Florence sits at the geographic center of Italian wine's most competitive square kilometer. The Chianti Classico DOCG zone begins 40 minutes south by car. Bolgheri: home of Sassicaia and Ornellaia, the two Super Tuscans that changed the world's perception of Italian viticulture in the 1970s and 1980s: is 2 hours by Rolls-Royce Phantom. Montalcino, capital of the Brunello DOCG, is 90 minutes south. FFGR Italia has arranged exclusive access to all three zones for UHNW clients for years.
Antinori nel Chianti Classico | The Underground Museum
The Antinori family has been making wine since 1385. Their Chianti Classico winery, opened in 2013 in Bargino, is not so much an agricultural facility as an architectural statement. Designed by Marco Casamonti, the building disappears into the hillside: you drive over it, essentially, and descend into a spiral of tunnels, tasting rooms, and gallery spaces that house the family collection of contemporaryItalian art alongside the barrique caves.
Private access at Antinori includes the sections not open to the public: the family archive room (with bottles dating to the 1920s), the research cellar where experimental lots of Tignanello and Solaia are monitored before release, and lunch in the private dining room overlooking the Sangiovese rows. Our sommelier accompanies you throughout and manages the tasting sequence, from the Peppoli IGT entry level to the Solaia single-vineyard at the end of the circuit.
Ornellaia | The Most Difficult Cellar to Enter in Italy
Ornellaia is, alongside Sassicaia, the most influential Super Tuscan. The estate produces roughly 250,000 bottles per year of Ornellaia Bolgheri Superiore (the grand vin), Le Serre Nuove (second wine), Le Volte (entry), and the ultra-limited Ornellaia Bianco. It also produces Masseto: 30,000 bottles annually of 100% Merlot that sells at €800-1,200 per bottle at release and considerably more at auction.
Visits to Ornellaia's production facility require an invitation arranged through professional trade channels. We are on the estate's approved list. A dedicated sommelière from the winery leads the tasting, 4 wines with the winemaker's notes from the vintage, followed by lunch in the estate's private loggia overlooking the Bolgheri pine forest. The Masseto cellar, adjacent to the main winery, is occasionally accessible by prior arrangement.
Brunello di Montalcino | The Long Game
Brunello is made from Sangiovese Grosso (locally called Brunello), aged for at least five years before release (six for Riserva). The result is a wine designed for decades, not years. Biondi Santi, the estate that invented the category in the 1880s, still holds bottles from the 1975 Riserva in their private cave: not for sale, but occasionally opened for distinguished guests.
A Montalcino circuit from Florence (85km, 90 minutes by car) visits Biondi Santi for a vertical tasting of Annata and Riserva: 4 to 6 vintages depending on availability, and lunch at Ristorante Il Leccio in Sant'Angelo in Colle, one of the valley's finest osterie. The afternoon can extend to Poggio di Sotto for intensity enthusiasts or Banfi for clients interested in the more commercial face of the appellation. We return to Florence by sunset.
The Helicopter Circuit | Tuscany from 400 Meters
For clients with a full day and an appetite for spectacle, FFGR Italia offers a helicopter circuit from Florence to Chianti Classico, Bolgheri, and the Etruscan coast. Seen from 400 meters, the geometry of Chianti's vineyards: alternating rows of Sangiovese and cypress, village towers emerging from the vine sea: is one of Italy's great aerial landscapes.
We land at Ornellaia for the cellar visit and lunch on the estate, then fly to the Costa degli Etruschi for a late lunch at a coastal restaurant in Castiglioncello (15 minutes by air from Bolgheri). Return to Florence by helicopter, arriving in time for dinner at Enoteca Pinchiorri. Total circuit duration: 8-10 hours.
Allocation Purchasing | Building a Cellar from Florence
FFGR Italia facilitates private allocation purchases for clients building or expanding collections. We have established purchasing relationships with Ornellaia, Sassicaia (Tenuta San Guido), and Biondi Santi Riserva for case allocations (3 or 6 bottles per case) at estate release prices.
Shipping is arranged under temperature-controlled conditions to France, Switzerland, Monaco, and the United Kingdom. For larger acquisitions, we coordinate with specialist wine storage facilities in Geneva and London. Provenance documentation is provided for all case purchases to support future auction eligibility.
Compose Your Tuscany Wine Circuit
