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| Puglia, special September 11-18 and October 9-16 Offers |
Harvest in the Land of Primitivo and Negroamaro.
Visit the biggest vineyards of Southern Italy, in the Harvest time, swim in the Ionian sea by the end of the summer.
Matera, Murgia, Alberobello, Ostuni, Lecce, Otranto, Gallipoli
Primitivo di Manduria, Negroamaro, Moscato, Verdeca.
Visit Puglia, the land with the larger, ancient olive groves, and the largest wine produciton, in one of the best seasons of the year. During the grapes harvest (late august-september). Or later during the olives harves, in october and later.
Ask us for the special last minute rates. Just tells us how many people you are, and how you wish to lodge: a) three star hotels and farmhouse resorts, b) villas and 4 stars hotels, c) luxury accommodations.
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Wine.
Vines raised like low, little bushes, to protect the grapes from too much sun and wind, like the ancient Greeks learned to do. In the Murgia, in Manduria, and in the plains between Brìndisi and Lecce, it’s wehre we’ll discover the excellence of Primitivo and Negroamaro, but also the less famous Martinafranca, Primitivo di Gioia del Colle, Verdeca, and Moscato di Trani.
Oil.
Endless olive groves everywhere, some young trees, many of them planted in 1500, some as old as the greek settlers who probably planted them first.
Puglia makes about half of the whole Italian oil, and boasts several local varieties, which give the best ij her climate. Come with us to taste the finer oils, in the better estates
Itinerary and Landscape.
Highlight: Murgia, Alberobello, Monopoli, Ostuni, Manduria, Gallipoli, Otranto, and Lecce.
We travel across rocky, dry limestone plateaus, cut by steep canyons and hosting deep caves, rich green pasture in the high Murgia, where the best mozzarella and provoloni come from.
Sunsplashed white towns, on the hills, like Ostuni, or by the coast, like Monopoli, and Otranto for example. They are clustered around their old castle, and Cathedrals, often one thousand years old, or dating back to the Crusaders centuries, when this land was rich for the trade, and was Europe’s warmest frontier.
Cuisine
The tasty, fresh Apulian-Mediterranean cuisine, essential since the flavours are so rich. So various, since so many culture are layered in it.
It includes ancient pastoral, and greek flavors, clasic Italian dishes, as the tastier durum wheat pasta, “orecchiette” above all, the olives and tomatoes “Focaccia, just the best in the world, the tastier seafood.
And still recipes and flavor brought by the Spanish, and desserts that remind Turkish and Arab neighbours.
In the fall, it’s great to sit down in a café or by the sea, and allow time for a casual conversation, like in former times, maybe after a fine grilled lamb dinner, sitting by the seaside and sipping a fresh lemonade, or a cool dessert wine, and “watch the people walk by”, in the main square of town.
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| The Essence of Tuscany |
A great Tuscan Traverse. Mid september, late october
Maremma, Crete and Chianti, three landscapes, three different stories.
The Tufi and Scansano area, Montalcino, Volterra and the Chianti Hills
Morellino, Ansonaca, Brunello, Vernaccia, Montescudaio, Bolgheri, Chianti
This trip offers a great fulls experience of of Tuscany, following a traverse, and focussing on three classic, and different zones: the Maremma, The Montalcino and the Chianti zones.
Lenght: we suggest 9 days, or you can choose a shorter tour, by selecting the areas that you like better.
Mediterranean Tuscany: Etruscan Coast, and High Maremma.3 days, 2 nights.
Pisa welcomes you with the leaning tower - you are certainly in Tuscany! - its lively historical center, and with the first wine tasting in a stately villa’s ancient cellars.
Volterra, high on a wind swept hill, preserves amazing Etruscan remains, and a Roman theatre, and impressive Medieval buildings and walls.
Following ancient techniques, its craftworkers produce alabaster and gold masterpieces. In its surroundings we taste traditional Sangiovese wines, and the best “pecorino” cheeses made by sheperds of Sardinian tradition. Along the Etruscan coast we discovere three fine appellation zones, which become increasingly famous: Montescudaio, and the fashionable Bolgheri. By the Baratti beach, further south, we visit a monumental Etruscan necropolis, witnessing an ancient time of whealth and trade with the whole Mediterranean. On the way, we get a tasting of Val di Cornia wines, before heading on to the Crete, our base for the next three nights. The wines.Our first tastings are the classic, fresh Sangiovese, from the Pisa hills and Montescudaio, what the Tuscans really like to drink. Then the whites: Vermentino fresh and mild, and the unusual Ansonaca, gently salty, and ideal with seafood. And last, the leading-edge, new Tuscan from Bolgheri, ripe, smooth and elegant, with an unmistakable, cabby French touch. SIENA, THE VAL D’ORCIA, THE CRETE.Montalcino, Pienza, Montepulciano, Siena.Valdorcia and Crete, our base for three nights, are in the center of Tuscany, it’s their priviledge to be located at the center of the threee greatest Sangiovese wine sproduction zones: Montalcino, Montepulciano, and the Chianti Classico. The Crete, or “clays”, are a small valley with rolling hills, celebrated as the “ultimate picturesque” landscape, for its cypress trees, and sheep flocks decorating the fields. Close, and only slightly higher, the Valdorcia with almost mountain style views, is surprisingly the zone where the celebrated Brunello comes from, jointly with its younger brothers, the Orcia and Montecucco wines. We visit the walled San Quirico village, Bagno Vignoni, if you feel like enjoying dipping in a warm thermal pool, and of course, Montalcino, a cosmopolitan, wine lover’s pilgrimage spot, appropriately fashionable ond snob. Nearby we can visit the St. Antimo Abbey, a special Romanesque masterpiece, a French cathedral in Italy, where few French monks continue the tradition of the ancient Gregorian chants. Or we can reach Pienza, a miniature jewel of Renaissance city planning, equally famous for its refined, “pecorino” cheeses. Montepulciano is a must, for the velveted, robust Vino Nobile, for its charming old town, up on a steep hill, with amazing views on the Crete and Chiana Valley, and for its ancient undergroud cellars. The old landlords dug them in the tufa rock, the safest place in the whole area, and they aged the wines in huge barrels, which we will see during our unmissable wine tasting in town.On the way north, before reaching Siena, we pause at the Monte Oliveto Maggiore abbey......., is a large red brick monastery, it nestled among steep gullies, in a centenary cypresses park, it conceals the most beautiful Renaissance frescoes cycle, S. Benedict life, painted by Luca Signorelli and Sodoma.The wines. Three wines are made here in particular, full bodied, more perfumed and longer ageing than the Sangiovese made in the rest of the region: the Nobile di Montepulciano wine, since 1500, is celebrated as a rich, oaky, aged wine, it takes its name from the Florentine noble to whom it was sent. In the old cellar, built under a “palazzo”, or a fort, we can possibly find niches, or caves which are older Etruscan tombs. The highlight is, however, Montalcino, the prestigious, dark, full bodied Brunello sanctuary: Sangiovese grosso 100%, 4-5 years aging, low yields, great terroirs and micro climate, big investment and top techniques. Last but not least, - a new appellation - the Montecucco, produced immediately to the south of the Brunello, and recalling its style, with a rich extract, powerful, though with a definitely younger style and affordable prices. THE CHIANTI HILLS, VALDELSA. You can explore the streets and shops of Florence with our guide, or rather take the southern route directly into the Chianti Hills, which beginn few miles to the south of the city. In the afternoon we reach our country hotel, strategicall ylocated between the Chianti Classico hills and the Valdelsa. The next day we’ll visit Volterra and, or San Gimignano. Both nestled on commanding hilltops, the first is well-known for its Etruscan heritage, as well as for the fine alabaster production, while the second for its 14, unique 13th-14th centuries towers. The Chianti hills, boast the most famous, and more idealized Tuscan landscape, scattered with castles, country churches, Renaissance Villas and of the more beautiful stone farmhouses. They also name a celebrated wine, because here is where the rough medieval Sangiovese wine evolved into “Chianti”, and where now dedicated winemakers produce the only, real “Classico”. Travelling among steep valleys, where the vineyards are hidden between the woods, we discover a magic area, inhabited since medieval times. Located between Florence and Siena, the area has long been contended for, which is recorded by the number of dungeons, fortified villages and castles, many of the latter now used as winery or hotels. All these historical buildings records how the earlier feudal lords, while fighting each other, fortified their land, how the rich merchants invested their money, or the Church invested the donations received. In one way, or the other, agricolture and wine-making boast here the oldest traditions here, since this area was naturallly providing food, wine and oil to the rich Florence and Siena markets. We will visit Greve, and Badia a Passignano, between the nicest views and the best wine terroirs. The wines.Our first tastings give you and experience of the : Chianti Classico, Riserva, IGT and Vin Santo, the fine, dry dessert wine aged for years. Vernaccia di San Gimignano, likely the best white wine of the region.
RATES
As an indication: € 180, to € 270 per person per day, based on the accommodations required and the number of participants. Call us for details.
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