Barberino Tavarnelle is a young comune with old bones. It was created in 2019 by merging Barberino Val d’Elsa and Tavarnelle Val di Pesa, on the western side of Chianti Classico, and only part of it lies inside the zone.
Its landmark is Badia a Passignano, the Vallombrosan abbey founded in 1049 and still home to monks, with a Last Supper by Domenico and Davide Ghirlandaio in the refectory. The vineyards around it are farmed by Antinori, whose Badia a Passignano is now a Gran Selezione, and the Osteria di Passignano beside the abbey is one of the serious tables of the region.
To the south, San Donato in Poggio is a walled hilltop borgo that gives its name to its own UGA — around 800 hectares of vines between about 250 and 425 metres, on a mix of alberese, pietraforte and shale, giving wines that range from agile and fruity to elegant and structured. It is also home to a well-loved local trattoria, La Toppa. Near Tavarnelle, COMO Castello del Nero is a medieval castle turned luxury hotel, with its restaurant La Torre.
Barberino Val d’Elsa, with its walled main street, and Tavarnelle are working towns rather than showpieces, but the countryside between them, sloping west towards the Elsa valley, is some of the most open in Chianti. The lanes between Passignano and San Donato, through vines, olive groves and cypresses, are among the most rewarding to drive, cycle or walk in the western Chianti.
