Best place to stay in Tuscany: Agriturismo in Montalcino 

When I travel to wine regions, I always love staying at a winery owned hotel to best experience the region. Most wine regions have various wine or local produce farms operating a bed and breakfast. Different countries and regions have various names for them (for example, you can search for “Masseria” in Puglia) and in Tuscany, they are called “Agriturismo.” When I planned a trip to the Montalcino wine region and had a few criteria for choosing a place to stay.

  1. Must be close to the main town and other wineries in the region. I didn’t want to drive too far out so we can relax entirely at the resort but also easily get to town when needed.

  2. Picturesque view. We are in Tuscany, so the iconic cypress trees and a nice view of the vineyards was one of the priorities.

  3. On-site wines and dinners so we can dine and wine without having to drive. You can’t rely on private transfers or taxis in small Tuscany towns.

After various searches, I chose Villa Le Prata and loved every single minute of it. Here’s why I recommend the hotel:

Beautiful property and the ground

  • Infinity pool and jacuzzi with a vineyard view.

  • Cypress tree lined entrance. 

  • Traditional Italian building and well decorated gardens.

Spacious and renovated rooms 

  • 2023 is the 2nd full season since opening and the rooms were very clean, well renovated, and spacious. 

  • Most rooms also have windows with a view.

Wine and Food 

  • Group wine tastings based on their weekly schedule and private tasting can also be arranged for a fee. I absolutely enjoyed their wines and ended up purchasing bottles to take home. 

  • They also produce olive oil and you get to taste them during meals or wine tasting. We also bought a bottle of it to take home. 

  • Amazing breakfast buffet is included with your stay and you can have dinner on the property as well. Choose between 3 or 4 courses, both including a glass of wine. Fresh seasonal ingredients. 

Affordable luxury resort experience

  • Nice price point compared to other high-end hotels in the area, and still feels luxurious.

  • They offer fun experiences like cooking class, harvest, dining under the stars, and you really don’t have to leave the resort.

Overall experience was exactly what I was looking for when staying at a wine resort in Tuscany. I would love to go back during warmer months and when vineyards are more green to enjoy the scenery and additional outdoor activities!

Best restaurants in Reims and Epernay, Champagne

Champagne is one of my favorite wine travel destinations! It is Eesy to get to (1 hour train ride from Paris) and tons of places to eat good food and drink amazing Champagnes. Here are some of the best restaurants for food and good Champagne list

Reims

Epernay

  • La Grillade Gourmande - Love the outdoor garden seating, great wood-fire cooked menu and wine list

  • Chez Max - No frills, traditional French food. Super friendly and great wine list. Get the table side beef tartare!

  • Sacré Bistro - Ran by the same team as Sacre Burger, they always have a good lunch special

  • Les Avisés - This is a bit of a drive from Epernay but so worth it! Ran by the famous Champagne producer Jacques Selosse, great course meal that will definitely fill you up

  • I didn’t get to these places but have heard good things about La Table Kobus, Why Not, L'OBEN

If you are planning a trip to Champagne, get the full list of restaurants and producers to try in the Champagne travel guide with saved Google maps.

Burgundy Wine Travel Guide: How to plan a trip to Burgundy

if you are planning for a trip to Burgundy, you might notice that it is a bit more difficult to arrange wine tasting visits and plan. While Dijon and Beaune are two major cities, there are many small towns in Burgundy area so it’s important to pick your home based depending on what you are looking for. Here’s what I learned from planning a trip and spending a few days in the region.

For places to stay,

  • Choose Dijon or Beaune for easy access to public transportation, taxis, wine bars, and restaurants

  • If you want a quite wine country getaway but with some restaurants and bars, Vosne-Romanee, Nuits-Saint-Georges in between Dijon and Beaune.

Find a local guide

We usually hire a local driver when visiting a foreign wine region so we can taste wines without having to worry about driving. They are also usually well-connected in the region and can

Use local resources to find tastings

Wine makers/producers in Burgundy don’t usually have regular tasting appointments available to book online, especially. Few websites you can use to directly book are

  • You can find domaines/producers that accept online reservations here

  • You can search for domaines/producers and can email them from Vins de Bourgogne

Find wines at restaurants and wineshops in town

While it can be challenging to visit well-known producers, you are much more likely to find their wines at local shops and restaurants at a better price point compared to other parts of the world. You can find the list of places here.

Visit during off-season (Nov-Jan) for higher chance of visiting a winery

Wineries are more likely to accept visitors when they are not busy with harvest or working at the vineyards.

Follow @fine.vining on Instagram for more wine travel tips and inspiration or get the summary travel guide along with saved Google maps of best wine spots in Burgundy here.

Sonoma wineries for cool climate Pinot (Burgundy) lovers

I started drinking more Pinots a couple years ago when my wine consumption started getting a bit higher. Dark and rich California Cabernets are not easy to drink all the time! I used to think I don’t like Pinots after only trying a few California (mostly Russian River Valley) Pinots that can be jammy and with a specific characteristic I can’t pinpoint. But discovered Pinots from cool climates (i.e. Oregon, Burgundy, West Sonoma Coast) can be pretty different. While I have yet to find a Russian River Valley Pinot I love, I’ve been drinking a lot more Pinots from Burgundy, Oregon, and parts of Sonoma, specifically West Sonoma Coast region.

West Sonoma Coast is a fairly new AVA approved in 2022 and while I’m still exploring more, I’ve been very happy drinking them :) Here’s the list of wines and wineries I’d recommend

  • Occidental: Gorgeous setting and tasting room, 100% de-stemmed whole berry fermented fresh Pinots

  • Cobb: Small tasting room in downtown Sebastopol, great Pinot, Chardonnay, and Riesling

  • Peay: I haven’t been to the winery/tasting but love their wines!

  • Copain: Beautiful tasting area with a vineyard view, also has a great food pairing

  • Small Vines: Lovely vineyard views, great wines from meticulously grown estate vineyards

  • Littorai: One of my favorite Pinots but I didn’t LOVE the tasting experience. Felt a bit rushed and impersonal but great juice!

Most of them are small family owned wineries, which I also love! Other wines that I’ve heard great things and are on my list to try are Wayfarer, Senses, Ceritas. Follow along on IG @fine.vining as I explore more wineries and find hidden gems!


Where to taste top Burgundy wines while traveling in Burgundy

I just got back from an amazing trip to champagne and Burgundy and have to say it wasn’t easy planning a wine tasting trip to a region I’m not too familiar with! Producers in Burgundy typically don’t/can’t host tastings mainly because because 

  1. They run a small operation and don’t have capacity 

  2. They sell out of their wines so they don’t have bottles available to open for tastings 🤣 

It’s a bit different from the US where wineries develop an entire tourism and travel experience around it. I came across Vosne Tasting Club while researching and thought it was a perfect place for wine enthusiasts like me with no connections in Burgundy whatsoever. 

Located in Vosne-Romanee, this club has long standing relationships with surrounding wineries in the area to be able to source bottles from hard to get producers and host tastings. All tastings are private and you can choose various packages to do a comparative tasting of different villages, taste Grand Crus, or create a custom package to open any bottles they offer. Packages range from €100-225 and custom packages vary depending on bottles you choose.

They have impressive line up of wines from producers like Domaine de La Romanee-Conti, Armand Rousseau, Meo Camuzet, Arnoux-Lachaux, Roumier, Barthod, Gerard Mugneret, Bruno Clavelier, Henri Gouges, and many more. If you are looking for ways to taste multiple bottles from top Burgundy producers, recommend taking a look at their website.

More posts coming up on additional ways and places to taste in Burgundy. Follow @fine.vining for updates and DM if you have any questions!



Best wine tastings in Santorini

I’ve had a few Greek wines here and there but didn’t know too much about various wine regions in Greece. While planning for a Greek island trip, I learned that Santorini actually has a long history of wine making and that winery tours and tastings are pretty popular among tourists. Whether you are looking to taste unique grape varietals or want to sip wine with a view, you can find a lot of options!

Best wines and for intimate experience: Gavalas wines

While researching wineries in Santorini, Gavalas came up on multiple places as making the best wines and I totally agree. Tasted through their line up of Asyritko, Aidani, Mavrotragano, and Vinsanto and they were all great! The host was also super friendly and walked us through the long history of wine making in Santorini, which is now 300+ years old.

Best winery for the view: Venetsanos winery

There are two wineries known for the views in Santorini, Santo wines and Venetsanos. I feel like you can’t really go wrong with either, especially if you are looking for a place to enjoy wines with a view. From the photos both places look amazing! I’ve read that Venetsanos is a bit less touristy and has better wines so decided to stop by for a glass. Overall, it was a great experience, loved the view and tried 3 different whites by the glass.

Best place to taste a wide variety of Santorini wines: Canava, Vedema luxury collection hotel

We stayed at the. Vedema hotel (part of the Marriott hotels) and found out that it is actually built on a old winery and they offer wine tasting experience in the historical wine cave. This is a great one because 1) Historical wine cave setting is amazing and 2) you get to taste wines from wineries all over Santorini. We tasted 5 wines from traditional method sparkling, 2 different whites, red, and dessert (vinsanto), all from different wineries.

Best place to taste wines from other parts of Greece: Boutari

Boutari came up as another wine tasting room near our hotel, Vedema, so decided to walk over and try their wines. When I got there, I was pleasantly surprised to find their wines from other parts of Greece, in addition to Santorini wines.

I wasn’t able to personally visit more wineries but have heard great things about:

  • Sigalas for winery close to Oia

  • Gaia Wines for great wines with ocean view

  • Hatzidakis Winery for high quality wines (actually tasted wines from here at Vedema and loved it!)

  • Estate Argyros for modern picturesque winery

See more real time wine and travel tips via IG @fine.vining 💕

View fullsize Love being surrounded by all the greenery in Napa this time of the year 💚 Small but adorable and friendly tasting room in St Helena! Part of the Schramsberg fam so you get to taste reds and sparklings Bonus point for being so close to Azteca, the
View fullsize Wineries that allow picnics (of offer food) are so clutch when you are trying to fill the day with more wineries🤣 This was a 3rd winery during my latest trip to Sebastopol and was possible because we got to bring food 🤗🙌 (from @pascaline.patisse
View fullsize Have you gone tasting in Sebastopol? Great area to visit and find small family owned wineries that are laid back and so friendly! This tasting room had an adorable garden and a unique lineup of great wines. Think Italian varietals, red & white
View fullsize This place makes you feel like you are transported to a small rural wine region 💫 Away from the main road, you will find this boutique family owned winery with a line up of unique varietals. (Have you heard of Picpoul Blanc?!!) Tasting started wit
View fullsize Found a little gem in Healdsburg 🥰 Was delighted by this adorable setting, and then found out tastings come with wood fired pizza on weekends! I mean…😍 and every single wine we tasted were so good! Added another winery to our membership lis
View fullsize I’ve been lazy about making weekend plans and Sonoma square is becoming my go-to for last minute weekend activity 😆 Was able to get a same day reservation at Sosie and so glad I did. Small new winery! Felt unique when we saw sparkling red, C
View fullsize Brought this amazing bottle to enjoy with this view 🥰 From a new boutique winery in Paso founded by a wine loving couple! Small line up as wines tend to sell out but got to taste three of their amazing wines. 📍: @topwinery 🍷: tasted Grenache, G
View fullsize I’ve been trying to better understand my preferences for sparkling wines so added Roederer to the list for my trip to Mendocino Tasting flight includes a side by side of the same blend in a regular bottle vs. Magnum and it was SO FUN to taste
View fullsize 🌟Save this place for your next trip to Northern CA🌟 Did you know there’s another Twomey tasting room in Anderson Valley? Twomey’s been on my list and when I saw they have another location on the way to the Mendocino coast, it was a mus
View fullsize Super chill and inviting tasting room! Bonus points for this view and a great #cabfranc 😍😆 Heard Cab Francs are getting sold out everywhere in Napa, go get them before they are gone! Or don’t… so I can get them 🤣 📍: @reverie_wine

St. Regis vs. Ritz Carlton Maldives

For those looking for a Marriott property in Maldives, you probably have come across a lot of reviews raving about both the St Regis and the Ritz Carlton. I have summarized my thoughts on both based on my stay at the St Regis in Jan 2020 and Ritz Carlton in Nov 2022


TLDR version

St regis if

  • you have platinum and above, want free breakfast buffet

  • You care more about snorkeling and seeing underwater life more easily

  • You want slightly bigger rooms and like having huge hammocks over the water

  • You want to experience the infinity hydro jetted spa pool 


Ritz if 

  • You want higher chance of getting a room with emerald blue lagoon 

  • Easier travel between Male and resort 

  • Newer resort with a more modern look and feel 

  • You want to visit a sandbank 

Food & Wine

Both resorts have 3-4 options for dinners every night and at least 2 of them are outstanding. Ritz also hosts special dinners at their impressive wine room, which adds to the experience. Both offer wine tasting experience! St regis wine room is enormous and wine tasting along with an aroma kit was super fun. Ritz was in an intimate oceanview cellar and started with a sabrage! Both had an extensive premium wine list. Both breakfast buffets had free flowing prosecco/champange, although I did love having fresh salmon and tuna sashimi at the St Regis. 

Ritz: 5 stars 

St Regis: 5 stars 

Scenery, beach, pool 

Overall look at feel of the resort beach and pool is probably a personal preference but I personally liked beaces, pool, view from the rooms at Ritz slightly better. But honestly can’t go wrong with either options here. One special perks of Ritz is you can visit the sand lagoon, tiny sand island in the middle of the emerald blue ocean. 

Ritz: 5 stars

St Regis: 4.5 stars 

Activities 

We tried participating in more activities in St regis (daily morning workouts, painting class, snorkeling) vs. at the Ritz where we spent most of the times just chilling. So I can’t really speak for them but Ritz does offer daily morning yoga sessions, whereas St. Regis offered different workout classes each morning. This might be part of “food & wine” as well but I loved the daily sunset Sabrage at the St. Regis! Amazing view and free glass of Champagne :)

Ritz: 4.5 

St Regis: 5 stars

Service

This might be more dependent on who you get for your personal butler, while the entire staff went above and beyond at both resort, we felt like our personal butler at St regis was more proactive in making our stay amazing. 

Ritz: 5 stars 

St Regis: 5+ stars

Room 

This scoring is mostly due to the fact that Ritz was the second time we’ve been to Maldives and we  knew what to ask for. We did more research on the type of room we might like more and noted our preference to the hotel, which got us to a beautiful lagoon view over the water villa for 3 nights and sunset beach villa for 2. At the St. Regis, the base room is the garden villa and all we asked for was an over the water upgrade and while beautiful and better for snorkeling, it didn’t have the emerald blue lagoon view.  St Regis’s villa size is slightly bigger but the size difference is negligible. St Regis overwater hammock is amazing (vs small hammock on the deck at Ritz) but the Ritz infinity pool was more picturesque. 

Ritz: 5

St Regis: 4.5


If anything, refer to the photos and I’ll let them speak for themselves. Pick the one you like better! 

St Regis

Ritz Carlton Maldives

If you are curious about Beach Villa vs. Overwater Villa at Ritz, I’ve summarized the two in this IG post!

Best inflight wine: Qatar Airways First Class

For our recent travel to Maldives from SFO, we were able to redeem American Airline points for First Class seats on a roundtrip fare between Doha-Male. I have heard amazing reviews about Qatar Airlines business and first class (especially food and wine). Here’s my take of the experience

Al Safwa First Class Lounge

This was the best airport lounge I’ve ever been to (Cathay’s in Hong Kong is a close second) based on the size, service, amenities, food and drinks. They had nap rooms (that were actually more like a hotel room) with private shower and bathroom, multi-course dining, sushi bar, and a great selection of drinks. Their wine list included

Inflight food and beverage

Qatar is famous for serving Krug for their first class and we were in for a treat. They were serving Krug 2004 and Bollinger rosé 2008 paired with a caviar plate. Appetizer and main dish (choices include scallops, tuna, lobster, steak, fish) were delicious as well. We were so sad this leg was only 4hrs 50min 😂

Other details worth noting

  • Our flight coming back to Doha from Male required a shuttle transfer from the plane to the gate and this was the first time we saw a separate bus for first class passengers. We were the only passengers in the first class cabin and were the only ones on the bus as well.

  • Qatar Airways is very strict with the entrance requirement to the Al Safwa lounge. You can only enter if your outbound flight is in first class (or the very front seat of the plane) or if your inbound flight in first class is longer than 5hrs. They have separate lounges for business class, card holders, and elite members. There were conflicting reviews and anecdotes on different forums but we actually were not able to get in on our way back because our flight was 10 minutes short of 5 hours.

  • First class seats are usually double the price of business seats and don’t think most people pay for first class, hence we were the only people in the first class cabin both ways.

We loved the experience overall and would love to do it again. I’m not a points expert but the points guy has an article on redeeming points for Qatar Airways. Highly recommend trying this if you can!

Maldives resort for best food and wine - Ritz Maldives

Food and wine is always a big part of our travels, regardless of destination. Maldives isn’t exactly the first place that comes to mind for foodies or wine lovers, mostly because you can’t really leave the resort island once you check-in. However, if you pick the right resort, you would be pleasantly surprised at the quality of food and wine. Here’s a quick review and a few tips on food and wine at the Ritz-Carlton Maldives, Fari Islands.

Wine tasting experience (my favorite)!

A few different resorts in Maldives have an impressive cellar including Ritz and their sister property St. Regis. Ritz Maldives’ cellar is still growing since it’s a newer resort, but experience was top notch. It started with a sparkling wine sabrage, opening a bottle using a saber by the emerald blue ocean. Once the excitement kicks in, you go into a glass wine cellar room that overlooks the Maldives ocean and taste through ~5 different wines from Champagne, whites, and red from various wine regions of the world. Highly recommend!

Amazing on-site restaurant options

We spend 5 nights at the Ritz and did not have a bad meal there. Our favorite restaurant was Summer Pavillion, Chinese cuisine inspired by Singapore's Michelin-starred Summer Pavilion. They often get booked up so highly recommend asking your Aris Meeha (butler) to book in advance. We ate there twice during our stay. Italian restaurant La-locanda, where you can have breakfast, lunch, and dinner was also excellent. Breakfast buffet has free flowing prosecco and fresh juices if you want to make your own mimosa. We had Maldivian buffet for one of the nights and felt like it was a good value for us as it included various ceviches, lobster, gilled meats, fish, and desserts. While it’s always a good idea to make a reservation, we actually didn’t reserve the buffet in advance but were able to take a look at the buffet menu on the day and decided to participate.

Another detail that we loved as wine lovers is you can order a bottle of wine and if you can’t finish it, you can either ask the restaurant to keep for another night or send it to your room. They do an amazing job at re-sealing the wine and delivering as if it’s new (minus the wines you already drank 😆).

High quality room service

We originally didn’t plan on ordering a room service (as we always feel like food is more fresh at the restaurant) but due to our mistake in opening hours, we decided to lunch in our beach villa room. Plus we had a bottle of welcome Champagne so it worked out perfectly! We ordered a shrimp pad thai and a ribeye steak and to our surprise, the meal was as good as any restaurant. Food came hot but not overcooked, pad thai noodles were still fresh and steak was cooked perfectly to medium rare. If we go back, we will definitely do more of this.

With all these wine and food, 5 nights went by way too quickly and we can’t wait to return! Do note that mark up on food and wine bottles is pretty high given how far these resorts are but it was worth splurging for a dream vacation :)