area whereas the Chianti Classico needs at least 80%. The Black Rooster logo is the guaranty to drink a real Chianti wine, as well as the sticker label certified by the DOCG with a unique bottle number.
official-chianti-classico

The four red wines were served with an enormous plate of cured meats and cheeses. Gillian quickly explains to us how to observe the wine color, smell the wine, swirl the glass, taste each wine before eating, and then discover again the wines’ flavors with food. We didn’t get too much into the techniques but it was perfect the way it was. This is not an enology class.

The plate of cured meats was more than enough and was filled with local and quality products. We even had wild boar saucisson. We tasted the cheese with a spoon of balsamic vinegar (made at the castle). I don’t like cheese but this combination of cheese and vinegar was quite interesting. It sweetens the taste of the cheese, which is good for me. The meal was globally really good and it makes a full meal.

dégustation de Chianti Classico

Then comes the dessert. We are being served the Vinsanto (Holy Wine) in a shooter glass where we must dip the Biscotti, let it soak and then enjoy the Holy Wine. The Vinsanto is a golden wine with 43° of alcohol. As seen during the visit, unlike normal wine, the grapes are first hung on sticks to dry during three months in a specific room. Then it is put into barrels for fermentation during two years. Vinsanto is a sweet wine served as a dessert wine in Italy.

vinsanto-dessert
Dip the biscotti in the Vinsanto

And finally, yes it’s not over yet, you get the coffee with Grapa, a grape brandy (eau de vie). If you weren’t tipsy yet with all this wine, now you must be drunk. Italians call it the “caffè corretto” (corrected coffee).

We really appreciated our visit at the Castello di Verrazzano. Choose the “Chianti Tradition” visit to have a full cold meal otherwise you will regret it. The table next to us had only the wine tasting: they tasted three red wines without food and the glasses had less wine than we did. The Chianti Tradition offers a very good price-quality ratio. You will be drunk and replete. And you will leave with the satisfaction of having uncovered the secrets of the Chianti in an idyllic location: a Middle-Age castle.

 

Useful Information:

« Chianti Tradition » visit: 34€/person, includes the guided visit + tasting of 4 red wines + Vinsanto + Grapa in coffee + plate of cold meats.

Tour every day at 11 am. Other tours are offered. Visit their official website.

Reservation is required: can be done on their website with a simple click. You will receive a confirmation e-mail. No advance payment. You can pay after the visit.

 

Would you like to drive the Wine Route in Italy ? Have you ever visited the Chianti ? What memories do you have of it ? Which vineyard did you visit ?

Tweet
Share
Pin
castleitalian villageoff the beaten pathwinewine tasting

Previous

Spend an extended weekend in Porto

Next

My canyoning experience

Qui suis-je ?

Travel Blogger

ESTELLE

Salut, je m'appelle Estelle et je suis la blogueuse aux commandes de Curiosity Escapes. Passionnée de voyages, je veux vous montrer qu'il est possible de voyager tout en ayant un travail à temps plein. Vous trouverez ici mes découvertes régionales et les récits de mes grands voyages.
Contactez moi

Hey, I'm Estelle, the girl behind Curiosity Escapes. I am passionate about travelling and I want to show you that you can travel while having a full-time job. I share here my local and global escapes for all curious travelers out there.

Ambassadrice Rhône-Alpes pour le webzine En France Aussi

Suivez-moi sur Facebook

Suivez-moi sur Facebook

Search

Top Posts

  • Sainte-Marguerite: a wild island facing famous Cannes [France]
    France, Nature Escapes
    Sainte-Marguerite: a wild island facing famous Cannes [France]
    Jun 8, 2015
  • Hidden gem in the Basque Country: Hendaye
    France, Villages & Old buildings
    Hidden gem in the Basque Country: Hendaye
    Jun 15, 2015
  • Top 5 reasons to go to Copenhagen
    Cultural / City Breaks, Denmark
    Top 5 reasons to go to Copenhagen
    Jun 22, 2015

Leave A Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

You Might Also Like

Expo Milano 2015: Top 10 Pavilions
Jun 4, 2015

Expo Milano 2015: Top 10 Pavilions

Personal feedback about the Cinque Terre
May 8, 2015

Personal feedback about the Cinque Terre

What to do in the Cinque Terre ?
May 7, 2015

What to do in the Cinque Terre ?

We walked on the Great Wall of…India
Jun 17, 2015

We walked on the Great Wall of…India

Copyrights © 2015-2020 Curiosity Escapes. All Rights Reserved
Back top