After Siena, we continued further inland into the hills and mountains of Italy - into the wine region famous for their Chianti Classico wine. (Classico is the name of a region I learned). Going to a winery was a spur of the moment decision, but it ended up being a great one.
We ended up going to the San Felice Winery where we tasted to different Chianti's and many of us bought several bottles of it. After returning home, I did a little reading and found that the San Felice winery produces one of the best Chianti Classico's.
I've never been keen on red wine, but I must admit I found their Chianti Classico quite appealing. I've bought a couple of bottles since returning to the states and even those I liked, so I think I will have to experiment more with red wines - at least Italian ones.
We toured the facility, watching grapes dropped into a crusher and then moved to fermenting vats as it was harvesting season.
The winery also contained a hotel. I'm not sure the picture above is of the hotel part, but as far as I'm concerned it is because that's the building I wanted to stay in! The host said that a room there was around $300 a night and oddly only Americans stayed there. I don't see anything odd about it.
Here's another view of the winery. While the wineries started off as family owned businesses, they no longer are. Large corporations own almost all of them now.
Finally, here is a view of the vineyards which also gives you a feel for the rolling hills of this region.
After we departed the winery, we continued on to Pisa where we arrived well after dark.