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Introduction
The Tuscan Chef.
Prices $1,535 3-Nights CAD*

The Monastery: The Tuscan Chef Culinary Vacation
Photo DanDuran

Stay at a prestigious Tuscan monastery and wine estate in Chianti that produces wine, extra virgin olive oil, vinegar & other products located just south of Florence. Three and five-day food & wine courses are featured, brought to you by the Tuscan Chef Andrea Gagnesi, continuing the renowned culinary tradition of Tuscany.

	About the Wine Estate.
	Experience the renowned hospitality, developed over the 20 years during which famous author and cookbook writer Lorenza de Medici ran her Villa Table programs. This was the first Italian ‘villa’ cooking school founded in 1983 – the school that started the future trend in Italy. Weekly residential courses are held in English in the summer and autumn. Lessons are taught by Lorenza’s youngest son, Guido Stucchi Prinetti, who has inherited his mother's love for food and ensures the continuity of the family tradition in the kitchen. During the 3-day program, hands on cooking classes and a wide range of guided excursions throughout the area will not only enhance your knowledge of the regional cuisine, but teach you about the wines and lifestyle of Chianti. Each Classico Cooking course is unique as they are created in accordance with the season, so no two cooking courses are quite the same. This is one of the leading wine estates in Chianti and guided wine tastings & visits to the wine-making facility can also be arranged upon request (tasting of rare historical vintages can also be arranged). Kudos. The wine estate has also received many accolades: Golden crown 2009 National Geographic Traveller 2007 Best of Wine Tourism Awards 2007-2008 Condé Nast Traveler: The Hot List 2006 - Best of Wine Tourism Awards 2008 National Geographic Traveller 2007 Travel & Leisure: The very best of Europe Yearbook 2006 Town & Country: October 2005. This is a 'must' destination for 'the' culinary and cultural experience of a lifetime.
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	History.
	The wine estate is about one thousand years old, but its prehistory takes us back to Etruscan times and beyond. As we know it today, the monastery (named Abbey of the Good Harvest), dates from the middle of the eleventh century. In 1051 the monks of the Vallombrosan Order, a Tuscan reform of the Benedictines, founded the Abbey and also began planting the first vineyards in the Upper Chianti area. Over the centuries they extended their vast land holdings to include many thousands of acres and developed a flourishing wine production and commerce. In 1810, when Tuscany was under Napoleonic rule, the monks were forced to leave and the monastery was secularized. The estate was first sold by lottery and then in 1846, it was bought by Guido Giuntini, a Florentine banker and great grandfather of Piero Stucchi-Prinetti, the present owner. Under the guidance of Piero Stucchi Prinetti, the estate grew and built a solid reputation in Italy and abroad through the high quality of its products. Nowadays, his son Roberto Stucchi Prinetti, the oenologist, manages the Abbey along with his sister Emanuela Stucchi Prinetti who is responsible for Marketing and Sales (and also the current President of the Consorzio del Marchio Storico Chianti Classico), while their brother Paolo Stucchi Prinetti, manages the restaurant. Lorenza de’ Medici, their mother, brought the estate to life with her school of Italian cuisine, as well as having written a number of successful books on gastronomy that have been translated into many languages.
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	Respect for Nature.
	After ten centuries of uninterrupted agricultural tradition, organic production methods are still used to safeguard the natural assets. Its philosophy of environmental sustainability has made it the first leading wine-producing firm in Chianti to have reached this important objective. This “healthy viticulture” choice has also helped to further the aim of making the wines more distinctive and unique, as an expression of the place and its tradition. Indeed, the objective is to ensure that wine continues to be a delightful companion to good food and entertaining. A natural approach is the key in ensuring the health of the vines and the environment: protecting and increasing the live, organic composition of the soil by employing cover crops and by viewing “weeds” not as enemies but as allies in this process. This also helps to prevent soil erosion.
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	Chianti Classico.
	The etymology of the word ‘Chianti’ has always caused discord among scholars. What is certain however is that one of the oldest citations of the Chianti region is to be found in a document in the archives. It was in fact the monks who gave impetus to the cultivation of vines in the region after the dark period following the fall of the Roman Empire and the Barbarian invasions.
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	Landscape
	Experience the architectural splendour situated amongst the beauty and peace of the surrounding forests of pine, fir, oak and chestnut. Of the almost 2500 acres that make up the estate, nearly 2000 are forest. The property took shape over the centuries thanks to a series of land donations made to the monks by both the great families of the feudal aristocracy and the small property owners.
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	Map
	One of the great things is the central location, approximately an hour's drive from Florence and 40 minutes from Siena, in the heart of the Chianti Classico wine region. Distance from the main Italian cities: From Milan – 365 kms/From Rome – 262 kms/From Florence – 68 kms/From Arezzo – 55 kms/From Siena – 36 kms
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Introduction The Tuscan Chef. Prices $1,535 3-Nights CAD*

Introduction
The Tuscan Chef.
Prices $1,535 3-Nights CAD*