Customer Feedback:

I randomly chose Italy and Wine run by Vittorio Del Bono Venezze online for a Brunello tour this August, and was very pleased with the tour and what I learned during it. Vittorio's knowledge of Tuscan wines is tremendous, and he spent much of the drive between Florence and Montalcino providing a very helpful education us about Italy's classification system and on the various wines we would encounter in Italy generally.

The two Brunello vineyards selected by Vittorio were both very good, but their differences in terms of setting, approach and philosophy on winemaking made for a particularly interesting tour. The first - Casanova dei Neri - was fairly large and has an interesting new building built into a small hillside, rendering it nearly invisible from the road. This winery has produced numerous top-ranked and award-winning Brunellos, and the facility employs both modern and traditional techniques and tools to produce these great wines.

The second, called Giacomo, was tiny, producing only 8,000 or so bottles per year, including just several dozen bottles of grappa. All of its wines are organic. This winery does not export to the United States, so I feel we were given a very rare opportunity to try and buy this wine. The owner/enologist himself led us through the tasting, and his passion for the wines was infectious - he actually poured a glass of his future 2007 Brunello for each of us straight from the vat (and it was wonderful!).

Lunch at a trattoria serving traditional Tuscan foods was also fantastic - one of the best meals I had in Italy this summer.

I really enjoyed this trip, and highly recommend Italy and Wine.

Jennifer Babcock, Washington, USA