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Chianti from Florence: vineyards, cellars and hill towns

The wine called Chianti takes its name from a real place: a range of wooded hills that starts at the edge of Florence and runs south to Siena. It is the landscape people have in mind when they say Tuscany.

What it is
Day trip
Time to allow
A full day
Cost
Tour or tastings
Best time
May, June, September and October

Florence this week

    Why Chianti is worth it

    The district was first marked out by law in 1716, round the villages of Radda, Gaiole and Castellina, which makes it one of the oldest defined wine regions in the world. The wine from this old heart is Chianti Classico, and its bottles carry a black rooster on the neck. It is made mostly from the Sangiovese grape and tastes of sour cherries.

    What you come for is the country as much as the glass. The road south from Florence winds along ridges between vines, olive groves, oak woods and lines of cypress, past farmhouses that have been making wine and oil for five hundred years. Many of them take visitors round the cellar and sit them down to taste, usually with bread, oil, cheese and salami.

    Without a car it is awkward, and with one somebody cannot drink. That is why most visitors take a half-day tour from the city, which calls at two estates and brings them back for dinner.

    What to see

    1. Greve in Chianti

      The market town nearest Florence, with a three-sided square ringed by arcades, wine shops and an old butcher's hung with hams.

    2. A cellar visit

      Expect the vats, the barrel room and three or four wines: a young Chianti Classico, a Riserva, often a sweet Vin Santo to finish, with the estate's own olive oil.

    3. Montefioralle

      A walled hamlet of stone houses on the hill above Greve, twenty minutes' walk up, with one circular lane.

    4. Panzano, Radda and Castellina

      Further south the hills are higher and the villages smaller. Castellina has a covered street inside its walls. Radda looks out over miles of vines.

    5. The Chiantigiana

      The old road from Florence to Siena, numbered 222, is the classic drive, and slow going. Allow twice the time the map suggests.

    How to do it well

    • Book winery visits ahead. Few estates take people who arrive unannounced.
    • A bus runs from the bus station beside Santa Maria Novella to Greve in about an hour. Beyond Greve you need wheels.
    • The grape harvest is in late September and early October, the best time to come and the busiest.
    • Estates will ship a case home. Ask the cost of carriage and duty before you agree.
    • A half-day tour leaves in the early afternoon and is back by evening: it fits after a morning in a museum.

    Where it is

    Address

    The hills between Florence and Siena, beginning about fifteen kilometres south of the city

    Nearest station

    Tours leave from near Santa Maria Novella station. The bus to Greve leaves from the bus station beside it

    Tickets and tours: Chianti wine country

    Chianti wine country: common questions

    How far is Chianti from Florence?
    It begins about fifteen kilometres south of the city. Greve in Chianti, the nearest of its towns, is about thirty kilometres away, an hour by bus or fifty minutes by car.
    Can you visit Chianti without a car?
    Yes, on a tour, which is how most people do it. A public bus goes to Greve, but the wineries and the smaller villages are spread across the hills.
    What is the difference between Chianti and Chianti Classico?
    Chianti Classico comes from the original district between Florence and Siena and carries the black rooster. Plain Chianti is made over a much wider area of Tuscany.
    How much time do you need for Chianti?
    Allow a full day. That is this site's estimate for an unhurried visit.

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