We visited Dievole winery, about 10 miles north of Sienna in 2000 and again in 2003. They give a very comprehensive tour, with tastings of all their wines, and also have a small place to eat some lunch or snacks. The people are incredibly freindly and really make the visit a pleasure. You can contact them at villa.dievole@dievole.it, and make a reservation (I would recommend this).

Other than this visit, which was very structured, we just dropped in on several very small, completely unknown wineries, and were always welcomed and ended up getting some very good wine at great prices.

Finally, all of these wineries have olive oil for sale/tasting as well. This may be a better deal now than wine.

Steve

We booked a last-minute "packaged" Chianti Wine Trail tour upon arrival at our hotel in Siena the second week of October. The tour operator was Cor-Magis, I think, and our driver and host, Franco, was awesome! I believe he's starting his own tour group business. He had a real passion for wine and olive oil. From others I talked to, the Chianti region is easy to drive around if you have your own car. Since we only had 1 day to spend visiting wineries, we appreciated someone else doing the driving (3 couples in a comfortable van), and we were able to take advantage of some wineries where reservations were necessary for tastings.

I also recommend that you take a guided tour, it really optimizes your winery visits and time - and gives you great background information. I also know Franco, so if you want to contact him, let me know. Or try the www.tuscan-wine-tours.com - they have great personal tours.

JRC...Franco sounds like a great tour guide...we will be there in May, if you have contact info for him that would be appreciated.

Franco's cell-phone number is: +39-3479106890. Have fun!

We highly recommend Poggio Antico, outside of Montalcino. The Brunellos are probably the best you can get in Tuscany! In the States they are completely unaffordable, starting at around $60 per bottle for a decent one. You must book 6 months ahead, but it is so worth it. The grounds are the loveliest you will see (Chianti and Sienna have nothing on this place), and the hosts are quite gracious. We recommend, too, that you have lunch at their restaurant (make a resi for this too) which is among the best in all of Italy. You will not be disappointed.