VISITING CASTELLO BANFI

* Castello Banfi winery, Montalcino. (011-39-0577) 877-500 or www.castellobanfi.com. No charge; tours daily at 4 p.m., reservations required.

* Hotel Il Borgo, (011-39-0577) 877-700 or www.castellobanfiilborgo.com (same number for hotel and restaurants). Rooms $520-$1,105.

* Taverna Banfi restaurant, five-course Tuscan tasting menu with wines $80 per person; three-course $60.

* Ristorante Castello Banfi, five-course tasting menus with wines $110-$182 per person.

BANFI'S BALSAMIC VINEGAR SOLERA

La Balmaseria at Castello Banfi is a cellar in which wine is blended and aged into Banfi's version of that iconic Italian gourmet condiment, balsamic vinegar.

Banfi's is called Salsa Balsamica Etrusca. It's made by simmering grape juice down down to half its original volume, then aging it in a "solera system." In the solera, the juice is aged in a tiered system of five barrels -- oak, chestnut, cherry, ash and mulberry. Each year a bit of vinegar is moved from the oak barrel to the chestnut barrel, replacing vinegar moved from the chestnut barrel to the cherry and so on, with each barrel smaller due to evaporation.

At the end it's nothing like the $7.98 bottles of balsamic vinegar salad dressing on U.S. supermarket shelves. It's deep, dark, heady, pungent, sharp, sweet and viscous, with complex flavors of caramel and roasted chestnuts.

At $70 per five-ounce bottle, gourmets prize it, sipping it by itself in tiny portions or dribbling a few precious drops on ripe strawberries, cheeses, even ice cream.

WINING AND DINING AT CASTELLO BANFI

Il Ristorante, Banfi's Michelin one-star formal restaurant, offers a five-course tasting menu with wines for $180, including:

* Gnocchi -- potato dumplings with red porgy and white truffle, with Le Rime 2004, Banfi's blend of chardonnay and pinot grigio.

* Petto di Germano Reale -- wild duck breast on celeriac and apple puree with mushrooms, with Rosso di Montalcino, a Banfi sangiovese.

* Coda di bue -- oxtail in an herb crust with polenta and French beans, with Poggio Alle Mura 2000, Banfi's flagship Brunello di Montalcino.

BANFI WINES

Some Banfi wine tasting notes, with stateside full-bottle retail prices:

* 2005 Banfi Centine Rose, Toscana IGT (sangiovese, cabernet sauvignon, merlot): light body, tart cherry flavors, spicy and crisp; $9.

* 2004 Banfi Centine Red, Toscana IGT (sangiovese, cabernet sauvignon, merlot): medium body, black sweet cherry flavors, intense, crisp; $12.

* 2001 Banfi Summus, Sant'Antimo DOC, a "Super Tuscan" blend of brunello, syrah and cabernet sauvignon: heady, rich and smooth, with flavors of mulberries, black plums and black pepper, long finish; $66.

* 1999 Banfi Poggio Alle Mure Brunello di Montalcino DOCG (100 percent brunello): saturated inky color, aromas and flavors of licorice, black plum and mint, liqueur-like viscosity, big, ripe tannins; $81.

* 2004 Banfi Florus Moscadello di Montalcino DOC, Late Harvest: medium-sweet dessert wine, oranges, honey and cinnamon, intensely fruity; $20 per 500 ml (two-thirds) bottle.

--FRED TASKER