Home About Us Registration Flavors of Tuscany - A Culinary and Wine Journey Provence Without the Attitude The Real Italy Women's Tuscan Villa Escape

Come travel with us through the back roads of Italy's most prestigious wine country. You will see colors as vibrant as the people who produce the wines. We will take the wine road (via Chiantigiana) to the Verazzano winery to taste a great Chianti Classico and where the best balsamic vinegar we have ever tasted is produced. Then onto the wineries in Montepulciano and Montalcino for the famous Brunello's. At the end of each day's tour, you will come back to your private villa and gather around the fireplace to discuss, with a sommelier, the wines and the vineyards you have just explored and then sit down to a grand Italian feast that will pair perfectly with the wine of the day. One night of the tour there will be a special dinner with one of the local wine-makers.

Besides visiting great wineries, anyone who is interested can help "Chef Suzanne" prepare meals and learn the secrets to great Italian cooking in the gourmet kitchen of the villa which includes a wood burning pizza oven. There will be a day trip into Siena with the chef of the estate who will take you on a tour of the markets and shops where the chefs of the area find all the best local ingredients. We will also visit Siena's famous Enoteca. We will then come back to our villa for a demonstration cooking class on preparing a typical Tuscan meal. There will also be olive oil tastings and a visit to a sheep cheese farm, to see how the famous pecorino cheese is made.

Your lodging during this incredible wine tour will be on an estate in Montestigliano in the Tuscany hills just south of Siena. This estate is composed of a group of 18th century houses and farm buildings which have been carefully restored to retain the original features common to Tuscan architecture, such as exposed beam ceilings, whitewashed walls and terra-cotta tiled floors. You will be staying in a magnificient 17th century traditional Tuscan stone farm house which sits totally undisturbed amidst beautiful woodlands on the crest of the Senese hills. This home has recently been lavishly restored with great care and attention to the smallest detail. The decor is elegant and very Italian and each bedroom has its own private bathroom. The immediate surroundings of the 2500 acre estate provide a glorious setting for walking, hiking and mountain biking. There is a beautiful infinity pool for your own private use.

This exciting new tour for Changing Gears is open to men and woman and the price is $ per person, based on double occupancy. Price includes lodging, all breakfasts and dinners, wine tours, cooking class, wine guide, transportation around the local area and to the vineyards. Price does not include airfare. Limited to 10 participants.