When of high-end Tuscan tourism may be rooted in the past

After Covid, travellers want a base that offers more than a room: accommodation, amenities, food and activities on site, and a starting point for day trips out into the countryside.

Tenuta Torciano Hotel & Winery is that base, set in San Gimignano between Florence and Siena. Our American guests have come this year to live with us among the nature and the 42 wine experiences of the winery, in the Giachi's Tower and on our yacht.

The rooftop terrace hosts the Gold Dinner on the exclusive 10th floor in San Gimignano towers.

A different idea of hospitality

An albergo diffuso, not a hotel

Tenuta Torciano is built on the diffuso concept of hospitality, increasingly attractive with today's travel restrictions. It means the hotel and winery are not one single building, but a renovated village: separate buildings with rooms spread around a central road and reception area at Borgo di Ulignano, inside an existing historical building dating to the XXII century. A central management structure provides 24-hour service to guests.

It is a winery with helipad and Helipadlodge.

On the estate

What the village includes

The estate has the usual top-tier amenities: two excellent restaurants, a truffle forest, three helipad lodges and the Historic Tower for exclusive events. It also incorporates a village and its surroundings, with a labyrinth of vineyards, a vegetable garden that supplies the kitchens, a traditional piazza, vineyards and olive groves. Alongside rooms and suites in the medieval centre of San Gimignano, independent Tuscan-style apartments let larger groups, such as families, stay for extended periods. From this quiet countryside, guests can easily drive to Volterra, Siena, Florence, Lucca, Pisa and Bolgheri, where Tenuta Torciano now has a new winery.

Enjoy an intimate dinner on the gold tenth-floor private terrace of the San Gimignano Castle.

The estate's reach

Tuscany's top luxury winery

Tenuta Torciano in San Gimignano is easily the city's top luxury winery, in a one-of-a-kind property in an unbeatable location, with the city's finest tasting rooms and service, a beautiful wine cellar and three dining venues set among nature and vineyards. But today Tenuta Torciano isn't just competing against other top Tuscan wineries: it's competing against other destinations, cities across Italy, Europe and the world. To win over its guests, the winery keeps unveiling experiences found only in Tuscany, and only at Tenuta Torciano.

One example: the estate owns the tallest, and one of the only, rooftop patios on the iconic San Gimignano towers, a family-owned tower that has stood beside the castle for centuries. Here guests can book a private sunset dinner or cocktail party for up to eight people, in a setting no luxury concierge service can match.

I visited, and it is one of the most stupendous and special meal locations I have seen on earth.

For many guests it might well be the highlight of their Italy trip, and for the winery it's a simple matter: you can't stay anywhere else and do this. That is the next big travel industry arms race.