Sharing a carafe of Chianti while the autumnal Tuscan air swirls around you is one of life’s great pleasures. Of course, there’s more to Tuscan wine than the everyday Chianti, and fall is the perfect time to explore the region and its many vineyards.

Did you know that there are 14 wine routes in Tuscany, also known as Le Strade del Vino? By clicking on the image to the left, you can visit the Tuscan Wine Trails website, where, ostensibly, you can devise your own vineyard driving tour. (A note to technically-minded Italophiles: on my wishlist is a Google Maps mashup of these trails.)

The 14 wine routes are as follows. Thanks to waytuscany.net for sorting these out by province.

Province of Arezzo: Strada del Vino Terre di Arezzo
Province of Florence: Strada del Vino Chianti Colli Fiorentini, Strada del Vino di Montespertoli, Strada dei Vini Chianti Rufina e Pomino
Province of Grosseto: Strada del Vino Monteregio di Massa Marittima, Strada del Vino Colli di Maremma, Strada del Vino di Montecucco
Province of Livorno: Strada del Vino Costa degli Etruschi
Province of Lucca: Strada del Vino Colline Lucchesi e Montecarlo
Province of  Massa Carrara: Strada del Vino Colli di Candia e di Lunigiana
Province of Prato: Strada Medicea dei Vini di Carmignano
Province of Pisa: Strada del Vino delle Colline Pisane
Province of Siena: Strada del Vino Vernaccia di San Gimignano, Strada del Vino di Montepulciano

Happy sipping!

Photo © N1ck P Harris

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Hard to believe it’s September again! Here’s a rundown for the beginning of the fall – a marvelous time to be in Italy!

Time for Wine! One of the reasons it’s so great to travel in Italy in the fall is for all of the wine sampling to be done. Oenological Week in Montefalco, Umbria, which celebrates Sagrantino, runs from September 18-21. The Wine Championship in Florence, a sort-of wine-related Jeopardy! contest, kicked off today and runs through the weekend; the event is sponsored by Slow Food Firenze. Throughout the month in Tuscany will be the Chianti grape harvest, a yearly ritual which has been honored each year since 1926 with a Festa dell’Uva in Impruneta. The town of Bardolino, on the shores of Lake Garda, also holds a Festa dell’Uva, which begins at the end of September.

Food, Glorious Food! You need something to go with your wine. Try the Festival del Prosciutto di Parma, happening throughout the Parma province of Emilia Romagna through September 21. Some of you probably didn’t know that couscous is a staple in Sicilian cuisine; in fact, a festival dedicated to couscous takes place in San Vito Lo Capo from September 23-28. Outside of Milan, in the town of Gorgonzola, the 10th annual Sagra Nazionale del Gorgonzola, which celebrates the distinctive cheese and other food products of the area, will be held on September 20 and 21. Meanwhile, in Le Marche, the city of Fano will hold a Festival del Brodetto, which will honor the region’s typical zuppa di pesce (fish soup).

Traditional Festivals and Fairs. Soak up some Italian heritage with a visit to Venice, where the Historic Regatta on the Grand Canal takes place this weekend (Sept. 7) at 5:10 p.m. There are traditional jousting tournaments in Arezzo (Sept. 7) and Foligno (Sept. 13 and 14). Naples’ ever-popular Feast of San Gennaro takes place on September 19, and will include lots of food, frolicking, and fawning over the city’s patron saint, a statue of whom is paraded throughout the streets. (We couldn’t find a good official site for the San Gennaro fest, so here’s an “unofficial” explanation of the event.) Finally, a fun event for the entire family is the live chess match, played in the town of Marostica every two years by real people on a life-size chess board in Piazza Scacchi (fittingly, Chess Square). The game(s) will be held September 12-14, and tickets cost between €10-80.

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Iconic Chianti bottles in San Gimignano

In my opinion, Financial Times columnist Jancis Robinson provides some of the best, most accessible coverage of wine anywhere. This past weekend, in the FT Life & Arts Section, Robinson looks at the 2006 vintage of Chianti Classico as “something to celebrate.” Apparently, this is the first year that “white wine grapes have been outlawed” from the making of Chianti Classico. Indeed, up until 2006, Chianti was a blend of white (mostly Trebbiano) and red (mostly Sangiovese) grapes. Robinson gives an interesting primer on the former and current production of Chianti – the wine made in the mini-region between Florence and Siena – and also makes suggestions for the best Chianti buys.

Here are her picks:

Taste of Tuscany: Classic Classicos

RECOMMENDED 2006s
●Badia a Coltibuono
●Carpineto (£)
Fonterutoli
●Collelungo (£)
Montecalvi
Principe Corsini, Le Corte (£)
San Fabiano Calcinaia
●Villa Calcinaia

SUPERIOR 2005s
●Castello di Ama
●Castello di Meleto (£)
●Casanuova di Nittardi
●Fontodi

A GOOD VALUE 2004
●Il Poggiolino (£)

●denotes a particularly traditional, lively style
(£) denotes especially good value

You can learn more about these wines from winesearcher.com and a few are available for purchase from wine.com and mywinesdirect.com.

Photo © photo_nuevo

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Today’s tip from Fodor’s looks at the best driving tours in Italy. They include the Via Aurelia, the Grande Strade delle Dolomiti, and – my favorite – the S222 through Tuscany, also known as the Via Chiantigiana.

I’m certain there are more than just three drives in Italy that will make your jaws drop. Did you know that you can chart your own course, with driving instructions and toll and gas information, on Michelin’s Via Michelin website? Besides providing excellent tips on hotels, restaurants, and travel throughout all of Europe, Via Michelin is a sort-of Mapquest for the continent, doling out info on the quickest, shortest, and most economical driving routes as well as the most scenic.

To test it out a sample “Discovery Route,” I searched for directions from Piazza San Giovanni in Laterano to Piazza San Giovanni in Florence. Okay…perhaps you wouldn’t want to drive right into Firenze’s Duomo (and with traffic patterns the way they are, you probably couldn’t), but this route is interesting, taking a driver along a few highways but also along the old Via Salaria and past the Certosa of Galluzzo outside of Florence.

In short, this is a great tool for a first-time driver in Italy or for someone who wants to check out some of the backroads of the Italian countryside. Do you know any other great driving tools or routes for Italy? If so, please let us know!

Photo from Fodors.com

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