Avisen Danmark published a travel feature on Friday describing how working vineyards in Tuscany’s Bolgheri area have turned into holiday destinations. The report says wine culture now draws visitors that the beaches once pulled in alone.
The feature, published by Avisen Danmark on August 7, 2026, follows a reporter through the Tuscan coastal district around Bolgheri. The writer was invited to the Poggio al Tesoro winery by the export body Consorzio Vino Toscano, together with the local consortium Consorzio per la Tutela dei Vini DOC Bolgheri.
According to the outlet, the two organizations covered transport, accommodation and meals for the trip. The report states that tourism in the Maremma region was previously driven mainly by the sandy beaches along the Tyrrhenian Sea. Wine production and wine culture now function as an equally strong attraction.
What agriturismo means
Italians use the term agriturismo, an official designation for a working farm or vineyard licensed to run tourism activities. That can include overnight accommodation and a restaurant on the property, as described by Avisen Danmark.
Italian law requires that the property’s primary activity remains genuine agricultural work, such as producing wine or olive oil. The tourism side must stay a secondary activity. Per the report, there are now more than 25,000 registered agricultural destinations across Italy, with the largest concentration in Tuscany.
Tourism entrepreneur Filippo Magnani, who runs the travel agency Fufluns, described the shift in the Bolgheri area. As stated by Magnani, there were only five wineries in the area when he started his agency 27 years ago, and just one was open to visitors. He said there are now 67 wineries across the DOC appellation, and that 90 percent of them are open to visitors in some form.
The formats vary, according to Magnani. Smaller wineries may offer a tour and lunch with the owner, while others have opened restaurants on site. Some have built wine resorts where guests stay overnight at the estate.
Magnani specializes in arranging wine trips for enthusiasts and collectors. In this case, he organized a dinner for a group of wine writers at the restaurant Agriristoro La Cesarina with three smaller producers. He said direct contact with visitors also improves producers’ finances, because direct sales carry higher margins and remove the wait for invoices from importers or restaurateurs.
The report adds that the international success of DOC Bolgheri has attracted outside investors and capital. Several historic estates and newer prestige wineries have spent large sums upgrading their facilities into exclusive resorts. Per Magnani, the large established brands moved first on hospitality, and smaller wineries are now following.
The writer flew from Copenhagen Airport to Florence with SAS. From Florence Airport, the transfer to Bolgheri takes about an hour and a half by car, or between two and three hours by bus and train.
