Tuscan Cooking Courses, Olive Oil Tasting,
Vineyard Tour & Essential Chianti

Anita White will be running weekly Tuscan cooking courses with excellent accommodation at Castello di Tavolese or Il Poggiaccio. Prices are based on half-board, per person, inclusive of breakfast, all ingredients for the preparation of meals and restaurant outings.

Anita, who is a professionally trained culinary expert, has 10 years experience organising Tuscan cooking courses. She lives in Marcialla, a village near to Tavarnelle in the Chianti region of Tuscany.

Single persons are welcome on the course at no extra supplement and will share self-catering accommodation with another single person where suitable. Each person will have their own bedroom and bathroom.

Included in the price: airport transfers, rental of self-catering accommodation, all visits, ingredients utilised on the cooking course, daily continental breakfast (this is served in the restaurant at Il Poggiaccio, whilst at Castello di Tavolese, a breakfast basket is delivered each morning). Evening meals in restaurants as indicated in our program.

Not included: Drinks and flights (please call us for information regarding the most competitive flight deals).

Booking conditions: guests booking the Tuscan cooking course should kindly not book their flights until 90 days before departure. If for any reason the Tuscan cooking course will not be run, guests will be advised 90 days before the course is due to start. In the unlikely case that this happens, a full refund of any monies paid to us will be made.

Fattoria Il Pornanino

Last year’s guests were invited to meet expert Franco Lombardi during their stay in Chianti at his organic olive oil producing estate ‘Fattoria Il Pornanino’, set amid olive groves in the Chianti hills near Radda.

Guests were extremely enthusiastic about the visit which gave them an interesting and enjoyable few hours together with Franco Lombardi learning about one of Chianti’s oldest and most important industries, olive oil production.

After a look around Chianti’s most famous olive grove, Franco will explain the olive oil making process from harvesting to bottling. He will also discuss the importance of olive oil in our daily diet and how to evaluate and compare good quality and poorer quality olive oil. To finish the day, guests are invited to ‘olive oil taste’ with some delicious Italian bruschettas. Tickets cost £8 for each adult whilst accompanied children under 15 are invited free of charge.

Be Our Guest..

This year, we have paid for all interested guests to a vineyard tour and wine tasting afternoon, together with our Chianti expert, Marco Svelto, at a well known Chiantishire vineyard.

Marco will explain wine production from the grape to barrel and bottling. Guests will be shown the vines in detail and afterwards, the wine cellars where the intricate preparation and fermentation process takes place. Various vintages will then be chosen to taste and evaluate.

Tickets are sent on booking and we ask you kindly to present these to Marco Svelto on arrival.

With our compliments, Essential Chianti, a unique guide to unforgettable panoramic terrace restaurants and hidden hilltop hamlets........

The visitor to Chianti is overwhelmed with things to do and see in the area. Every region has its most special, well known, places to visit and recommended restaurants.

Essential Chianti is an attentively produced, complimentary guide, based on our local knowledge of the area. We are pleased to be able to share with you our intimacy of Chianti and feel confident that you will enjoy the places featured in the guides as much as we have.

Essential Chianti is a fundamental guide to sightseeing in Chianti and Tuscany. Part one includes visits to the nearby medieval town of San Gimignano and the beautiful city of Siena. The second part focuses on Chianti towns and villages: historic hilltop hamlets where one can enjoy a drink or lunch surrounded by unforgettable views across vineyards, olive groves and rolling Chianti countryside.

Among the selected places of interest mentioned in Essential Chianti is the beautiful Brolio castle where the first Chianti wine was made and Greve, the capital town of the Chianti Classico wine growing region. Our detailed map of the area marks the Chianti Classico producing vineyards and hidden hilltop hamlets which could otherwise be missed. Essential Chianti also gives important practical information on a variety of subjects including food shopping, parking in Florence and the emergency services.

We include an interesting and realistic one day itinerary for Florence starting at the beautiful cathedral and walking through the Boboli, once royal gardens, up to the piazza dedicated to Michelangelo overlooking the river Arno and city.

Another part leads art lovers through a room by room guide around the Uffizi museum, undoubtedly the greatest collection of Renaissance Art in the world. Among work on display in the Uffizi are masterpieces by Leonardo da Vinci and Boticelli.

A section of Essential Chianti is completely dedicated to children, with a top five ‘things to do’ in Florence and Chianti all according to children themselves. Visit a fairy-tale castle, natural hot water pools, a zoo and secret gardens at Pinnochio’s Park, the author of which lived in Florence.