A Ziner was wondering about visiting wineries in Tuscany. A couple of years ago while visiting Tuscany we tried to visit some. My brother is a keen amateur wine-maker and had a lot of information but we found it hard to actually visit the works. We did taste wine at several wineries - an enoteca in Greve, the cantina at Castello di Brolio, etc. but our best wine experience was a fluke. On our way to Sant Antimo near Montalcino, we came across a small winery - Le Macioche.

There were few staff around, just the manager and several old people who were labelling the wine. The manager was welcoming - he didn't get many visitors and he showed us around. He exports most of the wine to the US and was interested to hear how much his wine cost (my brother Jamie had a wine guide with him). When he heard that Richard and I were from Toronto, he said his best friend had just moved there. I got my show and tell postcards of Toronto from the car. When the old folks clucked over them interestedly, I donated them and that brought an even more expansive tour - up the stairs to view the vinyard from the rooftop terrace and more information. We bought some wine and parted happily. Jamie had finally seen a winery!

Frances Toronto, Canada