Friday ~ Dievole Wine Estate... Simply Magical

 On Friday, we will go to the historic Dievole Wine Estate...  it's a place that almost feels like home to us... We stumbled across this place on Adventures to Tuscany's very first Group Tour that we organized back in 2001... We had taken the group out to this special "Wine Tasting Dinner" that we had organized at a local Osteria in Castellina-in-Chianti...  A local Wine Sommelier, Marco Muccerelli was leading it... It was a beautiful place & a wonderful evening... Afterwards I asked Marco where we might go for an "authentic" tour of a working Tuscan winery, something more then just a visit to a "tasting room..."

So Marco tells us about this special Estate - Dievole,  nearly a 1000 years old! So the next day we jumped in our cars and wound our way through the Chianti hills...  I'm amazed we ever found this place... They asked us if we were Americans, and how did we possibly find them?  We told them about Marco, and asked if we could get a tour...  They looked at us kind of funny, seated us out on their little Terrace and brought us a glass of wine and a small platter of soft herbed cheeses and salami's...  I'll never forget those cheeses... They were incredible, and we'd never had anything like them before...  I don't think any Americans had ever stumbled in here before us...   After about a half hour they rounded up two guys that could speak a little English, and gave us a wonderful light-hearted tour...  One of the guys was really good looking and the girls all called him The Italian "Brad Pitt... " 

We'll never forget that first visit in 2001... It was our first Tour Group winery visit in Tuscany 24 years ago and it created so many memories...   The sautéed figs in The Chapel...  The "chickoree-chickoree-chee" rooster story...  the "Beatrice Berardo" spiritual appearance... and our good friend Michael walking out of there with what came to be known as "The Pope Bottle..."  (the biggest bottle of wine in the world, with a special cap containing soil blessed by The Pope himself when he visited Dievole..."  We had sooo much fun!  And when we take you there, we'll tell you these famous stories!

When we took our next Tour Group back to Tuscany,  Dievole actually had a small boutique tasting room and retail shop set up in the village of Castellina...  We talked with the guy that was working there and told him about our first experience at Dievole and asked him if there was any way he could arrange something "really special" for our guests at the winery...  I could tell he was touched by our story and our passion, and he told me to come back the next day, he would work on it... ( "Voglio che tu torni domani"   you come back tomorrow..." that's so Italian). 

When we went back the next day he said he arranged for a tour and a luncheon,  gave us the day and time to be there and said "i think you'll like what we've come up with..."  So we gathered up our Tour group and went out to the winery for the tour...

As we walked around the grounds of the winery that day, we couldn't help but see them in the distance setting up for what looked to be like "a wedding" outside in their garden with a long table, lots of white table linens and lots of stemware...  It was just a beautiful day, this estate was gorgeous, we were having such a great time, and we felt lucky we were gonna get a secret glimpse of this special event - an Italian wedding, at this remote winery in Tuscany... How lucky were we?   So as our tour ended, this guy says "come with me, we've got something for you to see..."   So as we're walking down past this gorgeous "wedding set up" a waiter comes out of the Villa, and says "we have you set up over here",  and takes us to the incredible white-linen-ed table they had set up in the shade of a large tree...  It was for us!   we couldn't believe it!  We were the only ones there and it just all seemed so very, very special!

                                       

So, over the years, we've gone to lots of other wineries as well, but we always, always go back to Dievole...  It is without a doubt, our very favorite...   and we can tell they've really grown this part of their business over the last 24 years...  The last several times we've been there, we're not the only ones there any longer...  They've become quite popular... And I can't help but feel, that in some small way, we've helped them shape their hospitality program...   They have a really nice website and a new blog now...  and they "specialize"  in hospitality...  

On Friday we will have our own private Tour of the Estate... And we'll have a Guided Tasting of some of their most popular wines... And afterwards, we'll have a luncheon outside in their fabulous Rose Gardens.

You're gonna love Dievole... We have a special relationship with them.... We have lots of friends there, and they treat us very well!

(you're going to want to watch this full screen with your volume on)

Their warmth, humility and kindness of the people at Dievole has never failed to impress us...  And their foods, wines and olive oils are truly wonderful!   Everyone we've ever taken to Dievole has totally enjoyed it, and we're sure we'll have an amazing experience here on our upcoming trip in just a couple weeks! The video below will give you just a little sneak peak of what we'll be experiencing...  We know you guys will love Dievole as much as we do!  We always try to save it for our last full day in Tuscany...  It's a truly magical place!

Adventures to Tuscany... the real Italian Villa experience!   Truly unique, authentic and immersive, escorted and guided experiential adventure expeditions to Tuscany... The Food, Wine, Culture and Adventure Tour for people who don't take tours... We hope you guys are excited, we'll all be leaving for Italy soon!