The price tag is a big hefty, but a wine tour with Tuscany Private Tours is oh so worth it…read more I was staying in the Castellina area of Chianti and was having a lot of trouble finding a company that would provide a private transfer to and from the hotel. Most tours leave from the Florence / Siena area, or have you meet them right at the winery. My feeling was that if I was spending a few days in Tuscany I wanted at least one day of not having to worry about driving to and from wineries. Thankfully we found Tuscany Private Tours and all was good. It is an extra 40 euro to add pick up and drop off at the hotel. But if you are going to all the trouble to arrange a private tour it would be the worst to have to drive 15-20 minutes to actually get to the tour. So again, you can really alleviate all driving with this if you want to. We took the 'Safari Tour' -- basically like a regular wine tour, except you get to cruise around in a super cool land rover. Our guide Paolo was awesome. He was super friendly and knowledgeable of wine and the area, and was overall just a really cool person to spend the day with. You visit three different wineries, tastings included at each and also have an included homemade winery lunch at your last stop. I liked that all three wineries have very different vibes. Our guide also mentioned that he chooses to do this on purpose. First stop -- a big commercial winery. Very cool to tour their production facility and then compare that to a production facility at a much smaller winery. Second Stop -- more of an urban experience. We visited a tasting room on the main street in Castellina. Paolo explained that he purposely takes people to this winery because it is one of the oldest in the area. After visiting several wineries in the rolling hills it was cool to also check one out in more of an industrial setting. Third Stop -- by far the best! Paolo took us to a very small winery. So small, that you'd probably only be able to find them if you have a tour guide that is friends with their family (ahem, Paolo). The grounds were absolutely gorgeous -- insane views of the Tuscan hills and gorgeous plants and greenery everywhere. We enjoyed a fantastic multi-course lunch -- pasta (of course), assorted crostinis, cheeses, meats and dessert. Because it's lunch (and maybe because it's the last stop?) we also had way more wine than just a taste. I'm here for it. If you want to try all wines before deciding which bottle to buy, they have every bottle available at the Tuscany Private Tour office. Tips for the tastings are included, but tips for your guide aren't, so be sure to bring some cash. Long review, but in short -- if you are not staying in the city and want to wine tour without worrying about driving then just do this. It's pricey but worth it for an incredible day. We will truly remember it forever.

Awesome wine tour! We had the best tour guide/driver GAIA! She was so sweet and we had the best…read moretime at all 3 wineries. We tasted a good mix of Chianti, Rosé, White blends, vin Santo (dessert wine), and a new fav Vermentino wines which you definitely can't find in the states! Ended the tour at a family farm house/ winery. We had a delicious farm to table lunch with limoncello and tiramisu to top it off. At the end of the tour you can "make your own box" of wines from each winery and ship it right to your house! Overall, excellent experience with the best views of Toscana, would def recommend to anyone looking for a private wine tour!