Home Tours Day Trips Honeymoons About Us Guest Book Contacts Marketplace Tours Cooking Classes Ireland's Tales and Trails Food & Wine Cruises Venice Carnival Il Palio di Siena Best of Sicily Best Of Tuscany Napa Wine Getaway A Taste of Tuscany *Tours may be customized to your specific   dates All small group tours are guided by wine experts and include chauffeured deluxe transportation, luxury hotels, all breakfasts, most gourmet meals with premium wines, all wine estate tours & tastings, and all admissions fees. A TASTE OF TUSCANY Explore the gourmet routes of the Tuscan countryside. This beautiful region is the perfect blend of culinary treasures, art, history and a haven for food and wine lovers. You’ll enjoy cooking classes, private vineyard tours and exclusive wine tastings, olive oil tastings and artisan cheese making. Visit the charming medieval hamlets of Siena, Montalcino, Pienza and San Gimignano. On the western coast of north-central Italy lies breathtaking Tuscany with its rolling hills, silver-leaved olive groves, vibrant fields of sunflowers and grapevines. Toscana’s hills are home to many of Italy’s finest red wines. Toscana’s capital city, Florence, or Firenze, is the birthplace of the Renaissance and home to some of the most impressive and celebrated art in Italy, from Michelangelo’s David to Brunelleschi’s famous Duomo. Toscana’s food is simple and earthy, expressing some of the region’s most important Renaissance values: natural beauty and clarity. The cuisine showcases fresh vegetables, legumes, grains, in fresh salads and hearty stews such as ribollita. Tuscan bread, a crusty sourdough made without salt, is famous throughout Italy. Tuscans prefer its mild flavor which balances the intense flavors of local salty pecorino toscano cheese, and the regions’ fine peppery olive oil. Tuscany’s cuisine places an emphasis on meat and game in dishes like roasted pork (arista di maiale) and rib-sticking meat sauces (ragu’) made from rabbit (lepre) or wild-boar (cinghiale) and served with the wide-ribbon noodles called pappardelle. The famous bistecca alla fiorentina, a huge t-bone steak from the local breed of chianina cows, is considered some of the finest beef in the world. The region’s signature sweets include Siena’s famous fruit and nut cake, Panforte and the crispy almond cookies called biscotti di prato or cantuccini, perfect for dipping into the local sweet wine called vin santo. Highlights -Tour vineyards and exclusive tastings of Brunello at Poggio Antico and Ciacci Piccolomini d'Aragona. Chianti Classico at Badia Coltibuona and the iconic Ricasoli family’s Castello Brolio. -Private cooking class in the Chianti countryside. Learn to make fresh pasta    tagliatelle, gnocchi, seasonal Tuscan fare and enjoy your meal with local wine produced at the estate.    -Visit an organic farm for a tasting of 30 year aged balsamic vinegar. honey  and olive oil. -Tour the town of Pienza famous for its Renaissance architecture commissioned by Pope Pius II, Palazzo Piccolimini and Duomo. Taste local artisan Pecorino cheese fresh and aged in walnut leaves, hay, or grape must. -A walking tour of the Etruscan settled town of Siena, home to Piazza del Campo that hosts the Palio horse race and Tuscan Gothic style Duomo. -Tour the “city of towers”, San Gimignano and sample Vernaccia, one of Italy’s finest white wines dating back to 1276. -Visit Sant’ Antimo, a 12th century Romanesque abbey where monks still perform ceremonies in Gregorian chant. -Deluxe accommodations in Siena and Montalcino -Full breakfasts, 2 lunch, 2 dinner -Cooking class & dinner with wine, recipe booklet and apron -Guide and deluxe transportation. Arrive and depart from Florence -Welcome bottle of wine -Photos and video of tour US $1699 per person, double occupancy Tour Dates 5 Nights/6 Days © 2008 Bacchus Vino LLC. - All rights reserved.