We were greeted by a lovely young woman when we entered and welcomed right away to sit down for a wine tasting. We tried 4 red wines and bought 4 bottles to take back to Canada with us! The sommelière was very knowledgeable and shared some great stories with us about the region.
Were able to take a short 20 minute tour of their cellar and taste their wines despite not having a reservation. Very nice grounds, very friendly staff and delicious and reasonably priced chianti. Also bought some delicious extra virgin olive oil that they make on premises.
Our private Wine Maker for a Day and lunch with Fabrizio at Castello di Monterinaldi was Sensational! It was the most pleasant way to spend a day in Tuscany. The Winemaker and Fabrizio sat privately with us and fully explained how to blend a personal variety of wine. Then after continued tasting until we felt it was just what we wanted, the winemaker created the exact proportions of the blend of wines for us. Fabrizio promised the wines would be bottled and wait until they would be ready to be shipped with labels we personally created. The shipping would be done in a temperature controlled container assuring the quality. We had lunch prepared by the private chef, including her personal recipes being shared for the most delicious meal.Definitely highly recommend adding this to any itinerary in the area.
We visited Castello Monterinaldi in October with a small tour group of 13. It was one of the highlights of 15 fabulous days in Italy. We were given a tour of the winery by a beautiful young lady with a detailed knowledge of the winery and who spoke English with an absolutely enchanting Italian accent. Our meal was the best we had in Italy and anyone who has spent 15 days here would know that is high praise indeed. The wine was superb. I can't wait for the case we ordered to arrive.
I feel a bit bad writing this review because our tour guide was such a sweetheart and very knowledgeable. However to be honest, the experience otherwise was a bit underwelming. We chose to have the tour and lunch package. The tour of the grounds and cellar were somewhat interesting, but the information we received was great (such as the specifications Chianti Classico must meet). Lunch was just so so. I think our expectations were a bit too high. We were thinking we might get Tuscan restaurant quality and taste, but that wasn't the case. All in all we feel we learned a lot from our tour, but shouldn't have made bothered with the lunch.
We booked the cooking class experience about a month before our trip. The communication and booking with Fabrizio was prompt and seamless. When we arrived for our class, we were given a tour of the grounds and winery/cellars beforehand which are just beautiful! Our cooking instructor, Camilla, was just fantastic! To summarize, we spent about 3 hours with hands on learning how to cook authentic Italian food. All the while, sampling/taste testing our new recipes and enjoying a few glasses of wine! After the class, we sat down to enjoy the AMAZING food we had just prepared along with more of their excellent wine! My husband and I had an amazing time and enjoyed every moment! Since we've returned home, we've made many of the meals and I have to say that I was nervous to recreate the food, but it all turned out great! This experience was hands down worth every penny! We left the estate with a few bottles of wine, olive oil and a bottle of Vin Santo (which is the BEST I've ever had!). Would definitely recommend this experience to anyone visiting the Italian countryside.
My family and I took a cooking class here (with Camila, who was wonderful!) and we had the best time. Lovely grounds, friendly staff and amazing wine.
We had a lovely time here having lunch, tasting some excellent wines, saw something I have never seen before which are the grapes coming into the callers - the grapes looked really good. Hope that next years vintage will be a good one.
Excellent wine tasting, verry kindly and generous during the wine tasting. Also excellent oliveoil.Pay attention for the opening hours.
My husband and I did the wine tasting / lunch combination. Once we arrived, we took a brief tour of the cellar and heard a bit about the property and the history. Then we were escorted into the estate where we were seated in our own dining room. (They have taken the main floor and divided into four dining spaces. Each of the doors used to separate the rooms have glass panels so you can get a feel for the decor in each room but they still provide a degree of separation.) As soon as we sat down we were provided with our first sample (glass) of wine which was paired with a variety of antipasti. As soon as our guide explained the wine to us we were left to enjoy the wine and the food. They are experts at this so they check in often enough to ensure you are comfortable with the pace but no so frequently that you feel rushed or bothered. We were then served a pasta course with a second type of wine, then a meat course with a third, and a dessert course with a fourth....I could elaborate on each course but in conclusion each course would end with the phase - it was so good. In fact during th pasta course I began to get full so I pushed my plate away when I was about halfway done, but ten minutes later I had cleaned my plate I just couldn't stop it was so good.In the end you have had four amazing glasses of wine and a delicious four course lunch. This was one of my favorite wine tasting experiences and I have gone on three wine tasting vacations.