Wine tasting
A Day in Val D’Orcia
May 20, 2012 | 
Author 16.5.12
The walled town of Pienza is a two hour drive from Florence on the motorway but it takes us through some stunning Tuscan scenery and we know that the visit will be worth the journey
Previously known as Corsignano the walled city was the childhood home of Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini who became the first of two Pope Pius’s from his family Piccolomini ( which literally means little man!).
Not particularly religious – in fact the first “Humanist” Pope – Piccolomini had an adventurous youth, sired a couple of illegitimate children (one in Strasbourg and the first in Scotland!), and tried to avoid being elected Pope – but become Pope he must – it was written in the stars – or maybe in the half moons of the family crest- each representing a family member undertaking a crusade and Pope Pius II he became!!
Pope Pius II wanted to put his home town on the map so he renamed it Pienza – a diminutive of Pius – and totally reconstructed the centre to include his much enlarged Palace,
as well as the Church and the seat of the Council.
The Palazzo has loggias on every level to bring the country into the house, as well as to allow the visitor to enjoy the spectacular scenery across the Val D’Orcia.
The spectacular view across Val D’Orcia from the Palazzo Piccolomini is now protected by UNESCO as a world heritage site – ie area of beauty not to be violated by unauthorised building!
After lunch we went on to visit La Foce – about which I have written before – more tomorrow!
A day in gardens in and around Fiesole
14.5.12
Starting from Piazza del Carmine this morning we were a group of ladies celebrating the reappearance of the sunshine and looking forward to a day celebrating the Tuscan sun in some of the best loved gardens around Florence.
The Villa Medici
Villa de Medici - Fiesole
We began with the Villa Medici - first purpose build Humanist Villa designed by Michelangelo Mizzollotto on behalf of Cosimo di Medici - the big Daddy of Florence, who was making a lot money in Florins and foreign trade and salving his conscience as a usurer by investing a lot of money in religious art works.
Poor Cosimo had a lot of doubts about his trade and used to spend a long periods trying to work out the meaning of life in St Jerome’s retreat based in the hills of Fiesole. The retreat was used recently in the film of Michael Ondaatje’s book the English Patient.
St Jerome 's hut above the Villa Medici
The views below of the city of Florence are beyond belief spectacular so Cosimo decided to buy the plot of land below his retreat in order to spend more of his “free” time in the perfect villa with it’s camera con vista (room with a view) over the City he already, more or less, owned.
The Villa is featured in many renaissance paintings including The Annunciation by Biagio di Antonio, shown above.
The current garden layout was developed for Anglo-Irish Expatriate mother of Iris Origo – Sybil Cutting by English Architect and garden designer Cecil Pinsent
Villa Medici may 2012
Overall the layout is probably much as designed by Pinsent although according to Katie he would probably have strongly disapproved of the pots of red Azaleas disturbing his preferred palettes of subtle blues, creams and whites!
Le Balze
Our second stop was a short walk away from the Medici Villa to the integrated Villa and Garden project called Le Balze that Cecil Pinsent developed for American Philosopher Charles Strong (28 November 1862 – 23 January 1940) when he moved to Florence in 1906 with his daughter after his wife, Elizabeth Rockerfella died.
Also built into the hillside it is a miracle to find quite so much garden and house design developed in quite such a small strip of land!
View from Le Balze
And like all the Villa’s in Fiesole – it has a view to die for!
View from Le Balze
After Le Balze we went to the mock medieval rebuilt castle of Vincigliata for a wine and local produce tasting – and, of course, a visit to their gardens – but it was a little windy up there in the hills yesterday – fortunately our welcome from Emanuele Grezzi was as warm as ever.
Finally we visites Il Palmerino – the home of writer Violet Paget – whose nom de plume was the more masculine Vernon Lee. We had a fascinating visit round the three family homes and gardens of the family who inherited the house completed by a refreshing glass of home made wine!
Katie Campbell talk at BM Bookshop 12 May 2012
2.5.12
Preparing for Tuscan Garden Tour – 12-18 May 2012
View from La Foce
Katie tells me that when she does Garden Tours for other Travel Businesses she usually does fewer gardens and less activities – so I hope that we don’t rush any one with the very busy schedule that I have planned for these tours – essentially four gardens a day, with one of them also showing us the inside of a historic villa and providing us with a taste of their own wine - that seems to me a worthwhile use of a day?
John Werich, new owner of the BM Bookshop has offered to host our opening talk at 16.00 on Saturday 12th May – Katie is going to give a presentation linking the premiss of her book Paradise of Exiles – Anglo-American gardens of Florence to the gardens we have already visited and also to the excellent Americans in Florence exhibition currently on show at the Strozzi Palace.
We look forward to meeting both Florentines and “Exiles” in Paradise at the newly refurbished bookshop and hope to have some late joiners on the forthcoming tours.
La Foce
Outline of Tuscan Garden tours for 12-18th May 2012
Saturday 12 May - 16.00 - Katie will give a presentation, Q&A and refreshments at the newly and beautifully refurbished BM Bookshop on Borgo Ognissanti.
Monday 14 May
private tour to gardens in and around Fiesole
10.00 Sybil Cutting’s Villa Medici with garden redeveloped by English landscape gardener and architect Cecil Pinsent
11.00 Le Balze - home of American Philosopher Charles Strong
12.30 Vincigliata - visit to castle and gardens + wine and cheese tasting at this extraordinary medieval castle rebuilt by English peer - Sir John Temple Leader. NB This castle is not generally open to the public but used for weddings and conferences so we are very privileged as a small group to be allowed to visit.
Lions at Vincigliata
16.30 Il Palmerino - a glimpse of the home and garden of prolific author Vernon Lee - and maybe a cup of tea while Katie introduces this interesting character!
Cost per head - tour in private Mini-van with professional driver + private professional garden historian guide + entry fee to gardens
=€99
Castle + wine tour + wine and degustation lunch at Vincigliata = €30
Cost for day €129
Tuesday 15 May
09.30 Villa Schifanoia - in San Domenico – one of the many reputed sites of Boccaccio’s Decameron
11.00 La Pietra - a garden stuffed with statues at the home of the Actons
13.00 Lunch near Fiesole - la Casa del Prosciutto
14.00 - Villa Gamberaia - retreat of Romanian Princess Gyka and English Miss Blood
a bathing pool for Princess Gyka
16.30 Villa Maiano - for wine tasting and antipasti - this is another villa redeveloped by Sir John Temple Leader – now used for period films such as A Room with a View and Tea with Mussolini.
17.30 -if we are in time we hope to drop in for a quick visit to the Iris Gardens of Florence – only open in May with the beautiful view of the City under the setting sun.
Cost per head - tour in private Mini-van with professional driver + private professional garden historian guide + entry fee to gardens
=€99
Visit to Villa Maiano + wine tasting and antipasti €15
Cost for day €114
Wednesday 16 May
11.30 Palazzo Picolomini - in Pienza – home of the humanist Pope Pius 11
1.00 lunch in San Quirico d’Orcia – plus a visit to Horta Leonini another small public garden in the village
3.00 La Foce - home of author Iris Origo
Last year's group at La Foce
drive to Montipulicano - trying to follow the route taken by Iris and family when they had to move their school and hospital from La Foce during the Allied attack – we will stop for a glass of wine there before returning to Florence
Cost per head - tour in private Mini-van with professional driver + private professional garden historian guide + entry fee to gardens
=€109
lunch and wine at cost but we have a fixed price menu c€20
Thursday 17 May
a walking tour of gardens in Central Florence
10.00 Boboli Gardens- Grand Duke Cosimo 1 and Eleanor de Toledo’s garden behind the Pitti Palace provided entertainment for their growing family and inspiration for Marie de Medici in Paris
11.30 Bardini gardens - Stefano Bardini - another great collector who sold to the Anglo-American expats – before we visit the gardens we will also visit the other art Exhibition of paintings of Florentine gardens and other works from Grand Tourists and Macchiaioli done in late 19th – early 20th centuries.
12.30 Tuscan lunch in San Niccolo area
14.30 Giardino Corsini
16.00 possibly Giardini dei Torrigiani,
17.00 Optional taxi up to Bellosguardo for a glass of wine at sunset in the gardens of Torre di Bellosguardo - once home of the formidable Lady Paget
Cost professional guide + entrance to Boboli and Bardini gardens and exhibition of paintings at the Bardini €60
Friday 18 May
a day trip to Lucca
11.00 Villa Reale aka Villa Marlia - home of Napoleon’s sister when she was Duchess of Tuscany
12.30 Villa Torrigiani, family of the guy who broke Michaelangelo’s nose – at Camigliano
13.30 lunch in Lucca at Rusticanella 2 - as recommended by Todo
14.30 Palazzo Pfanner a setting for a the Jane Campion film A Portrait of a Lady
16.00 - Gardini Garzoni in Collodi
17.30 return to Florence - arrival about 18.45
Cost per head - tour in private Mini-van with professional driver + private professional garden historian guide + entry fee to gardens
=€109
lunch and wine at cost
NB The Cost fluctuates daily to cover costs for private travel in air-conditioned mini-van and do have garden historian, playwright and author Dr Katie Campbell as our private tour guide.
Example of our Wine Tasting Programme – May 2012
A Trip into Chianti
An outline of our wine tasting tour
Before we visit any vineyards we usually call into the little town of Impruneta – which is where the soil is so rich in iron it becomes rusty red when cooked – and when fired at high temperature becomes the famous Tuscan Terracotta – nearly all the terracotta tiles that roof the buildings of Florence – including the Duomo – were made and fired in Impruneta.
At Mario Mariani’s workshop it possible to follow the process of turning a pile of grey stony silt into huge red hand-made pots and original sculptures such as these shown below.
Terracotta pots at Impruneta-
The original process was to bake the clay sculptures ( cotta = cooked in Italian) under the Tuscan Sun after being created and then place them in the ashes of open hearths to harden – these days high temperature kilns are used and it is occasionally possible to see the loading process inside the Kiln at Mario Mariani – the Terracotta workshop you will visit,. You will certainly see the small team of workers making pots and sculptures that are both sold locally and exported all over the world where there is demand for their high quality workmanship and exceptionally durable product.
worker iside the kiln at Impruneta
Compare the size of the man with the pots in the kiln behind his – no mean feat to load the kiln! The paper hat which keeps the dust out of his hair is replaced at least twice a day.
The heating up and cooling down of these pots takes the best part of a week so we don’t often catch the loading process – which is why I included it here as part of the work that goes on behind the scenes.
Your next stop will be Montefioralle – a beautiful walled hamlet perched on one of highest points in Chianti and overlooking the centre of the Region – Greve in Chianti. Hopefully there will be sunshine to help you enjoy the magnificent views from this original fortified lookout point.
Your guide will show you the home of Amerigo Vespucci – the map-making explorer who gave his name to the Americas.
By midday perhaps you will be peckish and thirsty and need to go into the centre of Greve to see the famous Antica Macelleria Falorni. One of the oldest and best known butchers in Tuscany – here you can taste a little wine and sample some cold meats and cheeses and work up an appetite for lunch!
La Cantine – Enoteca in Greve
Before lunch you might like to sample some of the other wines of Tuscany in the underground Enoteca in Greve!
Drinking in Greve
Your guide will purchase you a sampling card as part of your package so you can try a couple of Tuscan wines and taste the difference between a Chianti Classico and a Super Tuscan before you go to see a full wine production and tasting experience.
If the weather is good the first vineyard visit and lunch will be with David Miglionini and his family at Montagliari – we like to visit this vineyard because the owners are very friendly – but also because they also make a “balsamic” vinegar – which only can’t be called balsamic because “real” balsamic has to be made in Modena – just like champagne the Modena people are very protective of their product name! This vinegar is something else – the longest- aged vinegar is so sweet it is delicious with ice cream and strawberries – or David’s wife’s home-made apple pie!!!
Balsamic vinegar by any other name
The other original product that David makes is Vin Santo – the sweet dessert wine you are often offered in Tuscany instead of a dessert – in the picture below my friend Filippo is explaining the process of making this wine
Vin Santo store
Oh – and don’t forget to also taste their wine – with your meal where you can sit outside and enjoy the views and also in their special tasting area!
lunch at Montigliari Vineyard
If the weather is not good and an outside lunch is impossible your guide might offer you a choice of two other Vineyards Casa Emma or Monterinaldi – both of which also produce excellent wines. – you may well go there after Montigliari and I hope that Fabrizio – shown in the photo below will introduce you to their newly blended Mezzosecolo – which has been created to celebrate their half century in business.
If you are interested in joining one of these tours please contact me for full details – if we have a van with six people the cost works out at around €79 per head – but obviously more if you are just a couple going it alone or if you want a fixed price with meals and wine included
I hope that you will enjoy a wonderful day out in Chianti – and sleep soundly on your way back to Florence – always a sign of a satisfied customer!
Cheers or Ciin Cin – or what you will
Penny Howard
Above a toast to their new blended wine to celebrate 50 years in business – the Mezzosecola
Finally we got to Casa Emma – a little late -but we still received a warm welcome from owner Paulo Zoppi and our guide Carlo introduced the family to another four splendid wines.
Final samples at Casa Emma
The pleasure was all mine being out with this group yesterday – I do hope they enjoyed their day and it had lived up to their expectations.
Todo in Tuscany – a heartwarming story that I am sure will be a best seller
Todo in Tuscany – by the way this photo was taken at La Foce
How could any true Brit resist? – A beautiful Tuscan villa with a friendly dog thrown in for free! Blow the beauty of the villa – the right dogs always find their rightful people don’t they?
Todo and Lawrence and Louise seem like a match made in heaven – escaping the inescapable noise and dirt of life in London they are living their Tuscan dream near Lucca with this adorable companion who refused to give up his home when his owners died – and like Hachiko in the film that Richard Gere made in 2009, Todo stayed at his post waiting for them to come back.
Todo now has his own Facebook page , Twitter feed and within the next few weeks his own book will be published by Hodder – with a good press launch – which surely must mean a good dinner for him whilst the people quaff their Chianti?
The book is published by Hodder and Stoughton on 7th June and the launch party on 24th
Congratulations to Louise and Lawrence on their new home, their new activity and most of all their new clever pet – and best wishes for great success with their book.
ps can’t wait to see the film too!!?
Gamberaia and Chianti – crayfish and wine day!
Gamberaia and Chianti – a good mixture?
We began our day with a visit to the small but perfectly formed gardens of the Villa Gamberaia - much eulogised by the Anglo- American exiles over the years – this is garden that Iris Origo described as the most beautiful and most romantic garden of them all. Part of it’s romance stems from the unusual water parterre, where the elusive Romanian Princess Catherine Ghika, an early Greta Garbo type recluse, was reputed to take her dawn bathe after she went into seclusion as her fabulous beauty began to fade.
a bathing pool for Princess Gyka
The image above shows the pool at the end of the water filled parterres where once there was an artificial island in the middle, where rabbits were relatively safe from hungry foxes!
There is a story that the villa was named after the crayfish found in the local ponds but it is more likely to be to do with the Gamberelli family which owned the property in the 16th Century
Wisteria at Villa Gamberaia
April is a good time of year for garden visits with lots of flowers and especially the distinctive colour of wisteria. The downside of an April visit is that the lemon bushes are all still being protected from frost-bite in the limonaia.
In the middle of May, when we have a week of garden visits led by garden historian Katie Campbell, we hope will give us flowers, lemons and good weather!
limonaia at Villa Gamberaia
This villa and garden werenot always so lovely – having suffered grievous damage from a fire started by a German Officer in retreat from the approaching Allied troops – but, according to Bernard Berenson, even when they had been destroyed and neglected the position retained it’s charm and it’s “power to inspire longing and dreams”
Villa Gamberaia
Kath at Gamberaia
After Villa Gamberaia, our driver – owner Filippo Fattori of Tuscany Care Tours - next took us to Greve – where we bought supplies of Cinta Senese prosciutto and luscious mature cheeses before moving onto the Cantine – a beautiful Enoteca supplying every make of wine marketed in Tuscany!
Drinking in Greve
Lunch – simple and delicious food cooked by David’s wife and mother at Montigliari in the last of the morning sunshine - followed by an explanation from Filippo about ageing vinegar in the style of Modena (aka Balsamic) and how to create Vin Santo .
Vin Santo store
Greve in Chianti- NOT balsamic vinegar!
Finally we tried a new wine to me – but delicious – from Cennataio in their well hidden winery near Panzano.
The road was long windy and not made up – but the wine at the end made it “vale la pena di andarci!”
Our garden tour week begins on Sat 12th May with wine , nibbles and an introductory seminar by Katie Campbell on some of the places that we will visit. The programme ends on Friday 18th
Tuscan Garden Tour with wine tasting – led by garden historian Dr Katie Campbell14-18 May 2012
Many Tuscan gardens in and around Florence are a mixture of Italian landscape and English formality – we are mixing Italian design and Italian wine for our tours!
These tours are led by a garden expert and driven by a professional and licensed tour driver.
In the late 19th Century, after the Unification of Italy and Florence’s brief period as Capital of Italy, property prices in Tuscany plummeted and allowed Anglo-American expatriates to purchase huge villas at a ridiculously low cost. The advantage to today’s tourist is that these expatriates in exile used their money to re-establish these formal gardens to their previous glory and have left their heritage for us to visit.
Tuscan villas were often surrounded by farms and vineyards with beautiful gardens at the foot of the villa. Tuscans, with their artistic sense and attachments to their surroundings, create gardens that fit into their landscapes and use limited colour that doesn’t perish under the Tuscan sun.
Some details below on our proposed garden visits for May – but they are not yet set in stone so alternative suggestions are welcome.
If you are looking for somewhere to stay or if you want more information about the hotel and tour costs email penny.
Dr Katie Campbell – our guide for these tours is the author of the recent book Paradise of Exiles – the Anglo-American Gardens of Florence
Join us for a week of custom designed garden tours with garden historian Dr Katie Campbell
Whether it is a single afternoon or the full five days, walking tours within the city, day trips to nearby hilltop villas or an extended trip around Tuscany, our garden visits can be tailored to your interests and your budget.
Our schedule below offers a small group a private 5 day tour of various Tuscan gardens – many of which are not generally open to the public.
Saturday 12 May - 16.00 – Katie will give a presentation and Q&A -(plus book signing for sure!) – at the newly and beautifully refurbished BM Bookshop on Borgo Ognissanti – the new owner of this delightful shop is called John Werich, and he has kindly agreed to host this afternoon and refreshments will be provided!
Katie will talk about the Anglo- Americans and the Tuscan Villas they bought and gardens they re-furbished with references to some of the writers and painters featured in the current Americans in Florence Exhibition at the Strozzi Palace
Monday 14 May
private tour to gardens in and around Fiesole
10.00 Sybil Cutting’s Villa Medici with garden redeveloped by English landscape gardener and architect Cecil Pinsent
11.00 Le Balze - home of American Philosopher Charles Strong
12.30 Vincigliata - visit to house and gardens + wine and cheese tasting at this extraordinary medieval castle rebuilt by English peer – Sir John Temple Leader. NB This castle is not generally open to the public but used for weddings and conferences so we are very privileged as a small group to be allowed to visit.
16.30 Il Palmerino – a glimpse of the home and garden of prolific author Vernon Lee - and maybe a cup of tea while Katie introduces this interesting character!
Cost per head - tour in private Mini-van with professional driver + private professional garden historian guide + entry fee to gardens
=€99
Castle + wine tour + wine and degustation lunch at Vincigliata = €30
Cost for day €129
Tuesday 15 May
09.30 Villa Schifanoia - in San Domenico – one of the many reputed sites of Boccaccio’s Decameron
11.00 La Pietra - a garden stuffed with statues at the home of the Actons
13.00 Lunch near Fiesole - la Casa del Prosciutto
14.00 - Villa Gamberaia - retreat of Romanian Princess Gyka and English Miss Blood
16.30 Villa Maiano - for wine tasting and antipasti - this is another villa redeveloped by Sir John Temple Leader – now used for period films such as A Room with a View and Tea with Mussolini.
17.30 -if we are in time we hope to drop in for a quick visit to the Iris Gardens of Florence – only open in May with the beautiful view of the City under the setting sun.
Cost per head - tour in private Mini-van with professional driver + private professional garden historian guide + entry fee to gardens
=€99
Visit to Villa Maiano + wine tasting and antipasti €15
Cost for day €114
Wednesday 16 May
11.30 Palazzo Picolomini - in Pienza – home of the humanist Pope Pius 11
1.00 lunch in San Quirico d’Orcia – plus a visit to Horta Leonini another small public garden in the village
3.00 La Foce - home of author Iris Origo
drive to Montipulicano - trying to follow the route taken by Iris and family when they had to move their school and hospital from La Foce during the Allied attack – we will stop for a glass of wine there before returning to Florence
Cost per head - tour in private Mini-van with professional driver + private professional garden historian guide + entry fee to gardens
=€109
lunch and wine at cost but we have a fixed price menu c€20
Thursday 17 May
a walking tour of gardens in Central Florence
10.00 Boboli Gardens- Grand Duke Cosimo 1 and Eleanor de Toledo’s garden behind the Pitti Palace provided entertainment for their growing family and inspiration for Marie de Medici in Paris
11.30 Bardini gardens - Stefano Bardini - another great collector who sold to the Anglo-American expats
12.30 Tuscan lunch in San Niccolo area
14.30 Giardino Corsini
16.00 possibly Giardini dei Torrigiani,
17.00 Optional taxi up to Bellosguardo for a glass of wine at sunset in the gardens of Torre di Bellosguardo - once home of the formidable Lady Paget
Cost professional guide + entrance to Boboli and Bardini gardens and exhibition of garden painting at the Bardini €60
Friday 18 May
a day trip to Lucca
11.00 Villa Reale aka Villa Marlia - home of Napoleon’s sister when she was Duchess of Tuscany
12.30 Villa Torrigiani, at Camigliano
13.30 lunch in Lucca at Rusticanella 2
14.30 Palazzo Pfanner a setting for a Portrait of a Lady
16.00 - Gardini Garzoni in Collodi
17.30 return to Florence - arrival about 18.45
Cost per head - tour in private Mini-van with professional driver + private professional garden historian guide + entry fee to gardens
=€109
lunch and wine at cost
Cost fluctuates daily for private travel in air-conditioned mini-van with Dr Katie Campbell as private tour guide.
Some images below with links to blogs about our 2011 visits
Villa Marlia – not far from Lucca
11.45 Villa Torrigiano – the Garden of Flora
Dr Katie Campbell
About your tutor
Dr Katie Campbell lectures on the postgraduate Garden History course at Buckingham University, she has led many tours and writes for various publications.
Her most recent book, Paradise of Exiles: The Anglo American Gardens of Florence http://www.franceslincoln.co.uk/en-gb/C/0/Book/1355/Paradise_of_Exiles.html explores the eccentric community of English and American expatriates which gathered in Florence at the end of the nineteenth century, while her earlier Icons of Twentieth Century Landscape Design looks at the seminal designs of the past hundred years.
She has also written a book about Scottish Gardens called Policies and Pleasaunces – Scotlands Gardens Today
Dr Katie Campbell is also a journalist and fiction writer; her plays have been performed on stage and radio and she has published a novel, a collection of short stories and several books of poetry as well as Icons of Twentieth-Century Landscape Design (Frances Lincoln, 2006) and Policies and Pleasances: A Guide to the Gardens of Scotland (Barn Elms, 2007).
Where you can stay?
If you are visiting Florence we can arrange accommodation in various types of accommodation to suit all tastes and pockets.
Villa le Rondini - guests on the tour can stay in the prestigious hotel Villa le Rondini – set in the hills overlooking Florence this hotel shares the extraordinary views enjoyed by the Anglo-Americans who developed their gardens in Fiesole.
Alternatively Penny can arrange accommodation for you in the centre of Florence. A small bed sit in a big mansion – San Frediano offers large rooms with frescoed ceiling and river views – but we need to book early to secure them!
For more information about the hotel and tour costs email penny direct on penny.howard1@ntlworld.com
Posted in Books, Feature, films set in Italy, Painting, Renaissance Art, Social History, Tuscan gardens, Wine tasting, WW2 | 
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