Los vinos de la Toscana

Wine is synonymous with Tuscany: every area, every town and every little village has a long history of winegrowing and, of course, some characteristic fine wines.

For this reason, many wine trails have been created, which run through the beautiful countryside, guiding tourists and wine lovers through the vineyards and rural centres where the numerous excellent Tuscan wines are produced. Some of these wines are very famous D.O.C. (“Name of Origin Controlled”) wines, some of them have acquired the status of D.O.C. only recently and are slowly drawing the experts’ attention to once undiscovered wine-growing areas.

D.O.C. Montecucco

Civitella Marittima belongs to the area called D.O.C. Montecucco. This area covers a small section of the province Siena and a large part of the Maremma, usually known as Upper Maremma. The Name of Origin Controlled certification is very recent, despite the fact that this wine has very ancient origins. A Montecucco wine trail was been created a few years ago that runs through the beautiful countryside of the Upper Maremma.

Montecucco wine is produced in four major varieties: White, “Vermentino”, Red (vintage red is also available), and Sangiovese (vintage is also available).

Many farms are happy to open their wine-cellars to visitors for tasting and to organize guided tours of the vineyards.

The Montecucco Wine Trail curls along the hills of the Upper Maremma and can be divided in five major itineraries. The first itinerary is centred in the area of Campagnatico; the second includes Monte Antico, Civitella and Pari; the third runs through the countryside around Cinigiano; the fourth includes the lower side of Mount Amiata and the fifth leads to the area of Montenero and Seggiano.

Civitella Marittima is included in the second itinerary, a trail of great naturalistic and historic-artistic beauty. The road corresponding to the wine trail follows the ancient “way of the salt”, which connected Siena to the sea. Tourists will encounter many panoramic points along the way as well as the small villages, which have remained unchanged over the centuries, such as Monte Antico, Pari and Casal di Pari.

The ancient Abbey of Saint Lorenzo (11th century) is of great historical interest, and so are the castle in Casenovole, the town walls in Paganico and the Roman thermal baths in Petriolo.

Nature lovers who enjoy hiking, horse riding and biking must consider a visit to the Park of Lower Merse, few kilometres past Civitella and Pari. The park counts many interesting trails of great natural beauty.

The Montecucco Wine Trail has website rich in information. Unfortunately, it is only in Italian.

The wines of Tuscany: discover the Montecucco D.O.C. wine

The area where Civitella Marittima is located belongs to the Montecucco D.O.C. wine-region. Upon request, guests of Casina di Rosa can visit one of the best local wineries that produce Montecucco D.O.C. wine and learn all about the various stages of wine production. The visit includes wine tasting and a delicious traditional home-cooked meal. The wine tasting tour can be combined with the olive oil tasting tour, so that you can enjoy all the best products of the inland hills of the Alta Maremma and of the countryside of Tuscany.

D.O.C. Colli di Maremma

The surroundings of Civitella Marittima are home to many other famous Italian wines, such as the Colli di Maremma (Hills of Maremma) wines.

There is a Colli di Maremma wine trail as well, which runs through several wine-growing areas featuring excellent wines such as D.O.C. Sovana, D.O.C. Capalbio, famous for the white wine “Capalbio” and for the Vinsanto fortified wine, D.O.C. Parrina, near Orbetello, D.O.C. Ansonica of the Argentario coast, which has a unique scent, the well known D.O.C. Bianco di Pitigliano (white wine of Pitigliano), and of course, the D.O.C Morellino of Scansano, which is produced in the valley between the rivers Ombrone and Albegna.

Many of the farms found along the Colli di Maremma wine trail organize wine tasting and tours of the wine cellars.

D.O.C.G. Brunello

Also close by are the vineyards of the world famous Brunello di Montalcino. This town is actually few kilometres away from Civitella, and Casina di Rosa is an ideal base for wine lovers wishing to explore the Banfi Castle.