Culinary Cruises & Tours

Enjoy the wine and foods of Italy – One Departure Only! September 5, 2009 from $1199 per person – includes air…

Spend Labor Day Weekend exploring Chiusi and Montepulciano.

Sip the wine and feast on authentic Etruscan fare.

When I saw this trip come across my email, I couldn’t believe my eyes!  If you haven’t yet taken your summer vacation -  or have the time and money to fit just one more in – and you’re a “foodie” to boot – here’s your chance to take advantage of something spectacular…

As the headline says – One Departure Only! So call someone to go with you unless you’re a loner, pack a bag – you won’t need much, find someone to watch the dog or cat or feed the fish, and head for the airport. You’re gonna love this one….

Oh, I almost forgot. Before you do anything at all – call me to set things up for you. I’m still at 931-484-8228 or just Email Me

OK – enough….here’s what you have to look forward to:

Villa Il Patriarca started its life as an 1800 prestigious patrician house. It is now a wonderful example of a sensitive restoration into a first class small hotel. Situated on a hill and surrounded by pine and cypresses, with views of the Tuscan hills, the Villa Il Patriarca Hotel Chiusi offers its guests the opportunity of a relaxed holiday with all modern comforts.

The Villa Il Patriarca Hotel is located 4 kilometres from Chiusi, a wonderful Tuscan town with a relevant Etruscan heritage. The hotel’s unique location gives the opportunity of visiting many historical and artistic towns situated in the centre of Italy.

The hotel has 23 comfortable rooms and suites, all of which are pleasantly decorated and equipped with numerous in-room amenities.

The onsite restaurant, La Taverna del Patriarca, typical Tuscan Osteria located in the old wine cellars of the villa offers a very creative cuisine in which traditional dishes are reinterpreted in original style and matched with a very wide selection of wines.

The Villa Il Patriarca Hotel also offers a spacious and elegant banqueting hall, which can host up to 350 people for ceremonies, wedding parties or meetings.

During leisure, guests can take a refreshing plunge in the swimming pool, laze around the beautiful garden or explore the city and its surrounding attractions. It is located in the heart of Italy, midway between Rome and Florence in the part of Tuscany well known for its wonderful wines, Etruscan artifacts, excellent cuisine, olive oil and its history of exceptional art. Set in a park of large cypresses, the hotel has just 23 rooms, each uniquely and comfortably decorated. Eight of the rooms are in the Villa and others are in a recently restored wing with elegant and romantic furniture, bright colours and interesting themes.

Montepulciano is famous for not just one but two excellent wines, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and Rosso di Montepulciano. However, it is often underestimated in terms of the interest of its art and architecture, perhaps because of its small size. In fact, in former times its citizens held their city to be on a par with Sienna, and indeed Montepulciano is packed with interest and charm.

Montepulciano is one of the most attractive hill towns in Tuscany. It is built on a ridge of Monte Poliziano in the province of Sienna in Tuscany. It is the ancient Etruscan city of Nocera Alfaterna, which in 308 B.C. made an alliance with Rome against the Samnites.

In the Middle Ages it was under the control of Florence, but was conquered by Sienna in 1260. The main street of Montepulciano stretches for 11.5 kilometers from the Porta al Prato to the Piazza Grande at the top of the hill.

The cathedral was built in 1619, from plans by Scalzo and until the 18 C it held the tomb of Bartolomeo Arragazzi, secretary of Pope Martin V, a work of Michelozzo. The church of the Madonna di San Biagio was planned by Antonio da Sangallo (1518-37).

Madonna di San Biagio

The façades of the church of Saint Agostino and of the Oratorio della Misericordia are worth seeing. Notable among the civic buildings are the Tarugi palace, like the Mercato, a work of Pignola, the Contucci palace designed by Sangallo and the fourteenth-century Palazzo Municipale, which contains a small gallery of Sienese and of Umbrian art. The most famous men of Montepulciano are Cardinal Bellarmine, Pope Marcellus II, Cervini, Angelo Ambrogini, better known as Poliziano (1454-1494), and the humanist Bartolomeo of Montepulciano. St. Agnes of Montepulciano died in 1137.

Fattoria Le Capezzine (altitude 300 m)

Only a few kilometres from Montepulciano, close to the village of Valiano, stands the old farm estate Le Capezzine. It is the heart of the company and it has been impeccably restored. It contains spacious cellars for vinification, cellars for ageing and storing, the vinsantaia, the frantoio (the olive oil mill), warehouses and offices. The estate comprises 19 hectares, of which 8 hectares of vineyards divided as follows: 6 of albarello vines in the “settonce” pattern; 1 dedicated to density experimentation ranging from 2,000 to 8,500 vines per hectare with six different rootstocks; and finally 1 dedicated to growing 127 ancient varieties indigenous to Montepulciano and the surrounding area, once highly esteemed, but today in danger of extinction. Continue reading →