Tuscany Tour 2011

Posted on 14th Jul 2010 @ 5:09 PM

7 nights $4895* (NZD) 0800 359 2929

per person share twin from Florence, Tuscany

INDEPENDENT AND GROUP TRAVEL

HIGHLIGHTS & INCLUSIONS: You will meet our friends and stay in
your own Tuscan Villa with a pool, 8 days rental car, 4 hands on
traditional cooking classes with 3 world reknowed chefs, lunch with
the “Butcher of Panzano”. You will visit local markets, be educated
about olive oils plus a visit to a 16th century Abbey and delight in
their Estate Wines.
The people, food, wine of Chianti will change your life!

*$300 AIRLINE VOUCHER WITH CARRIER OF YOUR CHOICE
FOR ALL BOOKINGS MADE BY 12 Mar 2010

INDEPENDENT TRAVEL: 1 April – 31 October 2010
GROUP TOUR: Departs Florence 20 Apr 2010

JOIN US IN TUSCANY:

This cooking tour is more of a love letter to Tuscan food artisans - to bakers and cheese makers and wine producers who have devoted their lives to doing one thing and to doing it with passion and pride.

You will come home with a refreshed view of the world. Picture yourself in Tuscany. The heart of Italy, surrounded by medieval hill towns, gray-green olive groves, and sloping vineyards. You appreciate good food and good people and you are in the mood to cook and eat and share laughter, stories, make new friends and soak up everything that is quintessential Italy.

The art of eating, living and family with love and passion. If you don’t find a tear in the corner of your eye at least once I would be shocked.

You will drink the best wine, learn the finer points of cooking Tuscan food the way the Tuscans do. You will be with local people, at local markets and in the villages. This is as close as you can get to being Tuscan for a week.

The Tuscan Women will grace you with their stories of connecting through family relations and lifetime friendship have succeeded in revealing the role of food in Italian life.
More than simple sustenance, food is the substance that binds the family, promotes bonds of friendship, delights the soul, enriches the palate, and serves as the indefatigable topic of conversation at endless meals.

The classes we offer are with cooks who have been teaching cooking classes to people from all over the world. This is your opportunity to be part of a small group who will do hands on cooking with these fantastic women and men of Tuscany.

TUSCANY ITINERARY:

Day 1 – Saturday - Check into Villa from 2pm

   15:30 pm – Your first cooking class will be located in a stunning 12th Century hilltop village the class will include guided tour of wine cellers and olive mill, wine tasting and Dinner. You will be hands on cooking a complete menu from antipasto to dessert. Duration: Approx 3 hours

Day 2 - Sunday

   10:00 am – Today you attend a local village Market in the main square, absorb yourself in Tuscan life and enjoy the display of local produce from flowers, vegetables, cheese, fruit, roasted chicken, shoes, clothes to hardware. All the shops in this small village are open on Sunday until 1 pm.

   1:00 pm – Lunch awaits you with the grill lit. Enjoy the shop and Bistecca owned by one of Italy’s most famous butchers. Good food, good wine, friendship and lots of beautiful steaks to devour. After you long lunch you will be welcomed at your beautifully decorated Tuscan Villa located on a working Olive farm, with views in the distance of Sienna.

Day 3 – Monday

   9.00 am - Today your hands-on class is in an evocative stone farmhouse in the hills of Chianti, surrounded by vineyard & olive groves. The class will cover traditional, home-style Tuscan and Italian recipes to enjoy the wonderfully intense flavours & freshness of traditional Italian dishes.
You will cook and eat dishes prepared using fresh, natural ingredients. A complete meal (5 recipes) such as appetizers, a pasta dish, a vegetable or meat dish and then a dessert is prepared every day and is accompanied by the wine which best complements it. Duration: Approx 5 hours

    20:00 pm – You are invited to dinner this evening with you Tuscan hosts who run the Olive farm. The passion for life these beautiful people have will leave you truly inspired.

Day 4 – Tuesday - This whole day is a local experience in and around Radda

    10:00 am Olive Oil Tasting on the farm you are staying at with you local hosts followed     by a light lunch.

    18:00 pm Welcoming refreshments and wine tasting at Podere Ciona in the heart of Chianti Classico's wine producing region, this vineyard produces one of the region's most highly rated Chianti Classico Riservas.

    Dinner booking in a charming “chiantigiano” restaurant in Radda over looking vineyards. You will be joined by at least one local “Tuscan Mamma” at Le Vigne to introduce you to their typical Tuscan food. Everybody will have a chance to ask     questions and get another “insider” view of life in Tuscany.

Day 5 – Wednesday - morning free to visit Sienna

16:00 pm – Cooking Class and Dinner finishing around 22:00 pm

Day 6 – Thursday - Market day

    10:00 am – Guided Shopping tour to Montevarchi market and a further introduction to local traditions.

    16:00 pm – Cooking Class and Dinner finishing around 22:00pm

Day 7 – Friday

11:00 am Morning visit to Badia a Coltibuono, including the 16th century frescoed refectory of the old abbey and taste 3 of the estate wines as you visit the cellars. You will be seated for lunch around 1 pm. This Abbey has some of the most breath taking views in Chianti.
Optional Upgrade - Professional wine tasting of rare historical vintages €40.00 per person * Special conditions apply

Day 8 – Saturday - Check out by 10 am and return car to Florence.

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