Saturday morning, on a little cobblestoned street outside a wine cellar in Italy’s Chianti region, people are gathering with their glasses at the tasting table. Renzo Marinai vineyard and agriturismo snuggles into the hills of the Conca d'Oro–the “golden basin”–Tuscany’s answer to Burgundy’s Cote d’Or.

Once a heartland for ripening wheat, the sun-drenched, fertile hills of Panzano in Chianti since the 1950’s have given over to prized wine and olive oil production. Every year, Chianti Classico winemakers organise festivals to showcase local wines throughout September and October. T