Brunello wine fairs 2019

Wine buyers and expert tasters usually travel to Montalcino in winter to taste the latest releases during Benvenuto Brunello. However, recently two new events have started to bring Brunello lovers to town in early summer.

Tutto in un Sorso / Wine without Borders reunites some of the most interesting producers of the natural wine world in Montalcino. Small, mostly family-run wineries from Italy and France will lead tastings of their natural wines at the Sant'Agostino church in Montalcino.

For wine lovers with an ample budget, the Long Live Brunello wine fair (tickets from 500 Euro) will be of interest. For the first time, 35 Brunello wineries reunite to open some of their oldest bottles (starting with the 1968 vintage). It's going to be hard to find another event that will allow you to taste so many riservas in one place. The fair will end with a charity auction at the Bertarelli concert hall in Cinigiano.

Long Live Brunello: June 21 - 23, 2019. Tickets from 500€.

Tutto in un Sorso: Natural wines in Montalcino, June 30 / July 1 2019

SANT'ANTIMO ABBEY - TUSCANY'S ROMANESQUE TREASURE

Sant'Antimo abbey near Montalcino You don't have to be a catholic to remain spellbound by the eternal beauty of the Sant'Antimo abbey. The Tuscan church and monastery can turn a stubborn skeptic into a reborn spiritual. At least for the time of the visit.

SWIMMING, READING AND DINING IN BAGNO VIGNONI

Whilst the sell-out of tourist destination is a well known plague all through Italy, t here exists a tiny town in UNESCO Heritage Val d'Orcia which forgoes made in China souvenirs and just opened a bookshop instead. Bagno Vignoni is one of Tuscany's oldest tourist destinations. In fact the historic spa town has never been anything else than a tourist destination, and the ratio of inhabitants to visitors must always have been at least 1 to 10. Having looked after medieval pilgrims, ailing popes and saints ( St. Catherine of Siena used to live here for a while), Bagno Vignoni isn't tempted at all to put out plastic chairs or pizza takeaways for present day travelers. I used to live close to Bagno Vignoni and have fond memories of chasing my first -born around the town's main square which consists of a steaming hot water pool (a must-see sight for urban architects!). Our healthy mornings were usually finished off with a slice of fudge chocolate c

VAL D'ORCIA: A MAP OF THE UNESCO HERITAGE SITE

About 40 minutes south of Siena and a bit over an hour from the Tuscan coast, Val d'Orcia lies to the east of the Maremma and to the west of Montepulciano and Umbria. The UNESCO world heritage site is made up by the territories of Montalcino, San Quirico d'Orcia (with historic spa town Bagno Vignoni ) , Pienza, Castiglione d'Orcia and Radicofani. The Orcia river crosses two more municipalities (Castel del Piano and my hometown Cinigiano ), where it divides the province of Siena from the province of Grosseto (Tuscany's two southernmost areas) before flowing into the Ombrone river. View VAL D'ORCIA MAP in a larger map

Mapping MONTALCINO

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