Italy is now said to produce and export more wine than any other country
Grapes are grown and wine made in all of its 20 official Regions
Dei grandi vini
And Tuscany is the heartland of Italian wine production. Its southeastern hills are home to vineyards from where come three of the finest types of red wines - Chianti Classico, Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano
All are made from the Sangiovese grape. This is the grape from which the red wines produced in Cortona mainly come. For white wines, the Trebbiano grape is used.
Many wine-producing fattorie of the region can be visited from Cortona. Some are near
At Il Falconiere, Riccardo Baracchi, the brother of Mario, makes Internationally-acclaimed wine. We have also enjoyed buying bottles of wine - red and white - at the Azienda Agricolo of Mario Baldetti at Pietraia, and the Avignonesi, Fattoria Le Capezzine on the road to Montepulciano
Mario, who trained in agriculture, is very knowledgeable on wines, and what they cost