Tuscany Week long Culinary Tour
Cooking classes in Tuscany, Italy take on a new meaning with the immersion style culinary tour. This weeklong Tuscan Culinary Tour and cooking class includes four hands-on classes and demonstrations, followed by either lunch or dinner. Local wines are featured for an exposure to the many kinds of wine Tuscany offers.
Toasting Lunch in the Garden
To gain further understanding of Italian food and wines we will be taking day or evening excursions into the surrounding countryside. We’ll visit an artisan goat cheese and Cinta Senese pig farm and taste their products, as well as a trip to taste Brunello’s in Montalcino and a saffron farm in San Gimignano. A whole day is dedicated to wine tasting in Chianti, with visits to cellars, castles and estates. A morning is spent at the market of Siena with a guided tour of this beautiful medieval city to follow.
Day trips remain flexible to take advantage of seasonal activities and so best expose you to all the best Tuscany has to offer.
Relaxing between Lunch and Dinner
We’ll spend the week on a beautiful estate just a short drive from Siena where the accommodations are provided in a carefully restored 18th Century villa and farmhouse. Many of the original Tuscan architectural features have been maintained with chestnut beamed ceilings, terra cotta tiled floors and open fireplaces. Use of the original wood burning bread ovens, dining outdoors and swimming pools are all a part of our lovely surroundings. The estate is beautifully landscaped with gardens of lavender, herbs and flowers, as well as olive groves and cypress lined lanes for walks in the woods.
Overview and Highlights
- Three hands-on cooking sessions followed by lunch or dinner
- Wine education and tastings covering the major wines of Tuscany
- Event meals at local Tuscan restaurants
- Regional specialties highlighted, visits to vineyards with wine tastings; visit to Cinta Senese and artisanal goat cheese farms with tasting; olive oil tasting and visit to press during harvest, visit to saffron farm.
- Guided visit to medieval abbey and cloister
- Visits to Siena, San Gimignano, Montalcino, and renowned wine estates in Chianti.
- Class Itinerary and All Inclusive Package Details
- 6 – 12 people maximum per Tour
“This was the best culinary week I have ever been on – and I’ve done others in Italy and in France. Gina’s insider’s view gave us information not only on the food but of the culture and history of the Tuscans.”
