Going to be spending a few days in the Florence region fourth week of October and I'm looking for suggestions on wine tasting/tours. We'll have come by rail from Rome. Not sure if we should get a car while in Florence to help move around the country side though.

We hired a private driver. I am a budget traveler but IT WAS THE BEST DECISION! I will check w/my daughter on the details.

We used Prestige Rent. The driver picked us up at our Florence Airbnb on time at 9am. He was driving a spotless Mercedes sedan. There were 3 of us. Me, hubs, & new Aggie grad daughter. We did the custom tour. We went to Greve, San Gimignano & the Verrazzano winery. I don't recall the specific order of stops but it was all planned around the tour that I booked at the winery. He did a little bit of narrating of the area on our drive & then dropped us off at each spot to explore on our own. It rained off/on that day so we didn't stay long in Greve so he drove us thru some other areas & returned us to our apartment 8 hrs later. The cost was 450 euro plus a tip. This was much better than spending time going to rent a car for the day & trying to find our way around the countryside. I do think that would be fun to spend a few days exploring the region by car but we only had one day to spend in this area. We don't normally do organized "group" tours preferring to explore on our own. This was a splurge to hire a private driver & the best choice along w/the private boat tour we took in Capri. The 2 best parts of our 3 week trip.

https://www.prestigerent.com/

Verrazzano Winery- My son lived in Italy for 5 months & recommended this place. It is beautiful. We visited on an Italian holiday so the only tour they were offering that day was the Sabato Special. Initially I was disappointed because I really just wanted to do the wine tour & not overpay for lunch that I presumed would be some cheese & crackers. Boy was I wrong! The multi course lunch (served w/wine) was AMAZING! The Italian women were right there in the kitchen cooking everything fresh.

https://www.verrazzano.com/en/

Thanks, I'll look into that.

We went to Pratesi and it was amazing. They had actually closed for the day because it was "too hot" and we had made no reservation, we were just driving around. The owner invited us into his home and his wife gave us a private tasting. The wine was fantastic and they just loved sharing it with us. I highly recommend.

http://www.pratesivini.it/index.php/carmignano/?lang=en

CrockerCock00 said:

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Going to be spending a few days in the Florence region fourth week of October and I'm looking for suggestions on wine tasting/tours. We'll have come by rail from Rome. Not sure if we should get a car while in Florence to help move around the country side though.

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I will be there the week before you. We hired a private driver for the days we are wine tasting and just walking/biking while in Florence. As people noted on the other thread get tickets to any museums ahead of time.

If you really want to have one of the best times ever go to the White Truffle festival in Alba. You smell the truffles when you drive into town. All the Piedmont region wines as well as sparking are featured. Entire month in October. Did not hear any Americans there just truffle buyers.

Texas Ag Mom said:

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We used Prestige Rent. The driver picked us up at our Florence Airbnb on time at 9am. He was driving a spotless Mercedes sedan. There were 3 of us. Me, hubs, & new Aggie grad daughter. We did the custom tour. We went to Greve, San Gimignano & the Verrazzano winery. I don't recall the specific order of stops but it was all planned around the tour that I booked at the winery. He did a little bit of narrating of the area on our drive & then dropped us off at each spot to explore on our own. It rained off/on that day so we didn't stay long in Greve so he drove us thru some other areas & returned us to our apartment 8 hrs later. The cost was 450 euro plus a tip. This was much better than spending time going to rent a car for the day & trying to find our way around the countryside. I do think that would be fun to spend a few days exploring the region by car but we only had one day to spend in this area. We don't normally do organized "group" tours preferring to explore on our own. This was a splurge to hire a private driver & the best choice along w/the private boat tour we took in Capri. The 2 best parts of our 3 week trip.

https://www.prestigerent.com/

Verrazzano Winery- My son lived in Italy for 5 months & recommended this place. It is beautiful. We visited on an Italian holiday so the only tour they were offering that day was the Sabato Special. Initially I was disappointed because I really just wanted to do the wine tour & not overpay for lunch that I presumed would be some cheese & crackers. Boy was I wrong! The multi course lunch (served w/wine) was AMAZING! The Italian women were right there in the kitchen cooking everything fresh.

https://www.verrazzano.com/en/

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We went to Italy for 3 weeks in 2013 and did a very similar wine excursion as above. I will recommend this tiny winery:

http://www.palagiodipanzano.com/home.page

It was fantastic, and Monia is very knowledgeable and engaging. They do not distribute to the US, but it was the best Chianti Classico we had on the whole trip. they have lodging on site in a beautiful area if you choose as well.

For those that have hit up the wineries, will they ship back to Texas and were they reasonable rates for shipping?

It's pretty pricey to have the wine shipped, but when in Rome. The more you buy the lower the shipping rates, but it's worth it especially if the wine is not sold here. The wine is well priced and much, much cheaper than it would cost to buy the same bottle in the US. That being said, the best wineries are the small, local vintners.

As far as the car....Are you staying only in Florence or also in Tuscany? If you are only staying in Florence I'd get a tour or driver. If you are also staying in Tuscany for a couple/few days I'd highly recommend getting a car. We did the latter in April and I don't know how we'd have done it without a car.

Outside of Siena right now. One of the things we figured out is that Total Wine has a contract with a bunch of the wineries in the area. See if they work with Total Wine before you buy at the winery and ship it yourself.
You can special order it through them.