Chianti Classico winery visits

Chianti Classico is the hill country between Florence and Siena, the historic heart of Chianti wine. Its red wine is made mainly from Sangiovese, and its wineries range from family farms to large historic estates. This page compares Chianti Classico winery visits at five of them, spread across San Casciano, Barberino Tavarnelle, Castellina and the Greve area, with Greve in Chianti as a central base.

At these five, a tasting costs 15 to 45 euros per adult, and a cellar tour with tasting 25 to 50 euros.

Read the label before you book

Not every tasting at a Chianti Classico winery pours Chianti Classico. Many estates also make wines under the broader Toscana IGT category, outside the appellation’s rules, and some formats focus on those.

Vignamaggio shows the difference. Its Colours tasting, at 30 euros, pours three IGT wines and a Vin Santo with small bites. Its Chianti Classico Experience, at 45 euros and about an hour, is a guided tasting of the appellation’s three levels: Annata, Riserva and Gran Selezione, the top tier. If the goal is to understand Chianti Classico, the second one is the right ticket. The table below lists both, with every other offer, so you can see what each format serves.

Tastings without a tour

• Rocca delle Macìe, in Castellina in Chianti, offers a 30-minute tasting at its wine shop for 15 euros, whenever the shop is open.
• Fattoria Casa Sola, in Barberino Tavarnelle, pours three wines for 19 euros, in about 30 minutes, with no cellar visit.
• Antinori nel Chianti Classico runs its Vintners Tasting for 30 euros, in Italian or English. Minors are not admitted.

Cellar tours

• Rocca delle Macìe’s Discovery tour costs 25 euros and lasts 45 to 60 minutes. In summer it runs at 10:30 am, noon and 3 pm.
• Fattoria Casa Sola’s Tasting with Snacks, at 42 euros and 90 minutes, walks through the vineyards, the olive groves and the cellar and ends with Vin Santo and cantucci, the almond biscuits made for dipping.
• Castello di Fonterutoli, also in Castellina, runs its Wine Tour for 45 euros in 75 minutes, in English and Italian. Children under 12 are not admitted.
• Antinori nel Chianti Classico, at Bargino near San Casciano in Val di Pesa, runs The Tinaia Tour for 50 euros per adult, about an hour and a half with other guests, in Italian and English. Young people up to 17 pay 10 euros, and children of 6 and under go free.

Chianti Classico winery visits: languages

Antinori and Fonterutoli publish tours in Italian and English. The other wineries do not state their languages: ask when you book.

Getting around

The road through the Chianti hills links Florence and Siena by way of Greve, Panzano and Castellina. A car is the practical way to move between wineries, and the bends call for a driver who skips the tastings. Florence has the nearest airport.

Budget and timing

A day with Rocca delle Macìe’s tasting and Antinori’s Tinaia Tour costs 65 euros per adult, with the Chianti Classico Experience at Vignamaggio instead of the short tasting, 95 euros. Harvest, in September and October, is the busiest time: book the tours ahead, and leave space for lunch.