Anteprima Vini della Costa Toscana, Cantine Aperti and Mostra del Chianti: for many wine lovers in Italy, May is the favourite month of the year. To the soundtrack of crickets and birdsong, Tuscany comes alive to the echo of bottles being uncorked and that unique ‘glub glub glub’ as the first pouring of wine fills your glass.
An excuse is rarely needed for a day trip to Lucca, especially when Anteprima Vini della Costa Toscana is taking place in the walled town. On May 9 and 10, from 11am to 8pm, lovers of slightly saline, brackish wines from the Tuscan coast will enjoy the Real Collegio for a two-day tasting preview of the seaside’s best grands crus. Now in its 14th year, the Lucca event celebrates taste in general with oil tasting, cooking shows, local cuisine and gastronomic discussions.
Feeling the need for farmyard in your glass? From May 30 to June 7, Montespertoli celebrates one of the oldest wine events in Tuscany. Mostra del Chianti is its 58th year; not that it’s showing any signs of ageing, apart from the quality of local wines on offer. Year after year, experts and wine lovers alike flock to this event that focuses on Chianti, Chianti Montespertoli and Chianti Colli Fiorentini, which brings the town to life with street theatre, flag throwers and historical parades.
To finish the month in good taste, on May 30 and 31, Tuscany’s cellars throw open their doors as part of Italy’s annual nationwide Cantine Aperte event. If wine and architecture move you in equal measure, take advantage of the event to visit the site-specific, gravity-led Antinori Chianti Classico cellars at Bargino. For the more classic wine tasting experience, head for Vicchiomaggio, a beautiful castle with expanses of vineyards near Greve in Chianti. For the full list of wineries participating this year, see theflr.net/cantineaperte2015.
