Icario Winery — Attraction in Unione dei Comuni Valdichiana Senese

In true tourist fashion, my SO and I didn't realize reservations were needed for most anything in this area (wineries, restaurants, etc.). And since we only stayed in Tuscany one night after a cruise, we decided to stop by Icario on the way back to the airport in Rome just to see what we may or may not be able to do. Tour, tasting, or just nothing and head to another one. No expectations.

We pulled up, and a gentleman (Ricardo) met us in the parking lot and asked if we had done a reservation. I told him we hadn't, but he offered to let us join the tour that had just started if we like. So we parked and walked up. As I'm walking up, he read my shirt (had my hometown county on it) and asked where it was. When I told him, he knew where it was. Turns out he was a fellow Dawg alum/fan. We had some fun dialogue in regards to this shared interested and moved on.

That said, I thoroughly enjoyed the tour. He was very knowledgeable of the soils, conditions, wind, etc that creates different tastes and flavors, which I appreciated. I enjoy learning how things work or are made, so this whole process was very enjoyable for myself and my SO. The tasting was more for my SO as I'm not really a wine drinker (very little alcohol period) and I had never tried a wine that I actually liked, that is until I visited here. I did the lower level tasting, my SO tried all 7 which I did try a sip of each, and only really liked the one wine. They were ok with that, and understand it's not for everyone. Great stacks, amazing olive oil for the bread, and never any pressure to make sure we paid for our tour before leaving. Of course we settled everything up, bought a few bottles to bring home and went on our way. Great experience, as they had the ability to accommodate us. If they hadn't, we would have understood as we didn't do it the "right way".

For...

We attended Icario recently, during our wedding weekend with our entire wedding party (35 guests) and spent several months discussing the logistics with Cecilia & Lucy in the lead up. They were so helpful, attentive and adaptable to our needs for the day and truly made the visit feel like such a bespoke experience that our guests absolutely loved.

Our guide on the day did an incredible job of navigating everybody through the different and wonderful areas of the winery and even managed to keep 2 young children entertained. His knowledge was impeccable and he easily answered any questions with calmness and good humour. The staff had arranged a long table across the width of the glass floor (which very impressively looks down onto the barrel room) and they made the tasting experience seamless. Each wine was generously poured, delicious and suited a range of palettes and was explained in great detail. The rosé and grappa to finish were a great touch! We also had an array of meats and cheese boards to accompany - some of the best cheeses we have ever tried! They did a really great job of catering to all allergies, with gluten free bread at hand and even made up small plates for the children to enjoy.

The winery setting itself is unique and stunning, as is the art work surrounding it. Our guests loved sipping wine outside on the beautiful terrace. It felt luxurious. Another highlight was walking through the vineyards during an informative tour and grape tasting.

A big thanks to the staff for their enthusiasm, hard work and patience before and during our visit. It made it an...

Horrible customer service. I recommend visiting one of the many other wineries in the region to receive an overall better experience.

Visited the winery in March 2022 and after a tasting, ordered 6 bottles and one of their wine boxes to be delivered to me in the US. The order arrived incomplete and missing the wine box. When contacted to resolve the mistake, Icario’s response was that it was “too expensive” for them to ship me the box that I’d purchased and not received. They recommended that I make another purchase of wine from them and they could include the box in this order. Very bold considering they didn’t fulfill the first order correctly.

After over 1 month of attempting to receive my correct order or a refund, I’ve heard nothing back from Icario, nor have I received the complete order or a refund. I was very disappointed when I learned that the cost of correcting this and shipping me the products I bought would have been €28. Apparently this isn’t enough to correct an order for a customer that spent €200 with their company. There are many wineries in the area and I would recommend to anyone reading this that you find one who takes better care of their customers after the sale. The Montepulciano region has great wine and there is nothing spectacular about this winery’s products that set it apart from any of the others. On the other hand, their service certainly sets them apart from others in a rather...