Chianti Grand Tour among history and nature
The ancient winemaking tradition has made the Hills of Chianti one of the most appreciated areas of Tuscany by visitors. The precious vineyards of this area provide one of the most famous Italian wines in the world, proudly labelled with the DOCG mark.
This Grand Tour – 106 km long, with a significant elevation gain of 1931m and the Monteluco pass – is an exciting bike ride among characteristic landscapes and villages, discovering the wine culture that has been handed down from generation to generation here.
The start – and finish – is in Castelnuovo Berardenga, a picturesque location, where original wine production and storage techniques are still preserved. Stage after stage, the biking tour passes through Sienese Chianti villages immersed in nature and history. We are in the heart of a unique territory, guardian of the most authentic Tuscan lifestyle.
From the scenic stone streets of Castellina in Chianti one can enjoy the breathtaking views provided by the rolling hills. The bike ride then continues through sunflower fields, farms, vineyards and wineries. It goes through Radda in Chianti – capital of the “historic” Chianti – and Gaiole in Chianti, where one can admire spectacular medieval villages, geometric vineyards and precious olive groves.
A Grand Tour that takes place entirely along good roads with little traffic, to be experienced therefore by exploiting the balance between relaxation and excitement, between visions and flavours, in a land where time seems to stand still.
Crossed Areas
The Chianti countryside has become an icon for an almost ideal landscape: alternating hills covered with dense woods, rows of vines and some silver brushstrokes of olive groves. In the replicated design, the ‘farmhouses’, cottages with lodge and dovecotes peek over the top of hills and meandering dirt tracks, bordered by low walls and towering cypress trees. Imposing villas, castles, abbeys and parish churches, small villages inspired by centuries of people who lived in these places and made history.
From the Middle Ages to today this landscape, known and recognized throughout the world, has been shaped by humanity’s blood, sweat and tears, creating a place tailored to its needs, without squeezing or exploiting the earth, but indulging generosity and refining the production of its most precious fruits with skill and ingenuity: grapes and olives.
The resulting robust wines with a round and intense flavour, and a flavoured and sour oil that enhances the flavour of savoury dishes of a cuisine still rich in vegetable products, the courtyard and hunting dishes, as it has always taken place in the peasant tradition, being the creator of a still recognizable and unique culture rooted in this land.