Tuscany, Italy

[ol_ironstomach]

We are doing a similar trip in October staying a week outside Pienza and plan to spend one night in Orvieto en route from Rome.

I am jealous. Cave-aged Pecorino di Pienza, i.e. "stagionato in grotta", is flippin' delicious. Taste, and bring a wheel home. Seriously! The producers are scattered all over the area, but a number of them have retail outlets within the town walls.

[MMM]

I am jealous. Cave-aged Pecorino di Pienza, i.e. "stagionato in grotta", is flippin' delicious. Taste, and bring a wheel home. Seriously! The producers are scattered all over the area, but a number of them have retail outlets within the town walls.

Yes!!!

[hamcolvin]

Yes!!!

So we decided to take a whole different route. We are going to drive from Rome to Cinque Terra along the Tuscan coast that day. It is about a 6 hour drive that we will take VERY slowly. I am hoping to find a few jems along the coast. Wish me luck.

Heather

[MMM]

Here's a review of an amazing restaurant - Mocajo- where we had lunch last fall that is about mid-way between Rome and the Cinque Terre. Good place to stop for lunch either going or returning! See final post under "Montalcino" in this heading, and http://www.ristorantemocajo.it/index.htm.

If you decide to go, be sure to reserve ahead. I actually called only on the morning of our visit. They are closed on Wednesdays.

[hamcolvin]

Here's a review of an amazing restaurant - Mocajo- where we had lunch last fall that is about mid-way between Rome and the Cinque Terre. Good place to stop for lunch either going or returning! See final post under "Montalcino" in this heading, and http://www.ristorantemocajo.it/index.htm.

If you decide to go, be sure to reserve ahead. I actually called only on the morning of our visit. They are closed on Wednesdays.

This looks great!! It is on the list.

12 days and counting for lift-off.

[hamcolvin]

I am looking for a company or an individual that offers wine tours originating out of Montepulciano. I have found a few companies that offer wine tours but they all start out of Florence. We will be staying in Montepulciano and I hate to drive to Florence to then be driven back to Montepulciano. Ideally I would love to have a knowledgeable individual take us to a few wineries but would be happy with a tour company or group. Any suggestions?

[dmwine]

I am looking for a company or an individual that offers wine tours originating out of Montepulciano. I have found a few companies that offer wine tours but they all start out of Florence. We will be staying in Montepulciano and I hate to drive to Florence to then be driven back to Montepulciano. Ideally I would love to have a knowledgeable individual take us to a few wineries but would be happy with a tour company or group. Any suggestions?

Consult the local Consorzio, and the Strada del Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. They have some leaving from the piazza grande - it's a beautiful hill town, by the way. If you don't already have lodging arranged, look for Agriturismo - inns set up by wineries. Not always cheap, but often very nice.

Happy Travels!

[treznor]

I am looking for a company or an individual that offers wine tours originating out of Montepulciano. I have found a few companies that offer wine tours but they all start out of Florence. We will be staying in Montepulciano and I hate to drive to Florence to then be driven back to Montepulciano. Ideally I would love to have a knowledgeable individual take us to a few wineries but would be happy with a tour company or group. Any suggestions?

What have you found that is out of Florence? My wife and I will be in Florence for a couple days early next month and I haven't gotten around to planning the details

[deangold]

Be sure to try I Gamba di Gatto which is a wine bar/restuarant owned by a very nie couple in Montepulciano. If you want to splurge, go to Montefollonico and go to La Chiusa. For really great food with a very scholarly approach to tradition, go to La Solita Zuppa in Chiusi.

Valdipiatta is a very good producer as is Il Fagetto and Innocenti (this last is in the town of Montefollonico.

[yeuxblu]

We'll be doing something similar in July. We bike from Florence to San Gimignano. Pick up a car in Siena and drive to Volterra then the coast and up to Lucca. Any suggestions for Lucca or in the Apuan Alps area?

Mocajo is on the list.

[hamcolvin]

What have you found that is out of Florence? My wife and I will be in Florence for a couple days early next month and I haven't gotten around to planning the details

There were several companies listed on SlowTravel with some reviews. All of them left from Florence. From the looks of it that is the major jumping point for a lot of folks. Check out the SlowTravel Reviews.

Heather

[Choirgirl21]

Hi all,

Headed to Italy in less than 2 weeks and I have not a single thing booked except for my plane tickets, eek!! But we have a rough itinerary planned and I am hoping to get some things booked this weekend. So we will be headed to Florence on a Friday, probably arriving around noon (my flight gets into Milan at 8:30 am). Plan to spend the rest of Friday and all of Saturday exploring Florence - hopefully the major sights and works of art, a little time in Central Market, and good eating and drinking. We'll stay Saturday night, then Sunday we'll depart for the small towns. I imagine we will stop in Siena, then I think we might make our way to Pienza for the night. Monday evening we need to be back in Vicenza so we will make our way up, stopping where the spirit moves us.

I hope that Sun or Mon will involve at least one winery stop, and I would like to eat good, but inexpensive meals that are not heavy on the pasta (I know, the horror, but if I start with the grains this early I will pay dearly later in the trip). It sounds like Sostanza is in order for bistecca, does anyone have updated information on whether this is still the case?

Any other suggestions on where to eat the other night we are there, or places to go/eat/drink when we head out into the countryside? We will have a car.

[Steve R.]

We lived in Florence for a month this past summer (no car) and have, during previous trips, driven into Tuscany from Florence.  Here are some random thoughts"¦ if you want more specifics on anything, pm me.

Florence: Sostanza has great steaks, prepared in the Florentine way; that is, very large, very rare.  They also have a nice buttered chicken.  And its a mad house on weekends, with them moving you along pretty rapidly.  Makes Peter Luger's look tame (hey, I have to throw in one Brooklyn reference/post).  You'll be jet lagged when you arrive and you're a stronger person than I am if you can survive staying up for a proper Italian dinner hour (9pm earliest).  So, you might want to consider a big lunch on Friday mid afternoon or maybe "happy hour" food (called appertivos there)"¦ plenty of places serving up free or very low cost food when you pay for drinks.  Depending on where you're staying, there's a good one in Piazza Sant'Ambrogio in Santa Croce (almost across the street from Cibreo).  It's called Cafe Sant'Ambrogio.  There's another nice area in the Oltr'arno (across the Arno) in the plaza behind the Santo Spirito church (around the corner from a great down home restaurant called Casalinga -- which I recommend).  Either place is a way to sit down around 5:30-7:30pm at an outdoor table and drink/eat and people watch.  Central Market is great -- don't get confused and think that the outdoor area (where discount fake Italian leather and other tourist goods are sold) is the market.  The market, with its food stalls and produce, is inside the big building.  Hint about going to the major museums in Florence: lines are long and you'll waste precious time if you don't get tkts in advance or spend the money for a tour guide (which includes quick entrance).  If you decide to break your pasta avoidance, we really liked Cucina del Garga (near the Academia).

Tuscany: yes, you should drive around and stop at small cities in Chianti country, as well as Siena.  But there are a couple of things that you should know.  First, parking for Siena will be outside the old city walls and, therefore, a walk to get in and out of the city.  This all takes time and Siena itself is worth taking time for.  Great Duomo, nice streets, big open city center square.  Like a little Florence.  You may not want to plan to do much other than getting to Siena (there are worthwhile Chianti towns between Florence and Siena), seeing Siena & maybe eating & sleeping in Siena one night.  Secondly, if you plan to go to wineries, I wouldn't do it "blind""¦ too much uncertainty, as many of the most worthwhile are small and without real signage.  It's not like Napa or Sonoma (or the North Fork of Long Island for that matter).  Both in Florence and in Siena there are excellent small wine stores that can (& will) make arrangements for you to go to specific wineries that they do business with.  If you find the right one, you can talk to them about what type of places you wish to see (small production or larger, white or red specialties, what route you intend to follow, etc -- they may even be able to recommend a agritourism winery with rooms for the night ).  One such place in Florence is on Corso di Tintori, just south of Santa Croce & they have a great selection of wines, decent prices and will ship (I can't remember the name of the place).  The owner, a youngish guy (late 30s?) is very consumer friendly.  In Siena, we noticed several places that would probably do the same.  I think this method is way better than arranging with a tour company or just winging it.  Also, on one trip, when we went to Umbria, our local wine store guy here in Brooklyn (ok, so I mentioned Bklyn twice) contacted several wineries & made arrangements for us -- but they were larger places with international distribution (like Caprai) & I'd really think you want smaller family run places with local distribution.

Have fun.  That area is magical.

[Pool Boy]

I can't recommend one in Tuscany, but in Emilia Romana I'd certainly recommend Il Gaidello. Great rustic place extremely well situated and folks that can get you in to parmagiano and balsamico places nearby. Plus their dinner there is so, so awesome. They stack their dishes for service from top to bottom and you work your way down. The tortelini in brodo was particularly good.

[eatruneat]

Two and and a half days in the Val d'Orcia with Podere Brizio, an agritourismo (bed & breakfast) in Montalcino being our home base. 

Podere Brizio had the best breakfast out of all the places we stayed in Italy. Buffet had a variety of pastries, cured meats, and cheeses. Eggs made to order if you so desired. We had dinner our first night here and would not recommend. We should have gone elsewhere but after a bit of driving from Rome (including getting lost), I didn't want to get behind the wheel again. 

Cooking class and lunch at Ristorante Daria in Montichiello our first day. We made pici pasta which we had with a tomato sauce and the restaurant also had a duck sauce that they also served us with the pasta. We also "made" eggplant parm (but with the pecorino from nearby Pienza) and panna cotta. Wine was served with lunch. A great experience. 

La Sposa is a cute little restaurant in Montalcino. Had pici pasta again, this time with clams and bottarga. Simple and tasty. Pici is the traditional pasta of the region but doesn't have eggs so I was not a huge fan. 

Last dinner in the area was at Trattoria il Pozzo. Tomato bruschetta and a zucchini salad to start, but we couldn't leave the Val d'Orcia without trying bisteca a la fiorentina, a huge steak simply grilled. An amazing steak cooked perfectly. See below.

 

We ended up only doing one wine tasting in Montalcino, but Poggio Antico gave us a great tour and the wines were very good. Ended up leaving with two bottles, including their Brunello Riserva.