Montalcino is a wine lover’s paradise. The town of Montalcino is not necessarliy my favorite hill town in Southern Tuscany, but it is surrounded by some of the best (if not the best) Sangiovese Grosso vineyards in all of the world. Montalcino is home to two important wines, Brunello di Montalcino and Rosso di Montalcino. Brunello, as it is usually referred to, is one of Italy’s finest wines and is made from their best Sangiovese (Sangiovese Grosso). These wines are truly superb and if you learn your vintages, you will rarely find something that you are not more than happy with when selecting something from Montalcino But, more on the great wines of Montalcino a little later, for now, let’s talk about the town, its attractions and where you may want to stay and visit.

Montalcino Stores

The Montalcino Supermarket

First of all, when you are traveling through the countryside in Tuscany, you may find that you will have trouble finding many of the things you are accustomed to in the United States. While this is pretty much the whole idea of traveling in Tuscany, there may be some things that you may want to buy that you can’t find in a store catering to tourists. There is a supermarket in Montalcino tucked away in the upper corner of town. Be careful, the streets around the supermarket are pretty narrow.

Where to Buy Wine in Montalcino

Ok, now that we have that out of the way, let’s talk about important things like wine. Montalcino is one of the hill towns in southern Tuscany that gets a lot of attention…because of the amazing Brunellos that they produce there. Unfortunately, wine tasting in Italy is not done the way we do it here in the United States. Here, wineries are typically open from 12 or 1pm to 4 or 5pm daily for tastings and touring the winery. In Italy, most wineries require that you make an appointment to visit the winery and taste some wines. We were fortunate enough to visit one of the great wineries of Montalcino, Argiano. They don’t mess around at Argiano. Everything from their Rossos to the Solengo, Brunello and the amazing Suolo are incredible.

The Fortezza in Montalcino

There are a number of smaller wine stores in town, but if you don’t know what you like or want to try some different vintages, the only way to go is to taste at the Fortezza. Unfortunately, this also means that you are going to pay quite a bit for the tastings and for the wine you will buy. But, when in Rome, right? We were able to try many great wines from some of the best and not so great vintages. The staff are from the UK (as is the owner I believe) and they are very knowledgeable about wines. Everyone from the complete wine rookie to a seasoned pro will be able to talk shop with them.