Wine + Italy + BFF = One hell of a good time

Drinking Wine is great, but drinking wine with your best friend is the best

When planning a trip to Italy, wine tasting is a must. That’s exactly why we celebrated my bestie’s 30th birthday by heading to Italy! We explored the historic city of Florence, we stayed in the medieval town of Lucca, we took a bread making class, we held up the Tower of Pisa a hundred ways, and we spent a day wine tasting.

Wine tasting in Italy with my bestie is one of those days I will never forget. And of course we had to choose the best spot for it; Greve, Chinati. Chianti wine is a special red wine that is derived from Italy, in the region of Chianti. Chianti wine can only be called Chianti if it’s made of 80% sangiovese grapes. The wine is subtle in flavor compared to some robust reds, but smooth and perfect alongside some cured meats and pecorino cheese.

We started our day of wine tasting at one of the oldest butchers in Italy, Antica Macelleria Falorni. It’s a fantastic butcher with mouthwatering salumis. The family has been butchering and making salumi since 1806 and finally planted roots in Greve in 1844. Alongside the men of the family, strong women have played major roles in the growth of the business. To this day the shop is known as being a top butcher and master salumieri, where the business is still family run.

To compliment their fresh meats, they have over 30 wines you can sample and purchase. During pouring, you determine the amount you want. You can try them all, some, or simply pour yourself a glass from their perfected tempered dispensers. It’s a great way to try some expensive wines that you may not want to splurge on for the entire bottle. We had so much fun trying the different wines they had! Of course we enjoyed them a little too much of them, but soaked it up with their selection of meat boards and homemade lasagna.

After eating too much salumi and buying some to take home, we headed to the beautiful area of Montefioralle to visit the Montefioalle Winery. This smaller family-run winery was exactly what we wanted from our wine tasting experience; a small intimate wine tasting with someone who is truly passionate about the wine. The winery just celebrated their 50th harvest in 2018 with the family taking over priest run winery in 1964.

My best friend and I were the only two at our designated wine tasting time and was the last tasting of the day, but never felt rushed to leave. We were welcomed onto the property and encouraged to walk around to enjoy it's beauty. We were treated to some tasty bites to accompany our tastings. We had such a great time! Between each tasting we were left to ourselves to chat and be silly, something we're very good at! And the wine was fantastic! We both really enjoyed their young chianti, which we each ending up purchasing to be shipped home and I their delcious olive oil. But more importantly, we had the best of memories to take home.