Radda in Chianti
Relais & Châteaux · Fontenille Collection · Former bishops’ residence
Pieve Aldina stands above the Chiantigiana near Radda, its buildings leaning against the Romanesque church of Santa Maria Novella. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries this was the summer residence of the bishops of Siena; in 2023 it opened as the first Italian house of the French Fontenille Collection, and it has been a member of Relais & Châteaux from the start. Twenty-two rooms and suites are spread across the old abbey house, the farm manager’s house and their outbuildings.
The Florentine studio Pierattelli Architetture restored it with a light hand: sixteenth-century frescoes, stencilled salons and a marble staircase stay, and new materials were sourced close by. There are no televisions in the rooms. Chef Niccolò Pini cooks Tuscan classics at Le Rondini, while the 1950s-style Enoteca does salumi, pasta and wood-fired dishes. A pool looks over the vines, and a small spa has two treatment rooms, a hammam and an infrared sauna. Open late March to early November.
Remote rustic trattoria
Bib GourmandWorth seeking out. Set in a converted farmhouse on a minor road between Radda and Panzano, Le Panzanelle rewards those who find it with one of the most honest meals in Chianti, and the MICHELIN Guide lists it with a Bib Gourmand.
Village bar & lunch spot
The only bar in the tiny fortified hamlet of Volpaia — itself one of the most beautiful villages in the Chianti zone. Bar Ucci doubles as a lunch spot serving simple plates: bruschetta, panzanella, cold meats, cheese and soups.
Radda in Chianti IGT Toscana · Cult Producer