The idyllic Tuscan destination of Toscana Resort Castelfalfi is welcoming guests back to the Italian countryside with the launch of a series of environmentally-focused culinary experiences.
The resort itself sits within a vast agricultural estate that is home to vineyards, olive groves and wild woodlands, all of which are sensitively managed with the utmost respect for the environment, as well as the surrounding communities. Each of the new experiences is specially designed to showcase this diverse organic estate and help guests connect with the landscape on a deeper level, as well as share Castelfalfi’s commitment to sustainable dining.
“Toscana Resort Castelfalfi is an authentic destination that offers guests the best of Tuscany through its natural landscapes, history and culture, and food and drink. For this reason, it is truly important for our team to help protect its heritage while extending tailor-made guest experiences that show off local traditions and the resort’s expansive nature offering,” says the resort’s general manager, Isidoro Di Franco. “Our guests are increasingly looking for something real and unique, and are more attentive to respecting the environment and our natural world.”
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The estate maintains an organic approach to wine and olive oil production / ©Toscana Resort Castelfalfi
The first of the new offerings is a series of immersive fine wine and olive oil tastings, which invite guests to sample some of the Toscana Resort Castelfalfi estate’s most revered produce. The estate maintains an organic approach to wine and olive oil production, which will be carefully explained to guests as they tour through olive groves and vineyards, ending with a tasting in the Barriccaia Wine Cellar.
If a one-day tour isn’t enough to sate your appetite for Italian wine and olive oil, Castelfalfi also offers a Be a Farmer program, which invites guests to adopt a row of vineyards or an olive grove in support of the estate’s eco-conscious farming approach. In actively contributing to the resort’s preservation mission, guests will not only get to call a corner of Tuscany their own, but will also have 24 bottles of personalized biodynamic wine or 15 bottles of organic olive delivered to their home.
Guests seeking a hands-on foray into the world-famous Tuscan cuisine can also enjoy cooking classes at the nearby Rosso Toscano Cooking School. The courses are customizable depending on experience and ability, but each showcases the best of provincial fare, from rustic pastas to creative fine dining dishes. Guests can even try their hand at preparing chocolates under the guidance of professional chocolatiers.
For an authentic exposure to one of Tuscany’s most famous exports, Toscana Resort Castelfalfi’s new culinary experiences also include a unique truffle hunting tour with a local Tartufaio – AKA an expert truffle hunter – and their canine companion. The experience takes guests through the estate’s woodlands, where they will learn how Tartufaios train their dogs to sniff out white and black truffles, as well as discover the unique bond that forms in this working partnership. After a day of foraging, guests can take their bounty back to the hotel for a special truffle cookery class.
[See also: The Chefs Fighting to Make Fine Dining Sustainable]
Toscana Resort Castelfalfi’s new culinary experiences include a unique truffle hunting tour with a local Tartufaio – AKA an expert truffle hunter – and their canine companion / ©Toscana Resort Castelfalfi
Rounding up the resort’s menu of immersive culinary experiences is the “The Savors of Castelfalfi’s Garden” offering. Led by Castelfalfi’s executive chef Francesco Ferretti and the estate’s horticultural team, this activity not only gives guests the opportunity to explore Castelfalfi’s fruit and vegetable gardens which provide ingredients for the resorts four restaurants, but also to learn more about the estate’s farming processes and relationship with local farmers.
After the tour, guests can take the produce they have picked and head to the La Via del Sale restaurant where they will be served a farm-to-fork menu featuring their own hand-picked ingredients, showcasing the resort’s ‘zero mile’ food policy in all its glory.
All of the new culinary experiences at Toscana Resort Castelfalfi are available to resort guests and are accompanied by a host of other immersive on-site activities, including golf, spa treatments and horseriding.
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