For the third year, your host and wine appassionato, Ashton Durrett, takes you along as he visits makers of the wines he has discovered for his Italian restaurant in western Colorado. You have special invitations from winemakers to tour their cellars, taste their wines and dine at their tables. And together, you’ll search out new "finds" for Ashton’s cellar.

This year you travel with Ashton to the charming hill towns of central and eastern Tuscany including Montalcino - home to Brunello - Montepulciano and Cortona. You'll come to understand why this area's wines are so highly appreciated by connoisseurs around the world.

Outside of the hill towns, you’ll experience wines from other DOC’s and DOCG’s in Tuscany, including Chianti and Chianti Classico, Colline Lucchese, Montecarlo and Carmignano. In caves under the city of Lucca, you’ll have a special tasting of the incomparable ’97 Brunello’s.

You’ll enjoy pairing wine with food in a trattoria which was once an olive mill, an osteria rating rave reviews from Slow Food for its emphasis on the best of local products, and a restaurant matching tradition with innovation with exciting results.

At your home for the week, the farmhouse Selva, you can enjoy walks in the olive groves and vineyards. You’ll have cooking lessons based on the bounty of the countryside and the best in the markets, with menus ranging from the cucina povera (cooking of the poor) to the elegant recipes of the villas. You’ll meet the estate shepherdess and, early one morning, you’ll watch her make exquisite ricotta and pecorino cheese.

The jewel city of Lucca is only minutes away, and you can immerse yourself in its Medieval center, walk its Renaissance walls, savor the best cappuccino in the world, and dine in the shadow of the Roman amphitheater.

Other highlights include making your own limoncello to take home with you, pizza night using the farmhouse wood-burning oven, and visits to markets, seaside fish markets, and salami and prosciutto makers.