The hills surrounding Lucca show a beautiful landscape rich of woods, vineyards and olive groves, dotted with romanesque churches and historic villas, having on background Alpi Apuane.
The wine vocation of this land begans since the roman epoch and seems to be rooted by Etruscans and Ligurians, well before the roman conquest and the Lucca's founding in the 180 b.C.
In the Middle Ages, the production continued succesfully and the hills were populated by several villages where the inhabitants met themselves in churches that called back men from vineyards and fields with the sound of bells coming from towers.
To understand the importance of wine production in this area, let's remember a short anecdote from Lucca chronicles: in 1334 were collected from the hills around the town and taken to the city, even more than 168.300 barrels of wine!!
From the 16th century, the most important families of Lucca, who were part of the Republic's Government, choosed these hills such the place where build their luxurious villas, that still today enrich the landscape with their renaissance and baroque decorations.
Today the quality of the wine produced by “Colline Lucchesi” is certified by the brand DOC, assigned in 1968 to the red wine and in 1985 to the white; the first, thanks to its soft dry flavor with a minimum alcohol content (about 11° or 11.5°) matches well with meat and typical vegetable soups coming from Lucca's tradition; white wine, with its dry and harmonic taste, is perfect to be used with fish.
The best way to enjoy the beauty of these landscapes and know its history, is to do cycling and that's why Tuscany Ride a Bike offers a hike, also suitable for inexperienced cyclists, starting from the city center and straight to the hills.
Of course, you can taste the red and white DOC wines directly at the producer, during the stop at Fattoria Sardi Giustiniani's.
So, come here and fill of wine your bottles!