Category: About Tuscany

Learning about Oil in Tuscany

On a glorious afternoon this fall I fell in love with Italian tradition once again. Basking in the beautiful sunshine, I spent time with my  friends learning about and tasting olive oil, at Podere Gli Scassi.

While this age-old tradition is special in its own right, I met a man  who speaks about olive trees, harvesting and oil with such poetic words the farmers before him would surely be honored.

When Lars  Gehrig speaks about his farming techniques and beliefs, his words are filled with respect and admiration for all of the tradition of this  ancient practice. He is impassioned about his lifestyle, living on his olive farm with his wife and family, and even more so about respecting  the earth which gives them their harvest every year.  That afternoon Lars offered us an oil tasting that was straight out of a magazine cover. Situated in the mountains of Pistoia, the farm offers  stunning views of the Tuscan country.

Atable was set outside of the 350-year-old farmhouse for us, complete with wine, oils and  antipasti. While the geese and chickens roamed around the yard we proceeded to taste and learn about the oil which has inspired people  for ages.  The oil produced at Podere Gli Scassi is special because of the family’s approach to farming. They refuse to use pesticides or chemicals  at all.

They also mill the olives in stainless steel, which is beneficial in extending the length of the oil’s freshness as well as preserving  its health benefits. He proudly talks about the low acidity of the oil and the peroxide level, both of which are very important to  the oil’s flavor, freshness and quality.

By tasting other oils alongside his, it is easy to tell in a short amount of time why his oil has won a  gold medal in the Los Angeles County Fair. The oil is so full of flavor and texture I feel as though every drop consumed is a gift.  Our group, most of us being from places outside of Italy, usually tried to buy the best oil we could and enjoyed it. Now, we were experiencing  something so stunning we were speechless.

The taste difference is amazing and inspiring. The flavored oils they produce at  Podere Gli Scassi inspired a lengthy conversation about all the different ways it could be used to enhance our meals and our desserts.  Once you try the lemon oil I feel you will agree that pastry made with this would be divine.

As the sun set and the wine ran out we faced the reality that we must all return to our homes and leave this place. While walking to our  cars, slowly, savoring every moment, it was mutually concluded this experience had changed all of us. It was wonderful to taste the oils  and learn more about the traditions of this beautiful country but more importantly, the time we all spent together on this beautiful farm,  with such a great family, was something so wonderful we will forever carry in our hearts.

From Grapevine

Tuscany – The sexy fountain

With the media bombarding us every day with the world drought problem, Lucca’s ever-flowing fountains are attracting more attention than ever.
Water deserves the value given it and our much beloved architect, Lorenzo Nottolini, would have been extremely proud of the extra attention currently devoted to his beautiful fountains in town. It was the Duchess of Lucca, Maria Luisa of Bourbon, whose statue you can admire in Piazza Napoleone, who decided in 1822 to have an aqueduct built to exploit the springs of the San Quirico torrent in Guamo.
Too many people in Lucca were falling sick because of the water; the wells in town were polluted and the problem of a public aqueduct had to be faced. Heavy taxes were imposed on the population to raise the amount of money necessary for the works, and in 1832 the water channelled through the aqueduct started pouring from the fountain located next to San Martino Cathedral.
The aqueduct is four kilometres long. The arches that run very gently down from the hills to the town begin in Guamo and end in the San Concordio suburb of Lucca.
There are 459 of them with an average height of approximately 10 metres, delimited at both ends by a neoclassical cylindrical stone temple with more than one role: hydraulic, to connect and link the underground pipes to the aqueduct, static because they contain the thrust of the arches and the third role is to decorate and complete the monument.
The Lucchesi refer to the aqueduct water as the water of “la Pupporona”, that is, of the lady with large “puppore”. If you look this popular word up in the dictionary you won’t find it: “puppore” in Lucca means bosom, so a “pupporona” is a lady with a large bosom.
This unidentified young lady, sculpted in neo-classical style, has surpassed the noble Duchess in fame. Her statue stands on a pedestal behind the fountain in Piazza San Salvatore – always referred to by the Lucchesi as Piazza della Pup-porona, because her dress, sliding off one shoulder reveals her bosom and so shows her “puppora”. In town we now have eight fountains which deliver water from the aqueduct.
The chemical-physical characteristics and taste of the water are excellent and superior to many mineral waters on sale. It’s tested daily and you can always see the Lucchesi filling their bottles and thereby getting good water at no cost. This water is also used by the Botanical Garden to water their large variety of azaleas and rhododendrons because of its acidic content.
The style chosen by Nottolini to decorate the fountains reveals his attention to the urban setting. He chose the white marble of Carrara and, apart from the Pupporona, geometrical shapes, such as the cylinder and the parallelepiped, often enriched with engraved masks.
A walk or a bike ride alongside the aqueduct is pleasant and interesting. Keep your camera at the ready, and abandon yourself to the pleasure of looking at such an important masterpiece of architecture, where Nottolini has succeeded in matching beauty and function.
In some way you will find the atmosphere of certain eighteenth century prints depicting the Roman country ruins.
You can start this enjoyable outing by turning left behind the railway station. At a glance you’ll see that the aqueduct is in a critical condition, due to structural subsidence, acts of vandalism, lack of maintenance and the continuous pillage of stones. But it still manages to fulfils the purpose it was built for.
Nottolini’s Aqueduct Duchess of Lucca Maria Luisa Porta S. Gervaso Piazza Antelminelli

Journeys through history, culture and tradition

LUCCA (half day morning or afternoon)

Join our guide for a walking experience, taking you back in time to 180BC when Lucca was founded as a Roman colony.  The day will start with a stroll on top of the medievel walls (built between 1504-1645) and wind its way into the heart of the city to discover the anfiteatro, an arena shaped piazza, the church of San Michele in Foro (where Puccini began his musical career as a choirboy), the 11th century Cathedral of San Martino housing the Volto Santo, a cedar-wood crucifix said to be a true portrait of Jesus sculpted by Nicodemus, an eyewitness to the crucifixion, Matteo Civitali’s marble tabernacle the “Tempietto”, the Tomb of Illaria del Caretto (1408) by Jacopo della Quercia and Tintorettos’s “Last Supper”.   A typical Tuscan lunch is offered in one of the best restaurants in Lucca and your afternoon is at leisure to stroll, shop and discover this enchanting city for yourself or join our sommelier for a wine and olive oil tasting in the cellars of Enoteca Vanni.

Inspiring food & wine journeys around Tuscany

A CHEF’S HI-LIGHT OF LUCCA (half day morning)

A culinary journey through the winding, cobbled streets of Lucca with tastings of local produce at Roberto’s Delicatezze and Il Forno di Guisti. Visit the authentic wine-cellars of Enoteca Vanni (voted one of the top 3 wine shops in Italy) for a Tuscan wine and olive oil tasting before lunch in one of the best restaurants in town.

Inspiring food & wine journeys around Tuscany

TASTING LUCCA (half day morning or afternoon or full day)

Rich in minerals and 16th century family traditions, the hills of Matraia and Montecarlo that surround the medieval-walled town of Lucca are a natural amphitheatre of terraces that help create unique and distinctive wines and olive oils of noble character. Spend a half day visiting a local producer (Tenuta di Valgiano, Colle Verde, Montechiari, etc) or a full day with our sommelier discovering these vineyards. A typical Tuscan lunch can be taken in the wine-cellars or in one of the oldest and most authentic restaurants in the centre of Lucca where you can also enjoy the myriad delights of Enoteca Vanni.