Italy on Dante Minutello · Wine Tours with a Sommelier

Tuscany: Chianti Classico, Radda and Montalcino

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0100

The place#

Tuscany is the one Italian wine region I treat as an extension rather than a destination. My scheduled routes in Italy go to Piedmont, Friuli and Etna; Chianti Classico and Montalcino are where I take a group that has three or four more days and wants to see what Sangiovese does at home. The region deserves the days; it does not need me to sell it.

Etna wine region: Nerello Mascalese on the volcano

Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0100

The place#

Etna is the one wine region in Italy where the ground under the vines is younger than some of the vines. Sicily’s volcano stands about 3,350 metres above the Ionian Sea, the most active in Europe, and its vineyards form a horseshoe around the lower flanks between roughly 450 and 1,000 metres.

Friuli Collio: orange wine country on the Slovenian border

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0100

The place#

Friuli is the north-eastern corner of Italy, and the part I tour is small: the Collio, a crescent of hills between Gorizia and Cormons against the Slovenian border, and the Carso, the limestone plateau above Trieste. The hills do not stop at the frontier; across it they continue as Goriška Brda, same soil, same grapes, a different alphabet on the labels.

Piedmont: Barolo, Barbaresco and the Langhe hills

Wed, 11 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0100

The place#

The Langhe are the hills south of Alba, in Piedmont, north-west Italy, rising from the Tanaro valley, 172 metres at Alba, toward the Ligurian Apennines. Alba is the market town and my base. Barolo lies to the south-west, Barbaresco to the north-east, each 10 to 15 kilometres away, and on a clear November morning the snow line of the Alps stands along the whole northern horizon.