Back in the days when the Medici family owned Castelfalfi, servants did the cooking and gardening. But since 2013, when the estate’s former tobacco workshop was turned into a 31-room hotel, guests have helped out in the kitchen, garden, and vineyards. Depending on the season, visitors harvest grapes for wine or olives that get pressed at the on-site mill. There are also guided foraging expeditions around the 2,700 acres to search out truffles, berries, mushrooms, and wild asparagus. It all comes together in Tuscan dishes during two-hour lessons at Rosso Toscano Cooking School, which opened last year in a castle on the estate. From $225. This appeared in the May 2015 issue.
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Castelfalfi: A Tuscan Retreat for Foodies
Back in the days when the Medici family owned Castelfalfi, servants did the cooking and gardening. But since 2013, when the estate’s former tobacco workshop was turned into a 31-room hotel, guests have helped out in the kitchen, garden, and vineyards. Depending on the season, visitors harvest grapes for wine or olives that get pressed at the on-site mill. There are also guided foraging expeditions around the 2,700 acres to search out truffles, berries, mushrooms, and wild asparagus. It all comes together in Tuscan dishes during two-hour lessons at Rosso Toscano Cooking School, which opened last year in a castle on the estate. From $225. This appeared in the May 2015 issue.