Archive for 'Food and Wine'

Check out these fabulous Tuscan treasures on your next holiday to Tuscany! Why not stay in a fabulous old Tuscan farmhouse rental where you can relax after long days of tasty culinary explorations!

Be sure to order an antipasti (first course) dish of crostini di fegato when you next arrive here. This is a richly flavoured pate made by blending chicken liver, onion, broth, capers, anchovies and butter. It’s spread thickly across freshly baked Tuscan bread and is truly a little taste of heaven!

A favourite first course dish in Tuscany (which follows the antipasti) is a dish using pappardelle pasta.

Vin Santo, meaning ‘Holy Wine’ is a popular kind of Italian dessert wine. Believed to have originated in Tuscany, Vin Santo is most often made from white grape varieties like Malvasia and Trebbiano. Vin Santo is also often referred to as straw wine as they begin production as freshly picked grapes which are then laid out on straw mats in the warm air to dry.

Vin Santo is produced all over Italy today but for some of the finest vintage ones, come to Tuscany. Stay in a superb vacation rental in Tuscany where you’ll never be far from a local wine bar or restaurant that serves it!

Come to Colonnata on a culinary trail of Tuscany to try a famous slow food delicacy here, delicious white pork lard. The village of Colonnata is situated high up in the Apuan Alps and has a busy marble quarrying industry. It dates back to around 40 BC when it was built to house slaves who excavated the marble to be sent to Rome. The quarries here are known as ‘Gioia Calagro’ and visitors to Colonnata can even see the veined marble being quarried during their visit to this industrious part of Tuscany.

Stay in a cosy villa rental in Florence, only twelve kilometres away from Colonnata where you can experience a wonderful Tuscan holiday experience.

Montalcino is a pretty hill town in Tuscany that’s famous for its production of Brunello di Montalcino red wine. This delicious drink is produced by many vineyards around the town which visitors can visit and learn more about if they come here. In 1980, it was the first Italian wine to win the prestigious DOCG Italian wine quality award. Today it is one of the most popular and expensive wine to be exported from the country!

Book a stunning villa rental in Montalcino to relax and enjoy the surroundings. Chill out by the pool after a few hours of touring around this fascinating wine producing area.

On a pretty hilltop near Siena, the quaint medieval town of Montepulciano stands proudly over the surrounding countryside. A place full of Renaissance beauty and splendour, Montepulciano is the perfect spot to visit on your travels of Tuscany!

Walk around the many spectacular palaces, ancient churches, market squares and mysterious corners and corridors of this enchanting town! Montepulciano offers superb views of the surrounding Val d’Orcia and Valdichiana for tourists to enjoy when they get here.

Stay in a stunning vacation rental in Montepulciano where you can relax and unwind in peaceful scenery after a few days of touring around the area.

Montepulciano is close to the lovely towns of Pienza and Montalcino as well as the natural outdoor thermal pools of Bagno Vignoni. Despite the famous Hollywood vampire saga film ‘New Moon’ suggesting part of its location in the Tuscan city of Volterra, a lot of the movie was actually filmed here in Montepulciano.