Archive for 'Food and Wine'

If you have a passion for food then there’s no better place to come than Tuscany for your dream culinary inspired holiday! Learn about the ‘Slow Food Movement’ which took place in Italy during the 1980s. It was a stance against the fast food industry which was threatening to smother traditional high quality food products that were made in small towns and areas across the country.

There's plenty of beautiful holiday rentals in Garfagnana, Pistoia and San Giovanni Valdarno to cater for visitors wishing to stay and explore the area for a few days. These areas also provide wonderful examples of the following exquisite slow food products

Learn all about a famous ‘Slow Food’ Movement that was founded in Italy in 1986 which took a powerful stance against the ever growing fast food industry.

The pioneers of this association vowed to relentlessly promote delicious and nutritious food that was produced at a normal rate and sold at a fair price by the farmers, cheese makers and vegetable growers who provided them to shops and restaurants in their localities.

If you would like to holiday here and learn more about Slow Food in person then why not choose from a gorgeous range of Tuscany vacation rentals that are scattered all across the region?


As more men and women worked outside the home than ever before, a growing trend of the generation was going to the supermarket in the evening to pick up a ready meal or cheap processed food made from poor quality ingredients.

A unanimous decision was made among founding members that something radical had to be done to preserve the rich cultural importance of traditional Italian food, made from the finest ingredients and prepared with patience and lots of passion!

The art of wine harvesting in Tuscany is treated with great reverence and can be something that tourists can enjoy getting involved in if they are planning a holiday here during the autumn months!

Everywhere you look in Tuscany; from the hills of Montepulciano to San Gimignano, it’s highly likely you’ll spot a vineyard or at least clusters of grape vines which families and local neighbourhoods come together to harvest.

Tourists have a wide range of wonderful accommodation to choose from all across Tuscany where you can witness the interesting process of turning ripened grapes into delicious red, white and rose wines. Why not stay in a beautiful luxury villa in San Gimignano where you can be close to all the action!

Tourists might be amazed to learn that Italy produces over a quarter of the world’s wine! Its ideal geographical layout of sun kissed hills and a warm all year climate means that over sixty percent of Italian vineyards are located on hillsides. Tuscany is most famous for its red wines and has a great reputation of wine production as seven DOCG and thirty five DOC wines are produced here. Read our fascinating article on Italian wine classification awards to learn more about the high standards required to earn these prestigious awards.

The best way to begin harvesting grapes is by hand, gently so that the skin isn't broken and exposed to oxygen. They are quickly brought to be washed and have any stems or leaves removed.

The first process is called the pressing stage and the objective is to gently press the grapes so that the juices can start to flow and mix with the yeast naturally found in the grape skins. This marks the beginning of the fermentation process.

To experience some of the most exquisite Italian food in the country, a booking a stay in the stunning Tuscany region would be ideal. A highly advance civilisation thrived here between 800BC and 390bc called the Etruscans. They were particularly talented in culinary knowledge. The ancient art of Etruscan cuisine is still very much alive in this region, faithfully passed down through the millennia.

Disregarded by the Military Romans as heavy drinkers obsessed with feasting and having a good time, the Etruscans were the party people of Italy; and they had every right to be! The rich soil of their land and perfect sunny temperatures close to the sea provided them with ideal cultivation conditions.

Orchards brimming with a huge variety of delicious fruits and olives and fields covered with a thriving harvest of cereals and other vegetables meant that the Etruscans had a fantastic variety of food available to them to compliment their meat and fish dishes. They even had plenty of surplus grains to send to other parts of Italy during famines.