We drive up a narrowing road to the farm where we are staying at la Torre alle Tolfe, which dates back to the 8^th century.  In the center is a watch tower, built by a knight of Charlemagne’s to defend the city of Siena, 3 km away.   Now it’s a 50-hectare farm, with quarters for at least 24 guests, really more like a hotel than a farmhouse, with its own wine, olive oil, chef and winemaker (most important).

When we arranged to stay at a farmhouse, I had no concept of such an elegant well-run estate. I imagined we’d be staying in little rooms and sharing baths, but each of us has a very well-furnished room, private bathroom and views that frame the neat landscape groves and vineyards as beautifully as the background of Leonardo’s Annunciation, which has been imprinted on my mind since seeing it in person yesterday at the Ufizzi in Florence. 

Agritourism is thriving in Italy

Emma found this farm in part, owing to the well-organized Agritourism in Italy, which has a fantastic website and directory of certified farmhouses that offer such accommodations. . Agritourism promotes “only real farmhouses authorized, not B and
B, or holiday homes in the green.” This one has the added bonus, for me at least, of being organic and using regenerative farming. I wish that we had some tourist organization as well done for the beautiful, ailing small farms in Halifax and other small farms in the U.S.

We are starting to relax amid the gentle rolling hills, shimmering silver with olive groves and patched with grapes, topped occasionally red tiled towers.  Very little trash or billboards or mess!

It was an easy one-hour drive from Florence on the two-lane road until the last narrow mile where you could touch the olive trees on either side of our little Italian rental car.  James, Emma and Jackie have really planned everything for this incredible trip to Italy, so I am trying to just sit back and take it all in.  It was a great Christmas present for me and Jackie’s mother Barb, who flew in from Wisconsin to join us on this adventure. 

An Introduction to the farm

Signing in, we get a whiff of a potion they sell and perfume the halls with—olive oil mixed with herbs, all grown and made on the place.  Each of us receives a key with a creature to identify the room.  Mine is the owl, which hoots, to punctuate the constant hum of the crickets, like the cicada music back in the US.  Bernardo in reception gives an outline of directions but promises not to reveal the secrets of the historic tour we have scheduled for tomorrow. He points out the bottles of wine and water in the refrigerator which we can sign out and pay for later, a nice version of the vending machines in U.S. motels.

We quickly settle into spacious rooms with cool tile floors on the third floor.  On the way up the stairs to the third floor, I note a knight in armor outfit, next to a billiard room and heavy wood antiques fit for a castle. The history seeps through the tall book shelves and portraits on the walls.

We quickly make our way to lunch, on teakwood tables outside overlooking Chianti hills. 

For lunch, we gobble up some fresh focaccia with cheese and tomatoes, spaghetti Bolognese and a really nice Rose, slightly effervescent and so refreshing–all made and grown on the premises.

Swimming, tennis, eating and wine

We take a dip in the pool-bright aqua that stood out against the silvery olive leaves.  Then James and I try to play tennis on a court that challenged our reflexes with all the bad bounces.  Little cracks covered with moss and covered lightly with tiny olive leaves. We had fun hitting the dead balls as hard as we could til James’ shoulder ached and my foot hurt.

Dinner is scheduled it for 7:45. We are happy with the House Red, and go through two carafes. It pours as smooth as water, with a rich complex taste, traced to the sandy soil, rich in oyster shells.  There are oyster shell fossils displayed on a shelf as evidence of this land’s former existence under the sea. The soil is one of the reasons for the wine’s excellence.

I choose the Chef’s pasta on the menu—several generous pads of ravioli, covered in a sumptuous olive oil buttery sauce with herbs. Wow! I will stick by whatever is associated with the kindly chef, whom we will meet tomorrow for pasta-making (and eating).

We keep discovering more and more wonderful food grown and cooked here, from olive oil  and wine to herbs and eggs. All delicious!

Coming up next: a pasta-making lesson and interview with the owner-farmer, on how they keep it going, all natural and organic in the face of climate change

Finally: a trip underground to the wine cellar via an Etruscan tunnel