GREVE AND MONTEFIORALLE
Coming from Florence, Greve in Chianti is the natural gateway. The town grew around its triangular Piazza Matteotti, still lined with arcades and food shops, and its market tradition goes back centuries. This is where you start thinking about lunch before it is actually lunchtime.
Go shopping. Antica Macelleria Falorni, established in 1729, is the obvious destination for Tuscan charcuterie: salame di cinghiale, finocchiona, prosciutto and other cured meats. But don’t stop at the butcher. Look into the small alimentari and wine shops around the piazza for pecorino, local olive oil, cantucci and bottles from the estates you will be passing later.
Then make the short detour uphill to Montefioralle, a tiny fortified village always overlooked. It is one of those places that rwe can call a gem and still raise higher than the cliche: medieval stone houses still form a near-continuous ring around the old castle, and the village feels as intimate and poetic as its name suggests.
If you are here in September, it’s Montefioralle Divino, the village’s wine festival, when local producers gather to pour their Chianti Classico Annata, Riserva and Gran Selezione. There is a paramount feeling of being in the right place at the right time when tasting the wines here, in a medieval hamlet above the vineyards that produce them. The degustazione goes like this: the welcome desk is where you take a glass, then you pass by the stands tasting whats on offer, then you discover something that you never tried before, like mosto cotto, then you fall in love with a particular wine, refill and continue your walk on the winding cobblestones, increasingly wondering how you could have lived without this so far and what, really, is the point of concrete, desks and business cards. When you leave, you take your glass with you as a souvenir, pladging your return. you will make ths promise this ten times over, at least.
One way to go is from the formidable, perfectly walled Monteriggioni up through Castellina in Chianti to Panzano, where the legendary butcher Dario Cecchini holds court, and Greve in Chianti. Another one goes from Castellina towards Radda and the unique hamlet of Volpaia, then circles towards Gaiole, passing through San Felice to the gates of Brolio Castle.
In Castellina, walk the Via delle Volte and visit the Rocca Comunale, the ancient town hall. In Tavarnelle you can stop at a local tavern to honor the name – Tavarnelle is derived from the Latin word taberna (tavern). In Greve, take your time for lunch or coffee in the central piazza and do a bit of food shopping — salame di cinghiale (wild boar salami) at the meat-heaven Macelleria Falorni. Then drive uphill to Montefiorale, a secret gem, almost always overlooked while passing through Greve. This tiny fortified village is rated one of the most beautiful in Italy and it is also one of the oldest, still preserving the original walls. If you arrive in September, during harvest season, you will enjoy the discreetly sublime Montefioralle Divino, a wine tasting festival where local producers showcase their Chianti Classico wines (Annata, Riserva, and Gran Selezione).
Then there’s Volpaia – oh, how I adore the not-so-famous Volpaia! This is a truly unique community of organic farming and ancient winemaking, worth losing your head over. Come for a glass, forget time, stay for the night. Osteria Volpaia is culinary marvel – think bread ice cream meets pecorino, caramelized apples, and black pepper – but the thing you cannot leave without is one bottle – or three – of their Coltasala wine. So it goes.
If you really know your Chianti, you must pay your respects to Castello di Brolio. This formidable castle passed to the Ricasoli family in 1141. Their family tree, captured in a 1584 print, is one of Chianti’s earliest visual records. It was Bettino Ricasoli, the “Iron Baron,” a key figure in the Italian Risorgimento and later Prime Minister, who became the true father of Chianti Classico. In 1872, he perfected the wine’s enduring formula of a minimum of 80% Sangiovese grapes. Today, Barone Ricasoli stands as the oldest winery in Italy and the fourth longest-lived company in the world still active at its birthplace.
