A Winelover's Travel Guide to CHIANTI | Tuscany's most historic Wine Region

Are you a wine lover like us and planning a trip to Tuscany? Then you absolutely cannot miss coming to the area of Chianti Classico, where we are right now. Today we're going to go over some of our favorite tips and tricks that we learned while traveling in Chianti Classico. In this video, just like we do for all of our wine region travel guides, we are going to be covering four different areas to help you plan the best possible trip. Part one is going to be the where exactly Chianti Classico is, how to get there, where to sleep, and what to pack. Part two will be all about the tourism but beyond the vines. The villages, the history, the things that make this region so unforgettable even when you're not holding a glass. And part three, yes this is the one we're all really here for, is going to be about the wine. The grapes, the styles, the appellations, the wineries that you need to visit, and the wine experiences you just can't skip. And lastly, part four will be about the food because in Chianti Classico, eating well is absolutely a part of the overall experience. I am Jacqueline, your travel guide for today in the Chianti Classico area, and I cannot wait to show you what I learned while I was traveling in Chianti Classico. Part one, traveling practicalities. Okay, so let's start with basics. Where is Chianti Classico? Because this is actually something that a lot of people will get confused about, Chianti Classico is a specific legally defined wine region in Tuscany in central Italy. It sits right in the heart of the region, nestled between two of Italy's most iconic cities, Florence to the north and Siena to the south. The distance between those two cities is roughly 70 kilometers, and Chianti Classico fills a large chunk of that in-between space. It's a mosaic of hills that are covered in olive groves, vineyards, and small little medieval towns. And just to be clear, Chianti Classico is not the same as Chianti. Chianti is a much larger and broader appellation that stretches across a big chunk of Tuscany. Chianti Classico is the a DOCG in its own right, and with much stricter rules and its own iconic symbol, the Black Rooster or the Gallo Nero. All right, now we know where Chianti Classico is, but how do you get to Chianti Classico? If you arrive by plane, your easiest option will be flying into Florence's Amerigo Vespucci Airport, Firenze Peretola, which is a well-connected airport to major European hubs that puts you about 40 minutes from the northern end of the Chianti Classico region. Pisa's Galileo Galilei Airport is also an alternative, and it serves more budget airlines, but that is about 90 minutes away by car. If you are traveling from elsewhere in Europe or Italy, the high-speed rail network will connect major cities directly into Florence's central station of Santa Maria Novella, from which the Chianti Classico region is only about a half hour by car. From Santa Maria Novella, you can easily get to Siena by train, but there are no high-speed trains there. The journey will take you around an hour and a half. Now, here in Chianti Classico, like a lot of other wine regions around the world, really, you do need a car, unless you're part of an organized tour or you want to hire a driver. To get around the public transport, not the best, so you need to rent a car or bring your own in some capacity in order to be able to get around and get out in the vineyards and the olive groves and really experience the region for yourself, between all the little villages and the ambience of the vineyards and beautiful landscape. When it comes to booking accommodation in the Chianti Classico area, you do have a wealth of options, depending on personal preference and budget. You might consider booking a hotel or an apartment in the immediate outskirts of Siena or Florence. Staying just outside the city boundaries might save you a little bit of cash and it might give you the convenience of ducking into the big city for dinner. But on the other hand, you might have to factor in then the cost of the extra driving of the 30 minutes of time to get into the heart of the wine country. If instead you want to completely immerse yourself in the wine country lifestyle, you must look at staying into an agroturismo. These are working farmhouses and wine estates that offer lodging and they range from charming, rustic, budget-friendly rooms to ultra-luxurious suites and estates with infinity pools overlooking the vineyards. But another good option is finding a hotel or a bed and breakfast in one of the villages of Chianti Classico, like Greve, Rade or Gaiole. This gives you a totally different feel than staying in the countryside, but believe me, in these charming villages you still get a 100% pure Tuscan experience. And that's actually exactly what we did. We stayed in this charming bed and breakfast in San Donato, called Le Terrazze del Chianti. It's in the medieval center of the village of San Donato and this building itself was actually once the seat of the Chianti Lega or Union. The kind hosts, the clean and well-decorated rooms and the incredible history of the building itself creates a fantastic atmosphere that really gets you into the Chianti mood. We cannot recommend this place enough. Now, a quick note on climate and what to pack in your suitcase. Chianti Classico has a classic Tuscan feel. This means warm, sunny summers and cooler, damp winters. The hills will add some variation, meaning it can be noticeably cooler at certain elevations, especially in the evenings. If you're visiting in the summer, expect heat during the day, but do bring something to cover up with for the evenings. You never know. Spring and early autumn are probably the best times to visit. The light is a golden hue, the temperatures are perfect, and in September and October you might even be able to catch some harvesting. And of course, remember to bring sturdy, comfortable walking shoes. You're going to need them to navigate the uneven cobblestone streets, steep medieval staircases, and dusty vineyard paths. Part two, tourism. What to see and do. One of the great things about Chianti Classico is that the region itself is beautiful, even for non-wine related things. The trip itself is well worth it just to be able to see the numerous hilltop villages and small little cities that are scattered throughout the region. Let's start with Grave in Chianti, which is the unofficial capital of the region and where we are right now. It's great as a fantastic base and this main piazza is instantly recognizable. Triangular and lined with these porticoed buildings and at the center sits the statue of Giovanni di Verrazzano, the Florentine explorer who is said to have discovered New York Harbor and for whom the Verrazzano bridge is named after. This piazza is ringed and if you are here on a market day it is absolutely buzzing. Rada in Chianti is a perfectly preserved medieval town still surrounded by its original walls. Quiet, picturesque, and it genuinely feels like you've stepped back into the centuries. We also have Pansano with a legendary butcher, Dario Cecchini, but more on that later in the food section. And really we loved the too intimate and genuinely Tuscan feeling that we found in the villages of Castellina and Gaiole in Chianti. Technically outside of Chianti Classico, but within only a minor 30-minute detour, you cannot miss San Gimignano. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, it earns this status completely. A perfectly preserved medieval hilltop town, San Gimignano is famous above all for its towers. Extraordinary stone skyscrapers built in the Middle Ages as symbols of family wealth and power. This has earned San Gimignano the nickname of Medieval Manhattan and at the heart of the town's prosperity there were 72 of these towers. Today 14 remain and they are genuinely breathtaking to behold. Another great village to visit is Monteriggioni. This is a perfectly preserved walled fortress that looks exactly like a stone crown sitting at the top of a hill. It is smaller and quieter than San Gimignano, but walking along the medieval walls gives you sweeping views of the hillsides and countryside that are definitely stunning. It is well worth a quick stop or detour if possible. Of course bordering the Chianti Classico region we have the outer limits of Florence up to the north and Siena down to the south. Great places to visit when you are in the area. Of course Florence really needs no introduction, but Siena is also a great and wonderful opportunity. A UNESCO world heritage site perched on the top of a hill. It is unmissable for its art and its history and architecture like the cathedral back behind me. The fan-shaped Piazza del Campo, the stunning Duomo, the Contrade neighborhoods and the famous Palio horse race held here twice a year in July and August all create a beautiful atmosphere. And if your dates overlap with the Palio it is an experience unlike anything else in Italy. But beware this will mean that you need to book super early for a lot of things in the area. Part three the wine. All right now we are getting into the good stuff that you probably honestly watch this channel for and that is the wine. Chianti Classico is a wine region but also a DOCG appellation. Within it there will be three tiers of quality. The Annata at the bottom, the Riserva and at the very top the Gran Selezione. I'm not going to go into too much technical detail about these because we are going to have a lot more videos and content about the Chianti Classico DOCG and all of those different quality tiers in different videos. So please don't forget to subscribe and to click the bell icon so that you will be notified when we release those videos. But to cover things quickly while Chianti and Chianti Classico are surely the beating red hearts of the area there are plenty of other wines and grape varieties that you can find in this region and in the immediate outskirts that are worth exploration. Now it is mostly red wine country and specifically Sangiovese. Sangiovese is Italy's most planted red grape variety and two-thirds of those total plantings are actually located within Tuscany itself. Sangiovese will create wine with firm acidity, food-loving tannins, aromas of sour cherry, dried herbs, maybe a little bit of leather. It can be bright and approachable or it can be profound and age-worthy depending on the winemaker vision and the aging. But Sangiovese has always had company. Long before international varieties arrived on the scene Tuscan winemakers were blending in local grapes with Sangiovese and some producers still do. The most relevant now are Canaiolo Nero, Colorino, and Cigliaggiolo. Although it is quite rare to see these varieties vinified as a monovarietal wine. And of course alongside these traditional varieties we will find the international varieties but specifically Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Sierra. Since the 1970s and 80s some visionary producers have started blending these varieties with Sangiovese or on their own in premium often very expensive wines that have since become known as super Tuscans. Originally these wines were bottled as vino a la tavola or table wine but today a lot of super Tuscans will sit under the Toscana EGT denomination. The most famous super Tuscans made in the Chianti Classico area will be Tignanello and Solaia by Marchese Antinori. These are two Sangiovese blends that work with Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc that are aged in small French barriques. But we can also look for Ceparello by Isola e Olena and Flaccianello another benchmark. Another wine in the area that you need to try is the Vinsanto del Chianti Classico. One of the great traditional wines of Tuscany. Vinsanto which translates literally to holy wine is a passito style wine meaning it's been made from grapes that have been harvested and then left to dry for months on wooden racks concentrating their sugars and flavors before they're pressing. There's also a rare red grape version called Occhio di Pernice which means eye of the partridge and it's made predominantly from Sangiovese. Also I know I mentioned earlier San Gimignano as a must-see stop right outside the traditional Chianti Classico borders and San Gimignano holds a very special place in Italian wine history too. The white wine Vernaccia di San Gimignano was the very first wine in Italy to receive a DOC status back in 1966 and it was later upgraded to DOCG. It's Italy's oldest officially recognized DOC wine appellation which feels right coming from a town that looks like it belongs in a history book. The wine itself is a dry white wine made from the Vernaccia grape which is indigenous to the area. It is a genuinely great white wine and a beautiful contrast to all the rich reds that you will be tasting across the rest of the Chianti Classico region. In terms of visiting wineries Chianti Classico is incredibly well set for wine tourism. Most estates will offer tastings and tours though you do need to book in advance generally especially if you want a tour. Here are some wineries that we personally visited and we recommend for a mix of wine quality and overall experience. Antinori nel Chianti Classico is one of Italy's most storied wine estates coming from a storied wine family and visiting it is an experience all on its own. The winery itself completed in 2012 is a stunning piece of architecture buried into a hillside so that it almost disappears into the landscape. The tour of the facility is worth it and needless to say the wines are the kind of amazing that you would expect from such a name. Castello di Broglio the ancestral home of the Ricassoli family is essential for any wine history buff. Baron Bettino Ricassoli is widely credited with creating the original recipe let's say for Chianti in the 1870s. The castle itself is magnificent the views from the terraces are extraordinary and the wines particularly from the Barone Ricassoli Broglio range are among some of the finest in the region and delicious. Istine near to the village of Rada in Chianti is one of those estates that reminds you why this region is so exciting. It's considered on the smaller side and is a part of FIVI or the Federation of Independent Italian Winemakers. We really enjoyed our visit there and highly recommend it. A walk in their vineyards first sets off the visit with an understanding of the terroir and the land and this really helps to understand their wines as they mainly work with similar grapes and methodologies across their wines which allows you to really see just how changing the place of a vineyard will change the wine. Great for wine nerds like us. Also getting to taste their gin vermouth and olive oil was a really fun surprise that we really enjoyed. Poggio Amarelli is a great visit. An estate near Castellina in Chianti they produce a wide array of wines from of course amazing Chianti classicos to also sparkling wines and super Tuscans. The visit through their winery plus the tasting with a knowledgeable guide and some snacks like their olive oil and balsamic vinegar really made this visit a great experience and worth it when you are in the area. Part four the food. So let's talk about food and here I'm going to be honest Chianti Classico gives you a lot of good options to eat. Unlike some wine regions where the food might be a little underwhelming or generic here the cuisine is deeply local, deeply proud and incredibly good. The star of the show has to be La Bistecca alla Florentina a massive t-bone steak from the Chianina breed of cattle cooked over a wood fire and it's served simply with a drizzle of olive oil and not much else. If you eat meat this dish is non-negotiable and if you're in Pansano head over to Dario Cecchini the most theatrical and passionate butcher you will ever encounter. Beyond the steak look for pici a thick hand-rolled pasta native to Siena. You will see it often served with a pecorino cheese and pepper sauce or a ragu of wild boar which is cinghiale in Italian and these are animals which roam the hills here in Chianti in abundance so you'll see a lot of boar in general on the menu sometimes. Pepposo is like a stewed beef from an area just south of Florence and north of Chianti Classico. It's a beef that is cooked in a red Chianti wine and it's cooked for hours until it's tender and falling apart. It will be seasoned well with black pepper or pepe in Italian hence the name which you could translate pepposo as peppery. Ribollita is a hearty Tuscan bread cabbage and bean soup that is pure comfort and delicious. Polo alla cacciatora or chicken braised slowly with tomatoes olive capers and herbs is just as comforting as well. Then of course Tuscany is one of the best regions in Italy when it comes to cheeses and cured meats so don't forget to taste pecorino cheese particularly from the aged varieties of nearby Pienza and for salamis finocchiona is a soft fragrant salami flavored with wild fennel seeds that is unique to this region and of course everywhere you go you will find the region's own extra virgin olive oil which is some of the finest in Italy and a wonderful accompaniment to help give flavor to the region's famously saltless bread. For dessert everywhere you go you will find cantucci or what we Americans would refer to as biscotti really. These hard twice-baked almond biscuits exist for one purpose and one purpose only and that is to be dunked into a small glass of vin santo at the end of the meal. It is one of the simplest but most satisfying rituals in all of Italian food culture. Another great dessert we love is panforte di Siena. It's a dense spiced cake made with honey nuts dried fruits and spices like pepper and cinnamon. It's been made in Siena since the middle ages and is just delicious. Now where are some of the best restaurants you can eat all of these delicacies? Well in the Chianti Classico region you are certainly spoiled for choice. Restaurants range from rustic trattorias in the villages to more refined dining rooms in wine estates. In our experience the quality is consistently high. This is a region where people take eating seriously and it shows. A few restaurants we would recommend are l'Antica Trattoria La Topa in San Donato just steps away from our bed and breakfast where we stayed. The quality of the food was outstanding and service was lovely. We got to actually eat outside on the street which really added to the atmosphere. Osteria Le Panzanelle in Rada in Chianti was another great food experience and a lot of locals recommend booking in advance because it is so popular. We also enjoyed La Voglia Osteria in Gaiole in Chianti for amazing pasta. So are you thinking about a trip to Chianti Classico? Maybe you just might be after you've been watching this video. So let us know in the comments below your favorite things to do in Chianti Classico and what are some of your favorite tips and tricks for this area. If you have enjoyed this video please leave a like below it really does help the channel and it's always appreciated for us to know what you think of the video. Please make sure you're subscribed as well because there is going to be a lot more stuff about Chianti wine and Chianti Classico wine coming in the future. So thank you for joining me today and if you're interested in more about Tuscan wine check out this video here. Cheers!