From Siena, we drove across the SR222 highway, famous for its majestic scenic route all the way to the Chianti Region. Prior to this visit, we looked for a place that offers a good vineyard visit and wine tasting, with a decent restaurant. This is how we found out about Antinori Winery.
Lovely, misty Tuscan hills
Foggy ride
It was a little bit scary driving in the misty mountains early in the morning. The clouds loved the mountain-tops so much, we could hardly see where we were going. But whenever the clouds would part, we would be treated with such gorgeous sights of mountain-side vineyards. We made several stops along the way to take pictures, of course. But we made sure that we got there in time for lunch.
Amongst the young vines of the Chianti Classico
The Rinuccio 1180 restaurant
Wine sampler with charcuterie, cheese, crostini, etc
Bright and airy restaurant
The vineyard’s restaurant is called Rinuccio 1180. It has beautiful, tall glass windows all around that lets you take in the magnificent view of the Tuscan hills while eating. We took the wine sampler and enjoyed the good menu.
After lunch, we descended into a winding staircase leading to where the vineyard visit starts. The architecture of the place is very modern. It’s mostly flat, inconspicuous and barely visible from afar. In fact, we were getting a bit worried on our way there, solely relying on our GPS, because we were not seeing any signs on the way there. And even when we were nearing the place, it didn’t really look like the usual vineyard places.
Winding stairs
The very modern architecture of Antinory Winery
The architecture of the building
Very old clay container
Explaining the wine-making process
Inside the cave where they store the barrels of wine. There is also a part of their restaurant where the cave is visible to the diners.
Wine tasting
Although the wines are good, we didn’t think they should be so expensive, so we didn’t get any
After the vineyard visit and wine tasting, we watched a video in a little theater inside where they show the history of the Antinori family’s vineyards in Italy. There is also a little museum. And a gigantic ancient wine press.
The wines are really good and I totally enjoyed the vineyard visit because it was in English, unlike the first time I tried to do one in France where it was done in French (of course). I would say that this is my best vineyard visit to date.
