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Chianti – the most famous of wine regions

by CC

It may have been the subject of a famous film line by Hannibal Lector – but a nice Chianti is a far from a fearsome experience as you can get. (Andrew's comment: Chianti from Fattoria Campigiana is my pick)

Chianti isn’t an administrative region of Italy, it is a part of the country known only for its wine making taking in the Tuscan provinces of Florence, Siena, Arezzo and Pisa.

Pisa, Florence and Siena are the major tourist attractions away from wine. Though the Chianti region and Tuscany in general is blessed with beautiful towns and villages such as as well as Castellina, San Gimignano, Panzano and Rada.

The famous image of Chianti wine is a squat bottle enclosed in a straw basket, called a fiasco. This though is increasingly rare, and fiascos are often now only produced as a tourist memento.

To perhaps truly appreciate a wine that dates back to the thirteenth century a wine tour is almost essential. Sites such as Booking.com offer a variety of places that give you easy access to the region.

A great time to come to the region is on the last Sunday of May when many producers throughout Italy open their doors for the festival of Cantine Aperte, allowing visitors to sample wines and taste traditional Tuscan fare.

Another way of really understanding how this regions ticks and perhaps reaching beyond the traditional tourist trail is agriturismi which involves staying on an actual working farm who rent out apartments on their land as far away from the traditional Italian city hotels as you can get

Agriturismi can allow you to explore a greater variety of farms, as the wine differs greatly according to the producers' methods, type of wines used and the type of soil the vines are grown in.

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