Hez

Does anyone know of a beautiful place in Tuscany where we could taste a few different olive oils, maybe learn about olive oil production and have a lunch based on said olive oils?

Many Thanks,
Hez

greg

The only place I had tastings of olive oil and balsamic vinegar was at Mercato Centrale in Florence at Baroni and also at Conti. In the countryside, while it is actually in Lazio and not in Tuscany, I have recently read about http://slowfood-co.com/olive-oil-tours.html. I have not done this myself.

klondike

Well, this would sort of be a round-about way to do a tasting...just outside of Lucca:

http://www.cucina-italiana.com/homepage

Chef Paolo's first (1/2 day - starts at 10am, finished about 3:30pm) class in his cooking series is on Sauces and their ingredients. You get a history lesson on all the ingredients and how their use became integrated into Italian cooking before starting the cooking portion of it - this includes an explanation and tasting of olive oils (I think he has about 10-12 bottles).

I have taken several of his classes and you will use copiuous amounts of the olive oil in all the dishes. This is a "hands-on" experience where you prepare a meal, from antipasto to dolce, and sit down and eat the food you have prepared with your fellow participants and the chef. You receive all the receipes printed and we use his receipes all the time now (last night was made his Mussels in Sambucca Sauce - mmmm!)

klondike

Here is another option - one which would require much more research and arranging on your part, but could be interesting. I have driven on portions of the Strada D'Olio, some of it quite pittoresque, but have not stopped off at any of the companies.

http://translate.google.it/translate.../index.php?c=3

andy7

Siena is a beautiful city with lots of places to sample olive oil and other local foods. We did a tasting there, but I can't recall the exact place. If you research it I'm sure you can find this type of experience in Siena.

Hez

Thanks everyone, much appreciated!

MontisiMagica

Hi

I live in Montisi which is a medieval hilltop village in Southern Tuscany amongst rolling hills and stunning countryside. This area is famous for its olive oils and depending upon when you are planning your visit we have a 3 day olive oil festival at the end of October each year to celebrate the arrival of the new oil. Typically many of the local producers take stalls in the village and you can spend the days tasting oils, talking to the producers and enjoy many other gastronomic delights!

Let me know if you would like some more information.

Regards

Ann (MontisiMagica)

Hez

Thanks Ann - That sounds amazing but we're actually going to be there in July - and I found an Agriturismo which does Cooking/Olive Oil classes -

Agriturismo Castello della Panaretta - http://www.agriturismolapaneretta.com/home.php?l=en

arilapobla

Hello!

We will be going to Tuscany next month and we'd also love to go to some olive oil tastings as we come from an area close to Barcelona that specializes in extra virgin olive oil. Anymore recommendations?

Ann, is it possible to visit the local olive oil producers in Montisi in Sept?

Hez, how was your experience in Castello della Panaretta?

Thank you!

sparkchaser

@MontisiMagica: is there a website for this festival?

Hez

Castelo della Panaretta was excellent - but we didn't end up doing any olive oil tasting. We did a cooking class where we cooked gnocchi, bruschetta, eggplant Parmesan, rolled pork and tiramisu. Amazing experience, stunning location, and awesome food (seriously the absolute best gnocchi and tiramisu any of us had ever had). They produce olive oil there, and we were meant to do the olive oil thing but I think we just ran out of time. As it was the class went for 4 hours, and lunch for another 1.5! We only had one night to stay there so I'm sure if we had been there another night (and I would highly recommend staying longer!) we would have toured the olive mill and done some tasting.