Showing posts with label Wine Tasting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wine Tasting. Show all posts

Friday, 12 November 2010

November in Tuscany - Weekend 13 & 14 November



Here's a line up of weekend events for 13 & 14 November.


Sinalunga (SI) - Centre
This is a definite winner!!
A mini formula one with 9 Rioni (teams) and 4 go carts and 1 back up.
Saturday is set up in the morning and then test runs in the afternoon.
Sunday is race day!!!




Figline Valdarno (FI) - Agriculture, Environment, Food
There's loads going on here in and around the centre.

Florence - Piazza Santa Croce
Extra Virgin Olive Oil in abundance

Scarpiera (FI) - Circolo MSL
Truffles galore - with pasta, meat and the famous Tortelli Mugellani

Bagni a Ripoli (FI) - Via Roma
10am - 7.30pm Olive Oil

Pontedera (PI) - Via Rinaldo Piaggio 82
Pisa Unica Terra di Vino - Wine festival

Pisa - Piazza Chiara Gambacorti
Local products

Massarosa (LU) Stiava
Horse Chestnut festival

Anghiari (AR) Town Center
Novello wine, stalls and stands, Antique Fair, and much more

Viareggio (LU) Circolo il Fienile
Wine and dancing.

Camaiore - Montemagno, localita' Piopetti
Horse Chestnuts galore

Camaiore - Lungomare Lido di Camaiore
Local products

Montespertoli (FI) - Parco Urbano
White Truffle festival, wine and oil

Borgo San Lorenzo (FI) - Foro Boraio
Truffles, meat, wine and local delicacies

Pergine Valdarno (AR) - Town Centre
Oil, bruschette, paintings, ceramics, artisan products

Pian di Sco' (AR) - Town Centre
Oil and Horse Chestnut festival


This is just a general idea of what there is out there.
Prices, if relevant, may not be included, so check before going.

November in Tuscany - One Day Events

Here's a quick rundown on a few one day events on 13 and 14 November.

Saturday 13 November 

Piteglio (PT) 
Wild Boar dinner at Lanciole from 8pm on.


Sunday 14 November

Fuccechio (FI) 
Ponte a Cappiano from 3pm onwards autumn tasty morsels.

San Quirico di Vernio (PO)
Luciana, from 11.30am onwards, Novello wine and other tasty morsels.

Prato (PO) 
Piazza del Comune, from 4pm onwards, roast chestnuts and a musical concert.

Palazzo sul Senio (FI) 
Piazza IV Novembre, from 10am onwards, local tasty products.

Rufina (FI)
Piazza Umberto I, local products

Montale (PT) 
Piazza Matteotti, from 3pm onwards, Festa delle 3 Farine (Three Flours Fair) with products made from different types of flour.

Fosciandora (LU)
Lupinaia - the Chestnut Festival - loads to do and see in the centre, and Novello wine to taste.

Vico Pisano (PI)
Oil Festival - from 11am in Piazza Cavalca.

Bagni di Lucca (LU)
Fornoli - Festa del Ringraziamento, Harvest Thanksgiving. Morning mass starts with a procession of traditionally dressed people carrying harvest produce to the altar. Stands and music throughout the rest of the day.

Filatteria (MS)
Fagiolata sotto Casa - Beanfest! All types of beans in a vast array of different dishes.

Barga (LU)
Historic Centre - Horse Chestnut festival with other delicacies and Novello wine.

Pisa (PI) 
Area Expo - Novemberfest - German delicacies

Castagneto Carducci (LI)
Horse Chestnut festival, and beer made of horse chestnuts!!




Whilst we take care to make sure details are as precise as possible, Villas in Tuscany does not take any responsibility for listings, nor for any that are not listed.

Please check information and locations before setting out.

Thursday, 23 September 2010

What's on NOW in Tuscany...



What's cooking in Tuscany right now?

With precisely a week to go till October this is what's happening:




Mostra Mercato Internazionale dell'Antiquariato in Florence - September through to October - a massive antiques fair.






Impruneta's (just outside Florence) Festa dell'Uva (Grape Festival) - 26 September is a great day of popular dances, performances, local produce to taste and a procession of allegorical carts of the four districts of Impruneta.




Castelnuovo Berardegna Wine Festival in Vagliagli - a week long of wine and local product tastings. Traditional dressed men and women accompany the carts during the procession.








Certaldo, near Florence, hosts the Sagra della Bistecca (la tagliata is a delicious cut of steak) e del Fungo Porcino from the 9 September to 10 October over each weekend within that period of time.




24 - 26 September in San Miniato, near Pisa, is the Sagra del Tarfufo Bianco e Fungo Porcino.
White Truffles and Porcino Mushrooms - and on show are the local specialities made with these highly prized foods.




Prato instead hosts a more highbrow affair over the 24 - 27 September weekend. An economics fair with music and exhibitions, and Nobel prize winners speaking too.



Truffles are worth 'investigating' if you have never tasted, smelt or seen one up close.
They are an underground mushroom basically, usually found around certain trees depending on the type of truffle, and look like a cross between gingseng, ginger and a potato.

They are highly prized, the season lasts until January during which bidding and trading for both black and white truffles can reach a veritable frenzy! They're already being sold online from £500 / $780 up for 300g.

The most expensive white truffle to date was bought by a casino owner who paid £165,000 / $330,000!!!
It weighed in at 3.3lbs.



They used to be sniffed out by pigs, but dogs are also used nowadays.

Please contact ViT for more information on villas or accommodation in Tuscany that will either organise a truffle hunt for you, or put you in touch with the local connoisseur when you are there.



Happy hunting!!

Thursday, 25 February 2010

Let's Catch Up....


Ok, When, and Where? Done. Excited? See you there!

Essentially there are no rules to ''Catch Up''. Just agree (!) on a day, a place and a time, which serve as a springboard into the Catch Up Zone, and the rest is open to interpretation and improvisation.

ViT is off on a Catch Up, having just arrived in the UK from ViT-HQ, and is thoroughly looking forward to it all.

Pancake Day aka Shrove Tuesday is now long past (actually 2 days after Valentines Day), we're still in Lent (what have you given up??!!) and Easter is on it's way.

ViT has been recieving emails from people asking for suggestions as to where families and groups of friends can go in Tuscany to enjoy a change of scenery over the next few weeks.



New blogs will be along the lines of ''Easter in somewhere or other'', or ''Easter doing something or other'' etc. In fact, I will write about places people ask about most often first, so drop ViT a line if you'd like a blog on somewhere or something specific.

So, what to do and where to go over the Easter period....



There are many public celebrations to enjoy and Tuscany is a hive of activity; snow is still on the mountains and skiing is great; the days are longer and after 5.32pm GMT on 20 March we are officially in Spring - yeay!!; the sun's strength is perfect for that sun kissed look whilst sunbathing by the pool, and is not too strong for kids to have to be kept out of the sun during the middle of the day; temperatures are on the up and it's hot enough to start having all meals outside (the best way to start the day - breakfast outside under the sun taking in that panorama - oh yes!); Nature's colours are vibrant as flowers are opening up, crops are shooting up, and a new lease of life is bursting forth after the long hard winter we've all just experienced; birds will be in full  song, and little ones of all species will be trying out for the first time their legs or wings or fins or whatever.....!



Spring in Tuscany is a sure fire winner - the place is buzzing with energy, it's not too hot, it's not too cold, flights are cheap, and finally we can all get outdoors and breathe in deeply that fresh positively charged air whilst walking barefoot on the negatively charged grass or sand and really be perfectly in balance with nature and ourselves.

Tuscany comes to life again in full force and courses start up again as well, cooking, chocolate, wine tasting, to name but very few.

Golf, horse riding, paragliding, hot air ballooning, sports galore are accessible, and it's a great time to try something new...



What would you prefer?

A large house for everyone, pool and ample ground to chill out in. Maybe get a chef in for a few evening meals who can cook traditional Tuscan, international or whatever you wish. Maybe organise a masseusse, beautician and baby sitter to come round so the adults can be pampered and totally unwind whilst the kids are entertained.

A set of appartments with communal spaces within the same location, maybe an old farmhouse or very large villa for example, so that whilst everyone is all together there is still a high degree of independance.

All ViT accomodations have pools, bbq, and so much more, it just depends where you'd like to be situated too - completely out in the countryside or near to town.



There are farmhouses, country villas, estates, appartments that cater to all your requirements, so why don't you email me with your preferences and I will send you various options and information on what's going on in that area around the time of your Together-Time holiday.

I think you'll agree that whilst playing catch up in the UK at the moment, ViT is actually ahead of the game where Tuscany is concerned.

Life is good, Tuscany is great, ViT is a Tuscan winner!!