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<h2>Cooking Classes in Italy</h2>
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A One-day Italian cooking class includes recipes for pasta and Italian dishes.
Tour the outdoor markets of Italy, an olive oil mill and places of gastronomic interest, a one day trip to Parma to see the making of Parma Ham and Parmesan cheese.
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A typical course includes cooking lectures and practical lesson on the basic ingredients of Italian cuisine: fresh pasta, extra virgin olive oil, herbs, spices, wines, meats and fish.
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One-day Italian cooking classes will explain and demonstrate the preparation of a as many dishes are possible, concentrating each day on one aspect of our cuisine. All dishes prepared will also be tasted during the class, you will be able to practice cooking some of the dishes.
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<h2>Italian Cooking Lessons</h2>
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The pasta Class and the risotto Class are especially popular. You will learn a number of classical antipasti, salads, pastas, main dishes with fish and meat, desserts that you will be able to reproduce at home, plus more adventurous italian gourmet dishes that will impress those around you.
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The program will include a lectures on italian wines and a wine tasting in the vignard. At the end of the course each participant will receive a Certificate of Attendance, a chef hat, personalized apron and all the recipes in English.
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<h2>Making Olive Oil</h2>
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The best oil comes from the olive that is picked just before it ripens. The Greeks call this oil "agourolatho". Our olives are hand-picked so that only the olives ready for pressing are picked. This also protects the olives from bruising, which is caused on the large mechanized corporate farms where the olives are "shaken" to the ground by machines and left laying on the ground to ferment for hours or days before taken to the olive press.
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Our olives are picked and taken directly to the "lidrivio" or olive press to be pressed into olive oil on the same day. The first cold pressing yields the finest olive oil, called extra virgin. Olive oil from Kalamata's koroneiki olives is the world's finest olive oil, and is sought after by epicures and gourmet chefs throughout Europe.
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The filtration process is time consuming, but it is necessary to remove extraneous materials that may have entered the olive press with the olives, such as leaf material or tiny pieces of olive branches. After filtration our oil is a beautiful gold-green color.
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<h2>Wine Tasting in Italy</h2>
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The central area of Italy, the heart of the old Roman Empire, is home to some of the most popular Italian wines. Lambrusco, Verdicchio and the venerable Chianti all call this part of Italy home. Yet even here, ancient traditions have given rise to new efforts in winemaking as they constantly strive to improve.
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Emilia-Romagna is one of the flattest regions in Italy. Bordered by the Adriatic Sea and the Po River, its soil is some of the most fertile in the entire country and has led this area to agricultural prominence. Lambrusco is the typical grape variety in the northern part of the area, while in the southern part Albana and Sangiovese are dominant. With nearly three hundred types of wine including Lambrusco, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese and Barbera for the reds and Albana, Chardonnay, Sauvignon and Riesling for the whites, there is something here for every taste and preference.
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Tuscany is the home of Chianti. With mountains, lakes, islands and lush green valleys this region has produced table wines reputed to be among the best in the world. Its reds carry the warmth and passion of the region and the whites sparkle and delight the palate. Truly, when one thinks of Italian cuisine and wine, Tuscany definitely comes to mind.
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The Marche, or Marches if you wish, has been the home to vineyards for centuries, and the grape has long been one of the most important agricultural products of this region. Although the red wines here outnumber the whites, the latter have been more successful in meeting the desires of modern wine drinkers the world over. Only twenty-four types are produced here with the most notable being Verdicchio.
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<h2>Italian Wine Tours</h2>
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Umbria, at the geographical centre of Italy, is one of the few Italian regions that does not border on any sea. Its geography is well suited to the growth of both the grape and the olive, so it is interesting that winemaking is a relatively new enterprise here. Although based in long-standing tradition, such as in the case of Orvieto, this rebirth, has taken a particular upward trend in the last twenty or so years and has resulted in an excellent selection of both red and white wines.
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Latium, home of Rome, is primarily volcanic in nature and has a varied and unique landscape that borrows characteristics from the many regions that surround it. The grapevine has been an essential part of life in this region since Imperial Roman times when its wines were highly regarded by all. Today, Latium provides a wide variety of red table wines.
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The Abruzzi region is nestled within the mountains of central Italy and is well suited to the cultivation of grapes. While only twenty-two varieties are grown here, the Sangiovese, Trebbiano and Montepulciano types produce a wide variety of wines, including Trebbiano d’Abruzzo, Riesling, Merlot, Chardonnay and Cabernet.
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With the snow-covered Italian Alps as a backdrop and protector, the northern growing area of Italian wines is, at once, both autonomous and diverse. Warmed by the reflection of the sun off mountainsides and stone-walls, the terraces and valley floors provide a nurturing home for grapevines of many varieties. Each geographic region brings its own personality to the richness of the wines themselves.
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Valle d’Aosta has been mostly autonomous for many years, both in geography and in the makeup of the people. The steep slopes, valley floors and pastures are home to vineyards that, although not exceptional in amount of production, have a large impact on both the economy and culture of this region. The wines are mostly local varieties of reds and whites that are, for the most part, only available in the area itself.
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Piedmont, nestled close to the Alps and the Alpiennes and bordered by France and Switzerland, has been famous for winemaking for thousands of years. The ancient Greeks brought both wine and winemaking to the region and, in short order, vineyards of the Piedmont were producing quality products that epitomize the artistry of Italian winemaking. The area is home to a large collection of reds, including Bardo and Barbaresco, and also to one of the premier sparkling wines of the world, Asti Spumante.
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Liguria has developed a very small but flavourful group of wines. It is rare to find Ligurian wines outside the area since most of the fruit of the mountain terrace vineyards is made into wine for the pleasure and consumption of the growers' families. The wines of this area are a small but select group of reds and whites.
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Lombardy is situated nearly in the middle of the Alpine chain. Although winemaking is not a principal activity of this region, the vine dominates the landscape of stone-walled terraces to the northeast of Milan and the vast expanses around Lake Garda in the southern part of the area. The prevalent wines include Chardonnay and some sparkling whites and rosés, although some reds—Cabernet, Merlot and Rosato—can also be found.
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Trentino-Alto Adige is an Alpine area that is marked by low winter temperatures and snowfall. In spite of (or perhaps because of) this climate, the wines of this region, both reds and whites, have been appreciated worldwide. The choices are numerous: Riesling, Sauvignon, golden Muskateller, Chardonnay and many sparkling white wines are balanced with a smaller but equally flavourful group of Cabernets and Merlots.
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Veneto runs from the Adriatic to the Alps and is home to both the grape and the olive; in some places citrus fruits can be found as well. Veneto wines include a large group of reds and rosés such as Bardolino, Valpolicella, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet.
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Last is the easternmost part of Italy, Friuli Venezia Giulia, which is bordered by Austria and the former Yugoslavia. The grapevine has been important here for centuries and, in fact, arrived here from the East before it ever made its way to France. Residents of this region were enjoying wine long before the Gaulois were even aware of the beverage. With over three hundred types of wine made here, running the gamut from rich reds to sparkling white, the wine lover can indulge his or her palate like the Caesars of old. Any of these locations is a great place to partake in Italian wine tasting.
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<a href="abruzzo_tours.cfm">Abruzzo</a><BR>
<a href="umbria_tours.cfm">Campania</a><BR>
<a href="Emilia_Romagna_tours.cfm">Emilia Romagna</a><BR>
<a href="latium_tours.cfm">Latium</a><BR>
<a href="le_marche_tours.cfm">Le Marche</a><BR>
<a href="liguria_tours.cfm">Liguria</a><BR>
<a href="lombardy_tours.cfm">Lombardy</a><BR>
<a href="piedmont_tours.cfm">Piedmont</a><BR>
<a href="puglia_tours.cfm">Puglia</a><BR>
<a href="sicily_tours.cfm">Sicily</a><BR>
<a href="tuscany_tours.cfm">Tuscany</a><BR>
<a href="umbria_tours.cfm">Umbria</a><BR>
<a href="veneto_tours.cfm">Veneto</a><BR>
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