Food and Wine of Tuscany

Hello....My name is Bernie Kilkelly. My wife Maureen and I traveled to Tuscany in 1996 and 1999, and again with our daughter Bernadette in 2002 and 2006, and had a wonderful time seeing the sights and enjoying the fabulous food and wine.

This guide has information and recommendations on places to stay, dine and taste wine in the Valdiachiana and Chianti Classico regions, the wine towns of Montepulciano and Montalcino, and the historic cities of Lucca, Pisa and our favorite city in Tuscany, Siena.

If you travel to Tuscany in July or August, we strongly recommend a visit to Siena to see the Palio. This famous bareback horse race takes place every year on July 2 and August 16, with festivals and practice races in the week leading up to the main event. While in Siena, wine lovers can also visit the Enoteca Italiana Siena, the official enoteca of the Italian government, which showcases all of the DOC and DOCG wines from across Italy.

I've also compiled a selection of links to other websites that should help in your planning. In addition, I highly recommend a book that was invaluable to our first trip: 'The Wine Roads of Italy' by Marc and Kim Millon. Even though it is a little outdated, this book has a wealth of information on wine and foods of the various regions of Italy. The advice the book gives on tasting at wineries is right on target: "Degustazione: Stop to Taste, Stop to Buy." The book is available on the web at: Wine Roads of Italy.

Please e-mail us with comments and questions at kilkellycom at gmail.com.

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