The Vineyard at Florence is a Tuscan-style resort featuring a boutique hotel, villas, event spaces, a wine tasting room and a restaurant that’s become a destination for visitors. It is a popular wedding venue, romantic get-away and date spot for couples looking to experience a little bit of Italy in Williamson County.
Farmer’s Commons, the property’s restaurant, is open seven days a week and offers a brunch on weekends with live music on the terrace. Farmers Commons serves Italian and Southern-inspired dishes, including charcuterie boards, fried green tomatoes, prosciutto pizza and chicken fried steak. The wine tasting room is also open Thursday through Sunday.
The Vineyard at Florence was started after two friends returned from a trip to Italy and sought to replicate a vineyard community in Central Texas. In 2007, they chose a property in Florence — which coincidently shares a name with the Italian city of Florence. The original plan was to build a vineyard and tasting room surrounded by homes. Today, the 600-acre property includes 20 houses located a distance from the hotel, restaurant and event venues. Additional facilities were added later, said General Manager Stacy Harris.
“It wasn't just about wine or the landscape or the community,” Property Manager Stacy Harris said. “[The elements] were all interwoven together. “You could equate it, to some degree, to a golf course community around a vineyard with a restaurant. It really grew organically. No one really anticipated it to evolve to what it is now.”
The dry wine produced by the vineyard, she said, is similar to the Old World wines found in Italy. In 2020, the vineyard shifted its wine production off site to keep up with demand. The former production room, lined with barrels, now serves as an event space now often used for rehearsal dinners and corporate events. Grapes from the on-site vines are used to make jelly for the restaurant. The property also has a chef’s garden, which supplies produce for the Farmers Commons restaurant.
“Our chef and our lead gardener work together on each season's plantings to determine what items we can cultivate on property to incorporate in the restaurant menu,” Ms. Harris explained. “Farm to fork isn't a marketing sound bite to us. We really do live the culture of it.”
Near the vineyard, there is an apiary where the restaurant’s honey is cultivated on property. Because bees pollinate the same plants that produce fruits and vegetables, the honey naturally complements the restaurant dishes. The kitchen also caters events.
The Vineyard at Florence hosts around 60 weddings per year, with an average of 130 guests. There are three main spaces for weddings, including Ella Amore— an indoor/ outdoor space that can accommodate up to 250 people. It is not uncommon for close friends and families to stay in the boutique hotel on property and make a weekend out of the event. There are also other private event spaces for smaller, miscellaneous gatherings ranging from family reunions to corporate events.