In 1991 he set up the art workshop La Scultura di Andrea Roggi, where he has been crafting his sculptures from start to finish and, with the help of his assistants, he manages to create large-sized yet finely detailed pieces. Bronze is the material he chose, which he puts through the lost-wax casting process to finally transform the clay models into masterpieces.
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Today we are oriented towards the selection of mainly foreign markets and operators, wanting to consolidate the relationships already undertaken at an international level. Using a winemaking metaphor, the last decade has really made us ‘mature’ thanks to the creation of the ‘Private Collection’ which has decisively raised the target audience with high-profile wines, also dragging with it the ‘Classic’ line.
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In Montepulciano there have been many handicraft productions, stories of local productions that, handed down over time, have contributed to creating a real history of tradition and culture. Visiting the artisan workshops of Montepulciano is a bit like taking a journey through history: here, women and men adapt a thousand-year-old tradition to the contemporary, made up of specialized practices and techniques starting from the elements that mother nature has granted.
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The Belli butcher’s shop is renowned for its artisanal and traditional workmanship, from cured meats and hams of its own production to fresh pork and the prized ‘Cinta Senese’ breed; from Chianina veal to ‘Porchetta’. The typical ‘agliata’ is made following the ancient custom: with farmer’s wine, strictly fresh garlic and pepper. Fennel is used to flavour other cuts and modernity is supported only in the reduced use of salt. On the counter or hanging, on the ceiling and on the walls, we can also find specialties of all kinds such as loins, ‘capocolli’, ‘rigatini’ and ‘gota’ and “L’Imbrogliona”, a typical Tuscan salami flavoured with fennel, ‘sopressata’ and ‘buristo’, marinated pork, ‘coppiette’, ‘bresaola’, truffle salami; as well as wild boar derivatives such as thigh, loin, capocollo, salami and cured sausage. The raw material, selected by the patron Alfiero as we said, comes entirely from local farms.
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An undoubtedly romantic and dreamy restaurant, whose atmosphere seems to be set to music by Puccini’s Turandot: housed in the historic ‘belly’ of the Tuscan village in a stately palace of late medieval origin, in the well-known square in front of the Signorelli Theatre, we get to know it with a happy soul and curiosity. We are with Daniela Polezzi, chef from Cortona from ‘inside the city walls’, and Maurizio Menci who – with his third level AIS – is a sommelier of rank, increasingly well-known connoisseur of the world of truffles.
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I am with Megan and Sebastian DelBrenna in the ‘secret underground’ of Palazzo Alfieri Venuti under the vaults still covered with marsh reeds of the nearby Trasimeno—built long ago. There, amidst ethereal and graceful displays, precious treasures of artisan joy and magic are carefully preserved. An ancient wine press dating back to 1634 stands proudly in a niche, exuding power and history. The place is adorned further with vintage bottles, hinting at an elegant and joyful way of life, or as the Italians call it, ‘bella vita.’
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An ancient hunting lodge built in the fifteenth century by Cardinal Silvio Passerini, protected by the Medici family and friend of Pope Leo X – and today a luxurious 5-star hotel in the heart of the Valle dell’Esse, a secret treasure chest on the outskirts of Cortona, on the border between Umbria and Tuscany. Let’s see what are the services open to the local community and for those who do not stay directly in the structure but had the desire to know it and spend ‘moments of forgetfulness’ – so Totò described, together with poet Giacomo Leopardi, happiness.
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Following the growth trend of outdoor activities, which emerged during and after the pandemic and which has been confirmed and consolidated in our days, the Municipality of Torrita has seen fit to think, trace and finally promote the historical, naturalistic and food and wine routes of its territory. We talk about it with Councilor Laura Giannini who told us about the birth and growth of this multifaceted trail network, managed with the Torrita web agency ‘Torrita di Siena Living’ (https://active.torritadisienaliving.it)
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That of ‘housewife’ is actually a role that she much prefers to ‘chef’ and that she wants to highlight. This ancient craft is the beating heart of the recent agri-restaurant, inaugurated in 2019. Marcelli – since birth already practically destined to become a housewife like his grandmother Giustina – has done and continues to do an important work of family economy, managing the kitchen almost in complete autonomy and basing it exclusively on the rural products of the earth.
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Jutta was born in Coblenz in the Rhineland in Germany during the War, and went to study art and design in Dusseldorf. She had always dreamed of leaving Germany to travel, and spent a year abroad studying and working in Rome. When, after 6 years of art school, the possibility to spend a period in South Africa working for a textile company presented itself, the young Jutta jumped at the opportunity.
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Bruno and Marisella Batinti, after several productive years of hospitality experience with their business “Le Torri di Porsenna” (named for Chiusi’s ancient and powerful Etruscan king) found a new and inspiring site for their country house in Petrignano del Lago, in the Comune of Castiglione del Lago. Overlooking the rolling hills and vineyards near to Lake Trasimeno, the new location for their country house and working vineyard is well named, as it is certainly fit for a king.
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Founded in July of 1937 as a cooperative of fourteen local winemakers who banded together to facilitate both the production and the sales of their wines. Vecchia Cantina bottled its first wine in 1940 during the war. After the difficult war years, in the 1950’s and the reorganization of the lands, the Vecchia Cantina acted as a driving force for wine production in the area, a role that they cover to this day with the over 400 member vineyard owners and over a thousand hectares of vineyards producing around seven million bottles of wine annually.
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The oldest part of the house, the central tower, goes back to the 15th century, its original incarnation being a watchtower protecting Tuscany’s flank with Papal Umbria. It became a house when two wings to the left and right of the tower were added in 1771 by the Tommasi family, whose coat of arms adorns a large stone set into the wall above the main door.
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At the end of the Val D’Esse, nestled under the hill separating Tuoro and Lake Trasimeno from the countryside below Cortona sits the tiny hamlet of Piazzano. Just inside the border of Umbria, it is surrounded by farmland, olive terraces and woodland. This ancient area may have gotten its name during the famous battle between the Carthaginian general Hannibal and Roman consul Gaius Flaminius in 217 B.C.E. when it is thought the Roman contingent set up a military camp there with a “piazza d’armi” or a parade ground.
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Driving across the flat plain which stretches between Castiglion Fiorentino and Marciano with its fields and sparsely scattered farmhouses, we come across a vast, open stretch of land, eleven hectares in all, home to the Centro Volo Serristori. Here all manner of light aircraft can be seen coming and going, particularly on the weekends – ultralights and small touring planes such as Pipers and Cessna.
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There has probably been a fortress on the hilltop overlooking Cortona since the 5th or 6th century BC, when the original Etruscan walls followed a course which roughly corresponds to the existing perimeter walls of today. However the first historical records describing a ‘strong and beautiful fortress’ date back to 1258 AD. Having been plundered and sacked several times during the wars with Arezzo it was sold to the Florentine Republic in 1411, together with the entire city of Cortona, although reconstruction work only began in 1527.
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