One of our favorite cooking schools is located here, just outside of Siena, where you can spend a morning or a full day learning traditional Italian cuisine in a fun, informal setting on an idyllic farm. A week is easily taken up just with this part of Tuscany, but no wine visitor should leave without a visit to Montalcino to see how the fabulous Brunello is made. And once your down there you might as well carry on to the coast...

Maremma, on the Mediterranean shore west of Siena, is the new "hot" region of Italy, one of the most exciting in Europe as top winemakers buy up land to make traditional and "Super Tuscan" blends. The coastal climate shows its influence in the finesse of these wines - this is, after all, where the first "Supertuscan" blends were made.