Best place to stay in Tuscany: Agriturismo in Montalcino 

When I travel to wine regions, I always love staying at a winery owned hotel to best experience the region. Most wine regions have various wine or local produce farms operating a bed and breakfast. Different countries and regions have various names for them (for example, you can search for “Masseria” in Puglia) and in Tuscany, they are called “Agriturismo.” When I planned a trip to the Montalcino wine region and had a few criteria for choosing a place to stay.

  1. Must be close to the main town and other wineries in the region. I didn’t want to drive too far out so we can relax entirely at the resort but also easily get to town when needed.

  2. Picturesque view. We are in Tuscany, so the iconic cypress trees and a nice view of the vineyards was one of the priorities.

  3. On-site wines and dinners so we can dine and wine without having to drive. You can’t rely on private transfers or taxis in small Tuscany towns.

After various searches, I chose Villa Le Prata and loved every single minute of it. Here’s why I recommend the hotel:

Beautiful property and the ground

  • Infinity pool and jacuzzi with a vineyard view.

  • Cypress tree lined entrance. 

  • Traditional Italian building and well decorated gardens.

Spacious and renovated rooms 

  • 2023 is the 2nd full season since opening and the rooms were very clean, well renovated, and spacious. 

  • Most rooms also have windows with a view.

Wine and Food 

  • Group wine tastings based on their weekly schedule and private tasting can also be arranged for a fee. I absolutely enjoyed their wines and ended up purchasing bottles to take home. 

  • They also produce olive oil and you get to taste them during meals or wine tasting. We also bought a bottle of it to take home. 

  • Amazing breakfast buffet is included with your stay and you can have dinner on the property as well. Choose between 3 or 4 courses, both including a glass of wine. Fresh seasonal ingredients. 

Affordable luxury resort experience

  • Nice price point compared to other high-end hotels in the area, and still feels luxurious.

  • They offer fun experiences like cooking class, harvest, dining under the stars, and you really don’t have to leave the resort.

Overall experience was exactly what I was looking for when staying at a wine resort in Tuscany. I would love to go back during warmer months and when vineyards are more green to enjoy the scenery and additional outdoor activities!

Best restaurants in Reims and Epernay, Champagne

Champagne is one of my favorite wine travel destinations! It is Eesy to get to (1 hour train ride from Paris) and tons of places to eat good food and drink amazing Champagnes. Here are some of the best restaurants for food and good Champagne list

Reims

Epernay

  • La Grillade Gourmande - Love the outdoor garden seating, great wood-fire cooked menu and wine list

  • Chez Max - No frills, traditional French food. Super friendly and great wine list. Get the table side beef tartare!

  • Sacré Bistro - Ran by the same team as Sacre Burger, they always have a good lunch special

  • Les Avisés - This is a bit of a drive from Epernay but so worth it! Ran by the famous Champagne producer Jacques Selosse, great course meal that will definitely fill you up

  • I didn’t get to these places but have heard good things about La Table Kobus, Why Not, L'OBEN

If you are planning a trip to Champagne, make sure to check out travel tips and 7-day itinerary

Burgundy Wine Travel Guide: How to plan a trip to Burgundy

if you are planning for a trip to Burgundy, you might notice that it is a bit more difficult to arrange wine tasting visits and plan. While Dijon and Beaune are two major cities, there are many small towns in Burgundy area so it’s important to pick your home based depending on what you are looking for. Here’s what I learned from planning a trip and spending a few days in the region.

For places to stay,

  • Choose Dijon or Beaune for easy access to public transportation, taxis, wine bars, and restaurants

  • If you want a quite wine country getaway but with some restaurants and bars, Vosne-Romanee, Nuits-Saint-Georges in between Dijon and Beaune.

Find a local guide

We usually hire a local driver when visiting a foreign wine region so we can taste wines without having to worry about driving. They are also usually well-connected in the region and can

Use local resources to find tastings

Wine makers/producers in Burgundy don’t usually have regular tasting appointments available to book online, especially. Few websites you can use to directly book are

  • You can find domaines/producers that accept online reservations here

  • You can search for domaines/producers and can email them from Vins de Bourgogne

Find wines at restaurants and wineshops in town

While it can be challenging to visit well-known producers, you are much more likely to find their wines at local shops and restaurants at a better price point compared to other parts of the world. You can find the list of places here.

Visit during off-season (Nov-Jan) for higher chance of visiting a winery

Wineries are more likely to accept visitors when they are not busy with harvest or working at the vineyards.

Follow @fine.vining on Instagram for more wine travel tips and inspiration!

Where to taste top Burgundy wines while traveling in Burgundy

I just got back from an amazing trip to champagne and Burgundy and have to say it wasn’t easy planning a wine tasting trip to a region I’m not too familiar with! Producers in Burgundy typically don’t/can’t host tastings mainly because because 

  1. They run a small operation and don’t have capacity 

  2. They sell out of their wines so they don’t have bottles available to open for tastings 🤣 

It’s a bit different from the US where wineries develop an entire tourism and travel experience around it. I came across Vosne Tasting Club while researching and thought it was a perfect place for wine enthusiasts like me with no connections in Burgundy whatsoever. 

Located in Vosne-Romanee, this club has long standing relationships with surrounding wineries in the area to be able to source bottles from hard to get producers and host tastings. All tastings are private and you can choose various packages to do a comparative tasting of different villages, taste Grand Crus, or create a custom package to open any bottles they offer. Packages range from €100-225 and custom packages vary depending on bottles you choose.

They have impressive line up of wines from producers like Domaine de La Romanee-Conti, Armand Rousseau, Meo Camuzet, Arnoux-Lachaux, Roumier, Barthod, Gerard Mugneret, Bruno Clavelier, Henri Gouges, and many more. If you are looking for ways to taste multiple bottles from top Burgundy producers, recommend taking a look at their website.

More posts coming up on additional ways and places to taste in Burgundy. Follow @fine.vining for updates and DM if you have any questions!



Best wine tastings in Santorini

I’ve had a few Greek wines here and there but didn’t know too much about various wine regions in Greece. While planning for a Greek island trip, I learned that Santorini actually has a long history of wine making and that winery tours and tastings are pretty popular among tourists. Whether you are looking to taste unique grape varietals or want to sip wine with a view, you can find a lot of options!

Best wines and for intimate experience: Gavalas wines

While researching wineries in Santorini, Gavalas came up on multiple places as making the best wines and I totally agree. Tasted through their line up of Asyritko, Aidani, Mavrotragano, and Vinsanto and they were all great! The host was also super friendly and walked us through the long history of wine making in Santorini, which is now 300+ years old.

Best winery for the view: Venetsanos winery

There are two wineries known for the views in Santorini, Santo wines and Venetsanos. I feel like you can’t really go wrong with either, especially if you are looking for a place to enjoy wines with a view. From the photos both places look amazing! I’ve read that Venetsanos is a bit less touristy and has better wines so decided to stop by for a glass. Overall, it was a great experience, loved the view and tried 3 different whites by the glass.

Best place to taste a wide variety of Santorini wines: Canava, Vedema luxury collection hotel

We stayed at the. Vedema hotel (part of the Marriott hotels) and found out that it is actually built on a old winery and they offer wine tasting experience in the historical wine cave. This is a great one because 1) Historical wine cave setting is amazing and 2) you get to taste wines from wineries all over Santorini. We tasted 5 wines from traditional method sparkling, 2 different whites, red, and dessert (vinsanto), all from different wineries.

Best place to taste wines from other parts of Greece: Boutari

Boutari came up as another wine tasting room near our hotel, Vedema, so decided to walk over and try their wines. When I got there, I was pleasantly surprised to find their wines from other parts of Greece, in addition to Santorini wines.

I wasn’t able to personally visit more wineries but have heard great things about:

  • Sigalas for winery close to Oia

  • Gaia Wines for great wines with ocean view

  • Hatzidakis Winery for high quality wines (actually tasted wines from here at Vedema and loved it!)

  • Estate Argyros for modern picturesque winery

See more real time wine and travel tips via IG @fine.vining 💕

View fullsize Love being surrounded by all the greenery in Napa this time of the year 💚 Small but adorable and friendly tasting room in St Helena! Part of the Schramsberg fam so you get to taste reds and sparklings Bonus point for being so close to Azteca, the
View fullsize Wineries that allow picnics (of offer food) are so clutch when you are trying to fill the day with more wineries🤣 This was a 3rd winery during my latest trip to Sebastopol and was possible because we got to bring food 🤗🙌 (from @pascaline.patisse
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View fullsize This place makes you feel like you are transported to a small rural wine region 💫 Away from the main road, you will find this boutique family owned winery with a line up of unique varietals. (Have you heard of Picpoul Blanc?!!) Tasting started wit
View fullsize Found a little gem in Healdsburg 🥰 Was delighted by this adorable setting, and then found out tastings come with wood fired pizza on weekends! I mean…😍 and every single wine we tasted were so good! Added another winery to our membership lis
View fullsize I’ve been lazy about making weekend plans and Sonoma square is becoming my go-to for last minute weekend activity 😆 Was able to get a same day reservation at Sosie and so glad I did. Small new winery! Felt unique when we saw sparkling red, C
View fullsize Brought this amazing bottle to enjoy with this view 🥰 From a new boutique winery in Paso founded by a wine loving couple! Small line up as wines tend to sell out but got to taste three of their amazing wines. 📍: @topwinery 🍷: tasted Grenache, G
View fullsize I’ve been trying to better understand my preferences for sparkling wines so added Roederer to the list for my trip to Mendocino Tasting flight includes a side by side of the same blend in a regular bottle vs. Magnum and it was SO FUN to taste
View fullsize 🌟Save this place for your next trip to Northern CA🌟 Did you know there’s another Twomey tasting room in Anderson Valley? Twomey’s been on my list and when I saw they have another location on the way to the Mendocino coast, it was a mus
View fullsize Super chill and inviting tasting room! Bonus points for this view and a great #cabfranc 😍😆 Heard Cab Francs are getting sold out everywhere in Napa, go get them before they are gone! Or don’t… so I can get them 🤣 📍: @reverie_wine

Guide to wine tasting in Puglia

Puglia is not the first Italian wine region that comes to your mind but it definitely should be on your radar if you like Primitivos or refreshing Whites and Rosés. I didn’t plan this trip around wineries and tastings but we learned that Puglia is the second-largest producer of wine grapes in Italy and was able to stop by a couple wineries and wine bars in various small towns of Puglia.

Near Bari/Polignano a mare

Main pedestrian center in Polignano a mare is filled with cute restaurants, shops, and bars and it’s super fun to walk around. I found these two small bars next to each other and loved it!

  • HOPS Birreria & Wine Bar: various beers on tap and wines by the glass. They also had a “beer spritz”!

  • La Casa Del Mojito: This is technically not wine but who would’ve thought I’d have one of the best mojitos in Italy?! They use fresh ingredients and don’t skimp on them either. I tried ginger and passion fruit flavors and loved both.

Near Ostuni

  • Tenuta Santoro Wine Bar: Winery with a nice outdoor setting in addition to the tasting room inside a traditional Trulli! Tasted through 4 wines (2 reds, 1 white, 1 rosé) for €15 and bought a bottle of refreshing white and red. Puglia region typically doesn’t grow grapes like Cab or Merlot but their vineyard is located in a small valley that

  • Vinicolo: Charming wine bar in the Ostuni city center. Host was super nice and went out of the way to offer various wines by the glass. He also had great recommendations on other wineries to visit in the area. We ended up getting a glass of sparkling, white, and red.

  • Borgo Antico Bistrot: Located in the middle of switchback streets, such a fun unique place to enjoy aperitivo before dinner. We had an amazing fresh cheese charcuterie plate with a few drinks. There’s a cute instagrammable blue door on top of the street.

Near Lecce

  • Cantele: Their wines were fairly common on local restaurants’ wine list and seemed to be one of the bigger wineries in the area. We didn’t make reservations so didn’t get to do the full tour and tasting but the host was super nice to give recommendations in the area and we ended up buying a bottle to try!

  • Feudi di Guagnano: This tasting room is in the small town of Guagnano and their rosé was

  • L'Orecchietta: This place was recommended by the host at Cantele for lunch and local wines by the glass. Deli style counter has fresh hot and cold pastas, salads, seafood, meats, and veggies. They have an entire wall of local wines and have a lot of them available by glass. Great place to stop by for lunch with wine. I don’t know how pricing works (we just pointed at dishes that looked good 😆) but our 3 plates of food and 2 glasses of wine was around €20.

Otranto

  • L'Ortale Ristoro SAlentissimo: I loved this hidden wine garden. Lots of choices by the glass or bottle (each bottle was only 15-20) and the garden was the most relaxing place to sit and drink.

  • La Cambusa: This wine bar is located right in front of the Aragonese Castle of Otranto so you get a great vibe and view of the Castle. Good selection of local wines by the glass!

I’ve also bookmarked these wineries but did not get a chance to visit:

  • L'Astore Masseria

  • Michele Calò & Figli

  • Azienda Agricola Cosimo Taurino

  • Castello Monaci

  • Masseria Li Veli

Overall, Puglia wines are a great value at €10-30 per bottle and definitely recommend trying it out!

Where to stay, eat, and drink in Puglia, Italy

Italy has become one of my favorite travel destinations and my recent trip to Puglia only made it better! After an amazing trip to the Amalfi coast visiting Capri and Positano, I decided to venture out to Puglia, often referred to the ‘Heel of the boot.’ It’s definitely less touristy compared to the Amalfi coast and best experienced by car! I stayed in 3 different cities to fully experience the region. Here’s where I stayed, ate, and drank in each of the city.

Polignano a mare

This is one of the more well-known cities and definitely do-able without a car. It’s famous for Lama Monachile beach and you can spend days walking and exploring the city.

Stay

We stayed at this charming B&B and it was perfect! Room with a balcony was spacious and you get a view of the ocean and the iconic bridge from the balcony. Located right in the center of the city, all the popular and great spots are within walking distance (less than 1-5 minutes).

Eat & drink

Antiche Mura: There’s no view but the indoor setting here is really romantic. They have a mix of traditional and unique dish centered around seafood. We enjoyed our uni + oyster pasta, pasta with red prawn with zucchini flower, and fish soup!

Morus Sapori & Sentori: Located by the water with a little bit of the view, another great seafood restaurant! We had uni pasta, lobster pasta, and lobster catalan.

La Casa Del Mojito: Had the best ginger mojito here! They make all of them with fresh ingredients and do not skimp on them either.

Aquamarea: Menu/drinks are not too special but it’s located right on the popular viewpoint of the beach/city. Small pedestrian streets are not well recognized by Google maps but it’s easy to just follow the streets and navigate towards this direction.

Ostuni

Ostuni is often referred as the mid-point base for Puglia as it’s 1.5 hr from the main airport Bari and ~2hrs from the southern most part of Puglia. It’s not right on the coast but has lots of charming Masserias, which are Italian bed and breakfast farm stay. We stayed here for 2 nights and loved the quite and relaxed experience. It is also close to Alberobello UNESCO World Heritage Site, town of trulli and you can find places to stay inside a trullo.

Stay

We stayed at the most adorable and picturesque Masseria with a huge pool area. I absolutely loved the stay and highly recommend. Not all rooms are Trulli and there are only a handful of them so book early if you want to stay in one!

Eat & drink

Borgo Antico Bistrot: Located in the middle of switchback streets, such a fun unique place to enjoy aperitivo before dinner. We had an amazing fresh cheese charcuterie plate with a few drinks. There’s a cute instagrammable blue door on top of the street.

Osteria Piazzetta Cattedrale: Great traditional local dish that features affordable tasting menu at 35-45euro. We opted for a la carte because we like trying a little bit of everything. A couple dishes were a bit too salty for me but overall was a nice place to grab dinner and try regional food.

We didn’t get to try all the places I’ve bookmarked but also have heard great things about Ristorante Taverna della Gelosia, Vicolo 43, and Dish

Otranto

We chose Otranto as our base to explore the Southern most tip of the region and loved the city. Expansive sandy beach and the castle in the city center added to the charm!

Stay

We booked this one last minute and it served us well. Clean and spacious close to the city. Since we knew we were getting the Masseria experience a room with a view at other cities, we were not picky here other than the location. I’d say you should be good as long as you are within walking distance to the city center and have access to parking!

Eat & drink

L'Ortale Ristoro SAlentissimo: I loved this hidden wine garden. Lots of choices by the glass or bottle (each bottle was only 15-20) and the garden was the most relaxing place to sit and drink.

Latrobaffo: Booked this place when I saw uni pasta on the menu, which is one of my favorites! They gave out mini Aperol spritz as a welcome drink 🙌 and had a great seafood focused menu. It’s on the expensive side but we enjoyed every minute and bite here!

Classe 80: Another seafood spot! Loved the fried mixed seafood platter here along with some unique pasta dishes. I asked for a tomato sauce on the side like a noob and was given a bowl of the best freshly made garlicky tomato sauce I’ve ever had 😂

I spent ~2.5 days in each area and it was truly one of the best weeks I’ve had 🥰 Can’t recommend Puglia enough! If you are planning a trip, see more updates and ask me any questions via DM @fine.vining

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7 day itinerary in Champagne, France

Planning a winery trip abroad can seem daunting as you have to know where to stay, deal with transportation, AND make reservations for wineries. I have done more planning for my recent Champagne trip compared to other trips where I usually only bookmark a few restaurants and book hotels and transportations. If you are planning a trip to Champagne, here’s the summary of recommended itinerary to maximize your experience there!

Note that this isn’t the exact itinerary from my recent trip but optimized and modified after experiencing the region.

Day 1-3

Stay in Reims and visit large houses and have nice dinners

Reims is actually considered a tourist destination not just for champagne houses. Did you know there is another Cathédrale Notre-Dame in Reims? City is fairly big and you can find a lot of great restaurants. You can stay in the city center and explore large Champagne houses or stay ~10minutes from the center in a small boutique hotel (we did both!)

Places to stay

Champagne houses

  • Ruinart, Veuve Clicquot, Pommery

Day 3

Hire a driver to visit grower producers in between Reims and Epernay (or rent a car)

I actually did this myself as well, if you don’t rent a car, best way to maximize your transportation budget while wine tasting is to combine traveling between cities with a private driver. You can hire a driver for a day or half a day, get picked up in one city and dropped off in another. I went with this driver/company after comparing a few options and prices. We visited Bouzy and Verzy while traveling from Epernay back to Reims. Here are the spots you can visit while moving between cities:

Bouzy/Ambonnay wineries

  • Paul Dethune, Champagne Egly-Ouriet, BARNAUT, Champagne Benoît Lahaye

Verzy

Day 3-5

Stay in Avize & visit small grower producers

Avize isn’t the only small town in Champagne where you can stay and visit other producers in the area but I’d have to say I LOVED my stay and will definitely stay there again if I go back. Avize is not only a home for so many up and coming and already popular grower producers but also has the best B&B, Les Avises. From the B&B you can rent their e-bikes to visit and taste at

  • Dhondt Grellet, Corbon, Franck Bonville, Champagne DE SOUSA, Etienne Calsac

and don’t miss the Jacques-Selosse Champagne tasting hosted by the owner & winemaker Anselme.

Day 6

Epernay for Ave. de Champagne

Epernay is definitely smaller compared to Reims (i.e. there are Ubers in Reims but not in Epernay) but this is where you can find the famous Avenue of Champagne. You can find popular Champagne houses like Moët et Chandon and Perrier-Jouet. If you have additional days, you can also visit nearby cities like Ay or Hautevillers.

Travel back to Reims or Paris

You can get back to Paris via train from Reims or Epernay depending on how much longer you are spending in the area.

Couldn’t pack all the places to eat and see in this itinerary so feel free ask me any questions via DM @fine.vining

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Wineries to visit in Porto and Douro Valley and travel tips

Douro is approximately 3x the size of Napa Valley and there are no shortage of wineries “Quintas” to visit in the area. With only 2 days in the Valley (and having full itinerary outside of Douro), we definitely didn’t get to visit as many as I would have liked. However, it was also easy to visit port houses right in town of Porto within walking distance to Airbnbs and hotels. Here are some of the wineries we visited in Douro and Porto:



Douro Valley Wineries

Few things I had in mind when planning the Douro is 1) Mix of Port and still wines 2) Mix of small and large wineries 3) Include a winery with the Douro River view 4) Reasonable distance/route

  1. Wine and Soul - Small family owned winery with a long list of still white and red wines along with ports.

  2. Vintage Theory - We stopped here during lunch and did their lunch and tasting experience. Booking through our driver (more on this later) gave us a significant discount–€15 for a sit down lunch with wine and separate port tasting. Good traditional lunch and the port tasting was fun and educational

  3. Quinta do Popa - We wanted to include a winery with the iconic view of the Douro River and this was a great spot. You can choose to focus on their port or still wines for the tasting so we did a bit of both.

  4. Quinta da Pacheca - We tasted here as it was included with our stay (which we LOVED, you can read more about it here)

  5. Murganheira - This is technically not considered Douro Valley but in Távora-Varosa, about 30 minutes south of our hotel. We visited on our 2nd day before returning to Porto, separately from full day of tasting in Douro Valley. Loved the experience getting to tour the cave and seeing the entire traditional sparkling wine making process.

Transportation to Douro from Porto

We typically opt to hire a private driver vs. renting a car when we are abroad and wine tasting because we are not familiar with the area and would rather enjoy the day without worrying about someone being a designated driver. We were spending the night in Douro so we hired a driver to pick us up from our place in Porto and drop us off in Douro instead of driving back to Porto. We compared a few options and chose a company that seemed like a good balance of being affordable and personable. Prior to the trip, I worked with the company to arrange the route based on my research and their recommendation. Highly recommend this if you want complete freedom in planning the day. Other options are

  1. Public transportation (Train to Douro then Taxi to wineries) which will take longer and could be limiting in terms of winery choices

  2. Group tours with a set itinerary (convenient but limiting in terms of winery choices). If you are ok with these limitations and want to do a quick day trip from Porto it’s a great option and more affordable. You can find some private and group options here.



Porto Wineries

There is an entire street/area dedicated to Port wine houses in Vila Nova de Gaia area of Porto and you can find all the popular names like Calem and Fonseca. We didn’t do much research prior and just stopped by while walking around. Two we ended up visiting were:

  1. Churchill Lodge: Bit further walk into the town from the main road but the walk was worth it! There are various flights you can choose from and we felt like we really got to taste different types of ports here. Ended up taking two bottles home!

  2. Porto Augusto: We wanted to check out a smaller producer/brand that is not as familiar to us and ended up here. They have a tour and tasting or you can just choose a tasting flight with a variety of ports. It was fun to taste the difference from Ruby, Tawny, and Vintage.

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