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Chianti is a region in central Tuscany where the famed Chianti and Chianti Classico wines are produced. Wine tasting in Italy is a little different than tasting wine in the US. Below are tips on planning an independent wine tour of Chianti.
Chianti is an area of Tuscany, Italy made famous by the red wine of the same name. It has much to offer for a visitor interested in wine, food and natural beauty. The tall, vine-striped hills between Florence and Siena is one of the most famous and beautiful wine regions in the world.
Many of the wineries are open for a tour and a tasting, and some offer accommodation services as well. Chianti, Tuscany: Holidays in the Wine Region near Florence & Siena

The hills of the Chianti stretching between Florence and Siena comprise one of the world's most famous wine-producing regions. The steep slopes are cloaked in terraced rows of vines and peppered with medieval castles and cypress-shrouded abbeys. The narrow valleys are laced with tiny rivers along which are sprinkled small market towns: Greve in Chianti (the unofficial capital of the Chianti), Radda in Chianti, Gaiole in Chianti. 

The Chianti is the perfect place for a countryside getaway—and a great base for exploring Tuscany for the comfort of a rental villa or country hotel. At the very least, avoid the speedy SS2 Via Cassia highway to get between Siena and Florence and instead take the slow road (the SS 222, a.k.a. the Chiantigiana) on a day-long tour of the Chianti's wineries, winding your way leisurely though these misty, wine-sodden hills between Florence and Siena. 

The Chianti area in Tuscany is one of the most beautiful in the whole region, as well as the most well-known and appreciated by visitors from across the world. The borders of the Chianti region are not clearly defined but in general it extends over the provinces of Florence and Siena, covering all of the area between the two cities and extending to the east toward the Valdarno and to the west to the Val d'Elsa. The Chianti wine area extends further beyond the two cities, all around Florence and even toward Arezzo, Pistoia and Montepulciano.
You'll often find references to the "Florentine Chianti" and the "Sienese Chianti" to define the areas closest to one or the other city, but these often refer to a wine's origin within the Chianti region.

Chianti offers a unique landscape, with green, gentle hills covered with wide fields of vineyards and olive groves, small stone villages, characteristic parishes and countryside homes in stone. The Chianti landscapes are so beautiful and particular that they inspire many photographs which then become postcards and calendars distributed across the globe. 

Chianti can be compared to a unique vineyard. Hundreds of rows of vines represent the most characteristic feature of Chianti, the land where excellent wines are produced. The high quality of Chianti wine is the result of millenary knowledge and   a great tradition of wine-making.  Chianti wine has been of great importance since Etruscan times.

Enjoy the sensual joys of visiting Tuscany in historic Chianti Classico
The wine territory of Chianti Classico lies at the heart of the Chianti region, in the historic area between Florence and Siena where the original Chianti League was formed in the 13th century. It was here that Barone Bettino Ricasoli devised the formula for Chianti production in the mid-1800s and where today the vineyards of the ‘golden triangle’ formed by Castellina, Radda and Gaiole are considered the true centre of Chianti.

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Chianti travel guides holidays travel tips wineries tours Chianti trip planner .
Wine Tasting in Chianti Winery Visit Tips wine tasting tours pottery courses in Chianti Tuscany Map and Chianti Wine Tasting Informations.

http://www.italyandwine.net

http://goitaly.about.com/od/chiantiwineandtravel/bb/wine_tasting.htm

http://goitaly.about.com/od/chiantiwineandtravel/l/bl-chianti-classico-map.htm

http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/tuscany/mare_chianti.htm

http://www.chianticlassico.net/

http://www.chianti.com/

http://wikitravel.org/en/Chianti