Mapping MONTALCINO

Sagra del Tordo 2013 Archery contests, medieval gear, Tuscan wine and food and plenty of shouting around are at the base of the Sagra del Tordo , Montalcino's main village festival.  But what's it all about? Read Lisa Maria Annicchiarico's   top ten reasons why you should visit  and  join the Montalcinesi at their favorite festival. The Sagra del Tordo isn't just popular with the locals, so make sure you come early for parking and to avoid the queues at the food stalls. 

The traditional olivewood disk throwing tournament in Camigliano During the first half of October, the  last crates of grapes are being brought in, and whilst most Brunello makers are busy with keeping  an eye on the fermenting grape juice, the harvest workers are  ready to celebrate the end of the picking  in one of Montalcino's beautiful villages.  With its roughly 40 inhabitants Camigliano is the smallest hamlet in Montalcino's municipality, but you wouldn't think so during the two days of the Sagra del Galletto  food festival, when half of Southern Tuscany's population seems to stand in line for a bite of grilled rooster  and a glass of Brunello land's famous red wine.  One more grilled rooster, please SAGRA DEL GALLETTO , CAMIGLIANO: OCTOBER 5/6 2013 20 minutes by car from Montalcino. Come early to see one of Montalcino's best sunsets. To  find out more about Camigliano, its festivals and its people, r ead Lisa Maria...

Vineyards and olive groves: Castelnuovo dell'Abate seen from Sant'Antimo  Castelnuovo dell'Abate is one of Montalcino's beautiful small villages that most people only see from afar when visiting Sant'Antimo abbey.  It's time you took a closer look. The medieval village is alive and kicking and its inhabitants are proposing village feasts (in this case called Festa Campagnola) that are always fun to join.  CASTELNUOVO DELL'ABATE, SUNDAY, 12th of May - FESTA CAMPAGNOLA 9am opening of the food stalls (and remember it's totally acceptable to accompany your second breakfast with a glass of wine in Tuscany)  but make sure you leave some room for lunch at 12.30 pm at 4 pm dance it all off with the Ballo del Trescone (Montalcino's folk music group)  at 6 pm try and win a prosciutto, Pecorino cheese or Tuscan salami during the TOMBOLA GASTRONOMICA at 8 pm join everybody for dinner (better eat some more after all that wine) at 9.30 check wheth...

Spring in Montalcino means budbreak of the vines as  the earliest sign of a promising new vintage. But it also means countless foodie pleasures, even for the vegetarians between us. One of my favorite times in my Tuscan family is la baccellata - the moment when my father-in-law brings up the first broad beans from the garden and we eat them right away. The fresh pods (baccelli) are eaten raw paired with the first Pecorino cheese of the season, which is called Marzolino in reference to the month marzo (March). It looks like this:  Just add a glass of red wine: Baccelli beans and Marzolino  pecorino cheese

It isn't Arezzo, but Buonconvenot's yearly antiques fair called 'Cose del Passato' (things of the past) is the perfect event for an Easter stroll. You may not have space in your luggage to invest in century old Tuscan furniture... but you'll definitely enjoy seeing the interiors of many of Buonconvento's historic buildings, which are opened up on the occasion to serve as market stalls. BUONCONVENTO ANTIQUES FAIR 29th of March to 1st of April 2013, from 10 am to 8 pm in the historic town center.  Hungry? Check out my restaurant (and museum) advice for Buonconvento .  What after? You may still be in time to join one of Tuscany's many Easter processions . 

Italy's main truffle season is from October to January. But some lesser known fellows of the species keep growing all through winter, which is the foodie reason behind the March edition of the truffle fair in San Giovanni d'Asso (the autumn truffles can be tasted each year during a great fair on the first two November weekends). 2013 TARTUFO MARZUOLO (aka Bianchetto San Giovanni) SPRING TRUFFLE FAIR Saturday, 9th of March 11am opening of the food stalls 11,15am guided tour to a selection of artisan food producers in the Crete Senesi (on reservation only info@comune.sangiovannidasso.si.it or phone +39 0577 803268) 12,30pm Itinerario del Gusto - Foodie tasting tour: by one ticket to taste yor way through all the food stalls of the fair and meet San Giovanni's white March truffle in lot's of different preparations. 2,30pm Foodie Trekking: use and healing properties of wild herbs and salad greens. 5,30pm at the Castello (San Giovanni d'Asso's m...

Over 50 years ago, the city of Montalcino started the Sagra del Tordo in an effort to boost the local economy. Since then the little Sagra with big hopes has outgrown its own name. Sagra , yes. The last weekend in October still offers the best in local dishes and vino , but it goes beyond that. You might call it a folkfest with parades in medieval costumes, traditional folk dancing and an exciting archery tournament between the quarters of Montalcino. Tordi , no. Thrush have become a protected species so they are no longer on the menu (much to local dismay). TOP TEN REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD COME TO THE SAGRA DEL TORDO (in no particular order. Well, not really.) 10. The excitement and rivalry in the air. During the settimana santa , the week leading up to the big festival, you can feel a buzz around town. Banners are hung on the old City Hall, flags are unfurled in the four quarters and people are genuinely happy spending all week tog...

You know fall is in the air when you see the  Sagra del Galletto  in Camigliano  on the calendar. The first weekend in October wakes this sleepy corner in the municipality of Montalcino to its busiest time of year. The grill, tents and tables are set up, the  Pozzo  dance floor is swept clean and, most importantly, the kitchen fills up with different generations who come together to prepare local specialities. Days of preparation and lots of laughter

Join the daily neighborhood chat in Buonconvento  Certain things can't be reiterated often enough: Buonconvento is one of Tuscany's best kept secrets - stunning medieval town center, great restaurants and museums and hardly any tourists around! If you are travelling Tuscany this week, the Sagra della Val D'Arbia (the yearly village festival) is one more reason for a stopover in the lovely town in the Crete Senesi (the stunning clay landscape south of Siena). 

View toward Montalcino's fortress, location of the honey fair People visit Montalcino to taste fabulous reds at Brunello wineries or to listen to Gregorian chants at the stunning Sant'Antimo abbey. Others just want to drive through the rolling hills of the Val d'Orcia or have discovered Montalcino as an ideal location for a celebrity break . But that's not all. Every second weekend in September Montalcino hosts the annual honey fair (settimana del miele), during which producers from all over Italy present their natural honeys. The lack of rain and the hot temperatures of summer 2012 have created diffiulties for wine and honey producers alike. Get the background information whilst you taste yourself through some of Italy's best honeys (e.g. the rare erica honey or some of Northern Italy's fine mountain honeys).

 Osteria Sant'Angelo Foodie pit stop in Sant'Angelo Scalo Sant'Angelo Scalo is one of those Tuscan villages that tourists keep missing out on by driving straight through.  Utterly lacking in noteworthy sites, Scalo (as the locals call it)  doesn't have medieval town walls or great views, let alone any Renaissance art.  If anything travelers slow down their car to ask for directions to the nearby Castello Banfi and Col d'Orcia wineries (two of Montalcino's biggest Brunello producers).  The small village on the way to the Maremma, is just so not the Tuscany you were dreaming about when booking your flight a few months ago. But for once, fo rget about art, culture and quaint medieval hilltop villages. Join the locals instead, binge on Tuscan food and wash it all down with one of Italy's best wines.  The Orcia a Tavola food festival will make sure you'll remember the Val d'Orcia not just as a Unesco World Heritage site with cypress ...

Montalcino's fortress and football field (location of the archery contest) With the unbearable heat this August I don't envy the Montalcinesi who'll participate in the ceremony and archery contest of the opening of the hunting season. The medieval garments worn during the celebrations are worthy of a major snow storm.  Wonder how they manage to resist the heat? Go and see for yourself. Just make sure you'll bring along a straw hat and plenty of water.

Buonconvento: benches waiting for the idle visitor.  I've written about my passion for Buonconvento before. The Southern Tuscan town sports  great museums and ice-cream and a beautiful town center with impressive town walls. Plus, the town is often overlooked by tourists heading towards Montalcino and the Val d'Orcia. Buonconvento is not entirely off-the-beaten track, but definitely refreshing after an afternoon spent jammin' it in Siena or Pienza.  This said, during a few days of the year you'll be surprised by running into quite the crowd in Buonconvento. Luckily it will be made up by mainly locals, not tourists. 

The perfect town square - Bagno Vignoni's hot water pool Just before Italy is facing Germany in the European football Championship,  Montalcino's bar Kaffeina organizes Kaffepinci  an afternoon dedicated to Pinci making . Pinci (in other villages of the Val D'Orcia also called Pici) are the area's famous hand made pasta, which looks like especially thick Spaghetti and taste heaven with a meat sauce or all'aglione (a tomato sauce heavy on the garlic). In case you know how to do fresh pasta just cook along. It's a proper competition and there are nice prices for the first three (a holiday trip and obviously plenty of wine). If your cooking skills are not on a level to join the competition, pop in anyway and see how it's done. And don't miss out on watching the game with the rest of the cooks at 8.45pm.  KAFFEPINCI , Thursday 28th of June 2012.  For more information about Kaffeina see our Restaurants in Montalcino page.  Libreria d'Orcia. the l...

You won't know the Italians until you have understood their love for their cars. No, I'm not talking Ferrari. It's a  Panda , Cinquecento  or  Ape  that will make (nearly) every Italian heart beat faster. Loving your Ape or Panda is not about status quo but about utility. Imagine having to park your SUV in one of those tiny hill top villages. Or having to steer it down one of those narrow countryside roads. Whilst Pandas and Ape can easily get past each other, here's a SUV closing the road to the rest of the traffic. Grazie!   So if you wan't to move out here, before buying that Tuscna villa make sure you hold the keys to one of these in your hands:  Life in Tuscany - only with one of them

There is a saying that young communists turn into fine conservatives once they've grown up. Makes me wonder whether that's what happened to me? Whilst I used to join political activists marches on many a first of May in the past, I nowadays spend them watching a donkey race in Sant'Angelo Scalo. Scalo (as it's known to locals) is no famous Tuscan hilltop village, and neither does it have a beautiful piazza, but it is still a part of the territory of the municipality of Montalcino. So before cheering the donkeys or listening to some folk music singing, there's plenty of opportunity to taste some fine Brunello or Rosso di Montalcino (Banfi and Col d'Orcia, two of the area's biggest wineries are based here) and one can have more than a mouthful of the local cuisine. You'll have to come mantled with patience though, as Scalo gets incredibly packed on the day. Looks like I'm not the only one in Tuscany who has given up on activist marches...