Full Day - The Tuscany Wineries & Gregorian Chant

Overview

Full Day - The Tuscany Wineries & Gregorian Chant

For those in Soriano and the nearby towns, we start in the town piazza at 9:30 AM. For those coming from Rome, you will take a train from Rome at 9:13 AM, and we will pick you up at the Orte station at 9:55 AM.

Once all together, we drive to our furthest point, the town of Castelnuovo d'Abate. To get there, we will be driving the famous Orcia Valley Wine Trail through this picturesque wine region which evokes the classic image of Tuscan rolling hills. This is the area of Tuscany that most of us think of, seen in many well-known movies, such as Under the Tuscan Sun, Life is Beautiful, and many more.

As we arrive, we will visit the St. Antimo Abbey, a beautiful Romanesque church that dates back to the 9th century. It sits in a valley just outside of Montalcino, surrounded by vineyards and olive groves. Here we will witness the monks of the abbey as they do the Gregorian Chant during a brief service.

After the service, we will go to nearby Montalcino, home of what is arguably the best of all Italian wines: Brunello. Instead of going to the big wineries for impersonal tastings like other tours, we have something truly exclusive in store for you today. We will visit a small, private winery in Montalcino which boasts an amazing Brunello, among other wines and grappa.

We will be hosted to a wonderful lunch with the owners of the estate, as we sample their Brunello wine with our meal. As we have lunch together, they will share their family history with you and answer any question you can imagine. You are sure to fall in love with this gracious family. It is always one of the major highlights on our weeks, and provides for a truly exclusive and unique Brunello experience. After lunch, they will treat us to a private tour of their cellars and vineyards before we move on.

Next, we leave for the town of Montepulciano, where we will do our another wine tasting and tour. Montepulciano is known for its Vino Nobile wine, a primary competitor for the Brunellos. Here we will tour the town's ancient 14th century cellar that was built underneath the Palace of Cardinal Ricci and is widely considered to be the most beautiful wine cellar in the world. After the cellar tour, we will participate in a complete tasting of Montepulciano's fantastic wines. Those that have seen the 2009 film 'New Moon' (The sequel to 'Twilight') will recognize this wine cellar and other areas of town from the movie.

After this long day, we will head back to the Orte train station (Around 7:30 PM), then back to Soriano (Around 8:00 PM)