Best culinary and wine tours in Italy | Access Italy - photo 1

Food & Wine

Best culinary and wine tours in Italy | Access Italy - photo 2

Food & Wine

Best culinary and wine tours in Italy | Access Italy - photo 3

Food & Wine

Best culinary and wine tours in Italy | Access Italy - photo 4

Food & Wine

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Learn how Italian cuisine and wine are central to the local culture and social lifestyle, synonym with conviviality and shared passion for the territory.

Italy is known for its world-class quality of food and wine. Access Italy can take you on the path of excellence of these important traditions. Discover the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet, of the seasonality of all produce and of the freshness of the ingredients used to create simple yet tasty meals. During an Access Italy culinary tour, you will learn how to select and combine the ingredients laying at the basis of Italian cuisine. Meals are not just made of a recipe: the love of the person creating them is equally important.

A good Italian meal always comes with wine. The culture of wine making is one of the reasons many travelers choose Italy as a destination. From North to South, the whole territory offers a wide varieties of vineyards, each producing a specific kind of grapes and wines. With a private Italy wine tour that will allow you to visit renowned wineries as well as local producers, you will be able to discover the most famous Italian labels and taste their prized productions, accompanied by the property owners or expert sommeliers.

FOCUS ON TUSCANY

GRAPES HARVEST EXPERIENCE IN MONTALCINO

From mid-Septeber to mid-October, join our team of wine makers near Montalcino to experience yourself one of the most fascinating practices taking place all over Italy at the end of the Summer: the harvest. Your Access italy driver will take you to one of the most innovative wineries in the Brunello area, where the local experts will take you through the whole process of wine making, according to their daily tasks. In fact a biodynamic winery,  follows the natural moon phases to harvest. Therefore, the activities proposed may change depending on the calendar day. For instance, if it’s not a full moon or if it’s a rainy day you will not be visiting the fields (since there will be no gathering grapes) but the experience will focus mainly on the processes in the cellar. Activities include:

- Walk in the fields, tasting the grapes picked directly from the vines as the winemaker explains the harvest and its processes

- Select the ripest grapes

- Learn how to properly punch down

- Remove the skin from the fermenting wine must

- Taste the wine in all its phases: the fermenting must, to the wine aging in barrels, aging in the cement and then the bottles.

 

This hands-on experience is ideal for families, children as well as wine enthusiasts and experts.

 

TUSCANY WINE EXPERIENCES

EXCLUSIVE AND LUXURY WINE AND LUNCH EXPERIENCE: ANTINORI WINERY

Leave town and head towards the Tuscan countryside, home to renowned wineries and tasty dishes. Your Access Italy driver will take you to discover a world of grapes, corks and exclusive labels in a worldwide famous winery. Here you will be led through a completely private visit of the premises, where the resident wine expert will explain all the steps of their wine making process and the varieties of grapes used for worldclass wines such as Tignanello and Solaia. After the visit you will enjoy an exclusive lunch, where you will be able to taste their best bottles and discover for yourself why it is considered one of the most renowned wineries in the world.

THE ULTIMATE BRUNELLO EXPERIENCE

Spend a day discovering the Tuscan countryside and its collection of wines that have dazzled the whole world. Your Access Italy driver will take you to explore the surroundings of Montalcino, sprinkled with local vineyards keeping alive the traditional production of the famous Brunello wine. You will visit the innovative Podere Le Ripi, located on the south-east slope of Montalcino. Owned by a third generation member of the Illy family, the greatest Italian coffee producers, this winery is the perfect setting to taste their best bottles under its incredible dome. It took 7 years for this winemaker to build a cellar that replicated the Pantheon to store a divine Brunello. The local enologist will show you the peculiar Bonsai vineyards and take you through an impressive tour of the cellars, where you will be led through a completely private visit of the estate.

BOLGHERI EXCELLENCE

Enjoy an excursion out of town to discover two wineries among the most exclusive producers in Tuscany. Your Access Italy driver will take you along the Tuscan coast to discover the prestigious Bolgheri region, where some of the most prized Tuscan wines are produced. Learn all about the local excellence as you visit two of the most representative wineries of the area: Ornellaia and Ca’marcanda. With bottles collected and auctioned all over the world and an impressive art project that has renowned international artists decorate a limited number of bottles every year, Ornellaia will surprise you with an exclusive tasting selection. Ca’marcanda, a small winery managed by the Gaja family, is one of the most outstanding examples of Tuscan world-class wines. Completely built underground, the winery itself is a work of art that you cannot miss. During your excursion you will also have the chance to visit the charming medieval village of Bolgheri, with its castle and cypress tree roads immersed in the unforgettable Tuscan countryside.

 

FOCUS ON THE AMALFI COAST

TASTE OF AMALFI COAST

Explore the Amalfi Coast with your private driver and discover delicious local specialties in the small town of Schiazzano. When you reach this small village, you will board a traditional Ape car, one of the smallest Italian vehicles, still used in areas where the alleys are too narrow for regular cars. Your Access Italy Escort will take you on an adventure through the brick roads leading to the local producers of Mozzarella, Provolone cheese and Sorrento lemons, allowing you to taste the genuine treats produced exclusively in this area of Italy and awarded with the DOP label, signalling their protected geographic origin. Conclude this authentic experience with a Neapolitan style Pizza tasting and leave Schiazzano with a full stomach.

COOKING CLASS COUNTRYSIDE & WINE TASTING

Immerse yourself in the warm atmosphere of the southern Italian countryside and learn how to prepare a typical meal while sipping delicious wine. Your Access Italy driver will take you to discover the tastes and flavors of a rural world in an 18th century farm. Located amongst the local unpolluted nature and villages where time has stopped, you will explore a renowned winery, starting from its centuries old vineyards. Your journey into tradition will continue with a cooking experience that will allow you to witness firsthand how to prepare typical Mediterranean dishes as they are still made in the Italian homes. You will then dine at the farm, tasting your own creations while sampling the genuine wines produced in the cellar.

NAPLES DISCOVERY AND PIZZA MAKING

Explore the wonders of Naples and immerse yourself in the lively atmosphere of its landmarks and people. Your Access Europe Guide will first take you to a pizzeria in the Vomero distric for an authentic pizza making class, followed by a pizza lunch and taste of the greatest Neapolitan delights. Next, you will head to the historical center and walk through the lively streets of the center. Eat a delicious sfogliatella or baba in one of the local cafè near the charming Umberto Gallery. End your day with a nice espresso at Cafè Gambrinus or a gelato in one of the best gelateria in town, before heading to your hotel in Ravello.

MOZZARELLA SCHOOL

Enjoy a personalized tour and tasting at a mozzarella factory. We're all familiar with mozzarella, that creamy, melt in your mouth cheese. Get a truly authentic Italian experience by discovering how it's made. Your Access Italy Chef will demonstrate each step involved in the process, revealing tips and tricks of the trade along the way. Finish off your experience by feasting on delicious mozzarella based dishes.

WHAT TO EXPECT

During an Access Italy experience, you will discover that the regional cuisine varies significantly from North to South, from city to countryside, from the mountains to the sea. What stays the same is a wise combination of freshness and simplicity, coupled with expert techniques that have driven Italy to excellence.





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