Il Cellese is one of the most sensational country houses in Italy. With interiors of terracotta tiles and exposed beams, and bold abstract art on the stone walls, it fuses quintessential Tuscan charm with state-of-the-art modernity. Headline acts include the indoor and outdoor pools; an open-air yoga sala and indoor wellness area with gym, sauna and steam room. In the estate’s winery there is a private restaurant space, which invites oenophiles to sample wine produced by the villa’s own vineyard, where custom barrels are painted by artists Santiago Ydáñez and Miki Leal. (Take home your favourite bottles in the villa’s custom-made crocodile leather trunk.) In the beautifully landscaped gardens is a wood-fired pizza oven and barbecue for those who love to cook, with a terrace for under-the-stars suppers overlooking Chianti’s hills and Il Cellese’s rows of vines. The house sleeps 19 in 10 en-suite bedrooms (all but one with kingsize beds), which are all lovely, so nobody gets the short straw if they’re last to arrive.