Radda in Chianti

Unfortunately, the next stop on our tour was extremely disappointing. According to the spiel, we were going to head to a unique location in the Chianti countryside to enjoy wine tasting. It would include a tour around the splendid estate, learning about the history, followed by a typical lunch (we had already has that in a tent in Siena) and wine tasting and then enjoy some time after lunch to relax in the villa’s luxurious gardens on this 100+ year old vineyard complete with chapel. All I could picture was a Tuscan vineyard, rolling hills of grapevines, a gorgeous chapel, you get the picture.

What we actually got was a wine “factory” in an industrial estate type of area with a couple of rows of dried up vines out the front. Inside was very clinical and while the family had been in the wine and olive oil making business for generations, this place did not evoke the warm and fuzzy feelings we were hoping for. Bitterly disappointed is probably an understatement.

We were crammed into their tasting room which was basically a long rectangle room with very little character and given a few wines to try. It was a full-on sales pitch and as we were trapped in our seats there was little we could do. Not only were our friends from lunch at another table, no one at our table spoke English. The only good thing to come from it was that Brad actually enjoyed some of the wines – especially the reds, which I did not enjoy.

We left this spot feeling very “ripped off” as this was one of things I was most looking forward to on the tour. Not happy, Jan.Read more