Wine hotels in Tuscany: 7 wineries to stay at

In Tuscany many wineries are also places to stay. Old hamlets, monasteries and farmhouses have been turned into rooms and suites, often with a restaurant that serves the estate's own wine. Sleeping on the estate means you can take your time at the tasting and walk back to your room afterwards. Below are seven estates we like, from Chianti Classico to Montalcino and Montepulciano.

Chianti Classico

Castello di Fonterutoli has belonged to the Mazzei family since 1435. The rooms, suites and apartments of the Wine Resort are spread over the old buildings of the medieval hamlet, a few minutes south of Castellina in Chianti. In the Osteria you eat Tuscan dishes with the estate's wines, on a terrace looking out over the vines.

Badia a Coltibuono is an eleventh-century abbey above Gaiole in Chianti. The monks laid out the first cellars here, and Chianti Classico still ages in large old casks in the crypt. You sleep in the former monks' cells, with frescoes in the shared rooms. There are also apartments for families and groups.

Borgo San Felice, near Castelnuovo Berardenga, is a whole medieval village that has become a hotel, with lanes, loggias and courtyards looking out over 150 hectares of Chianti Classico. San Felice made one of the first Super Tuscans here, Vigorello, and brought back the forgotten Pugnitello grape.

Dievole, near Vagliagli, is the place for anyone who wants to do more than taste. The estate has a 20-kilometre trail for walking, cycling or riding, and the rooms are in sixteenth-century buildings among the vines and olive trees. In the evening you eat at restaurant Novecento, on the terrace of the old villa.

Montalcino and Montepulciano

Castiglion del Bosco is a 900-year-old estate in the Val d'Orcia, not far from Montalcino. It is also one of the larger Brunello producers. You stay in one of the suites or in a villa built from an old farmhouse, and book a tour of the vineyards and cellar.

Salcheto, in the hills below Montepulciano, makes Vino Nobile and is easy to combine with Montalcino and Pienza. The suites are in a thirteenth-century farmhouse at the winery. You eat at restaurant Indigo.

Valdarno

Il Borro, in the Valdarno between Florence and Arezzo, is a medieval village of the Ferragamo family. You sleep in suites in the old houses and can go riding, truffle hunting or taste in the historic cellar. The vineyards lie at 300 to 500 metres in the Pratomagno hills.

Tip

In spring and autumn the weather is best for walking and cycling through the vineyards. Around the harvest, from September to mid-October, rooms are often booked up early. More addresses for tastings and dinners are in our Tuscany guide.