Between late summer and early autumn, the Florentine Chianti is the perfect destination for a day spent exploring villages, enjoying wine tastings, discovering art and sampling Tuscan cuisine. It is grape harvest season, and simply driving along roads flanked by rows of vines, amid ripe bunches of grapes and hillsides beginning to change colour, is a spectacle in itself.

From Florence, the gateway to the Chianti is Greve in Chianti (just over half an hour from The Mall Firenze). Take a stroll beneath the arcades of Piazza Matteotti, perhaps stopping at the Antica Macelleria Falorni – a historic butcher’s shop with its own bistro and more than two centuries of tradition – before continuing on to Montefioralle, a small medieval village and one of the best preserved in Tuscany.

In an area that produces one of Italy’s best-known wines, a winery visit is a must. The spectacular Antinori nel Chianti Classico winery brings together the heritage of a family associated with wine since 1385 and contemporary architecture, seamlessly integrated into the surrounding hills. After a tour and tasting, head up to Rinuccio 1180, the winery’s rooftop restaurant, with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the vineyards and a contemporary take on Tuscan cuisine.

For art lovers, the place to visit is Castello di Ama, where works by artists including Michelangelo Pistoletto, Daniel Buren, Anish Kapoor, Louise Bourgeois and Hiroshi Sugimoto enliven the village, winery and surrounding landscape. Round off your visit with lunch at Ristoro di Villa Pianigiani, in the heart of Ama.

This is also the season for Cantine Aperte in Vendemmia (Open Wineries at Harvest Time), offering the chance to visit wineries, meet producers and discover wines in the very places where they are made, with vineyard picnics, tastings and hands-on grape-harvesting experiences.

(Cover photo: Andrea Dughetti)