Umbria - Castello delle Regine - A Labor of Love

I visited a wonderful location in Umbria today, only an hour from my home in the historic centre of Rome - Castello delle Regine, (Castle of the Queens) a 400 hectare wine & olive estate, with restaurant, 17 apartments located in various locations over the estate, 3 swimming pools, tennis court and the tranquility and views you wouldn't imagine were possible only an hour from Rome. (soon to be on our website)

We were given a tour by the very friendly Alessandro, who spoke wonderful English and is responsible for the touristic side of the estate.

The brief history of this estate, is that it was purchased 20 years ago by an Italian family who have invested the past 20 years into this project creating a 400 hectare vineyard and olive grove that launched it's first wine to the public only 3 years ago, two of these wines have been ranked in Italy's top 20 most important wines by Gambero Rosso for the past two years, so they certainly know what they are doing.

The tour of the estate was fabulous, this is offered to guests along with the possibility of a half day of grape picking in season and olive picking as well. Alessandro was very knowledgable about the processes and the tour taught us many things about winemaking.

We then went down to check out the Chianina cattle that are bred on the estate, these magnificent creatures and cared for in spacious pens with doorways to the outside area, where they can roam free, the cattle are fed only the best quality feed that is mostly grown on the estate.

After the tour, we settled down in the restaurant, which has a beautiful atmosphere and would be an excellent location for a reception or wedding, they actually have a private room for up to 15 people and we decided on the spot to offer this as another day trip for our guests, as it would be an ideal day out of Rome, being only an hour away from the historic centre of Rome.

We were then joined for lunch by the charming and energetic Maruizio who had previously worked with Italy's oldest vineyard but is now in charge of the complete operations and marketing at Castello delle Regine , and Fabio who was once the head sommelier at Rome's famous wine bar Ferrara in Trastevere who now works for the estate marketing the wines in Italy, we felt quite educated and entertained from these two charming men, and we ate an extraordinary meal of which all ingredients were from the estate, first a beef carpaccio with olive oil that was merely a week old - it almost burned the back of the throat, it was absolutely amazing oil , magnificent warm crusty bread, followed by a ragu with pappadelle, then a very tender chianina steak. This was topped off by a heavenly warm chocolate tart and finally a glass of golden grappa, which was really quite smooth, not the rocket fuel I've tasted in the past.
During the meal, we sampled the wines produced by Castello delle Regine and were suitably impressed. We were given a gift of 6 bottles of wine including their grappa, and have already the need to return to restock, especially for that oil! When I purchased a bottle of my usual medium quality extra virgin olive oil at my supermarket, I felt cheated that it wouldn't be at all comparable to the oil I had tasted at the estate. Fabio explained to me that true, fresh extra virgin olive oil of such we were sampling has strong medicinal qualities and should be eaten daily for good health. I'm in - I have already made an appointment to return for lunch with Angelina from our office, who organizes weddings for our clients as she will just love this location it's really made for events, it's so elegant.

A Weekend at Rocca di Castagnoli - by Angelina

It seemed as though winter simply did not want to arrive in Italy this year. On the last weekend in October the beaches near Rome were full of Roman's that were enjoying a beautiful sunny and warm day a the sea. Rome is famous for its Ottobrata Romana - the Roman October which can be described as an Indian Summer but these glorious sunny, warm autumn days rarely ever go all the way through to November. This year they did, however as if with a magic wand on November 1st autumn suddenly hit with a cold, windy and rainy day. This is it, I thought, winter has arrived and I better start thinking of cuddling up by the fireplace.

On Friday, November 4th however we woke up to a glorious, yet crisp morning so my husband and I decided to pack our weekend bags and drive up to Rocca di Castagnoli for the weekend. What better place then the Chianti Wine Region to truly enjoy the beautiful fall colours?

Laura, Rocca di Castagnoli's manager was hospitable as always and is thrilled to have guest all year around. Emanuela met us at 10:30 pm when we finally made it and had turned the heating on in our apartment (the Lungo) a few hours earlier so we arrived to a nice cosy home in the Roccca.

The drive to Rocca di Castagnoli itself is quite magnificent. Almost from the very moment you leave the A1 highway you find yourself winding along the soft Tuscan hillsides and through the colourful and prestigious Chianti vineyards. However if you arrive at night as we did, all is not lost. Waking up in Rocca di Castagnoli, out of season is a delight to be savoured. Only two other apartments were occupied while we were there and obviously everyone came to enjoy the countryside this time of year when it is private and quiet. Even the family with children were extremely discreet so the feeling was that of having the entire place to yourself.

We awoke to a silence that was sublime as much as it was strange coming from a bustling and noisy city such as Rome. The view from any point of the Rocca was quite breathtaking as our eyes explored the soft autumn colours of the Tuscan countryside that unravelled from the height of Rocca di Castagnoli down through the valley.

Rocca comes from the word Roccia meaning Rock and was the stronghold or fortress of a village or town. In this case, Rocca di Castagnoli is the fortress of the hamlet that was built around it, called Castagnoli. Today, this medieval village has been completely restored and belongs to the winery that carries the same name and that is located just below the Rocca. When you stay at the Rocca di Castagnoli, you are in fact living in a medieval hamlet that is also a working winery. Each apartment name carries the name of the last inhabitants that lived in each apartment /home: Giulis, Mazzina, Filomena, Cesira etc. As they are all women’s names I cannot help but wonder what the living expectations of the men were compared to the women’s in this village.

The apartments are all quite large and as they were not built to be "a hotel room" but rather come from antique homes, they are quite irregular in shape and size. I loved this fact as there are no two apartments alike and each one has a series of nooks and crannies, internal steps and hidden corners. The castle itself is quite extraordinary and I could not help but think how much fun it would be to be a child and play hide and seek here.

After breakfast we drove through Gaiole in Chianti, the closest village where there is a coffee shop, supermarket etc. (5km from Rocca di Castagnoli) and made our way to Arezzo, one of Tuscany’s ancient and beautiful cities with important works of art from Piero della Francesca and Cimabue. The first weekend of every month, Arezzo becomes particularly lively as one of the best Antique markets sprawls out through the entire historical center of the city. There really could be few better backgrounds to a good antique market then the medieval city of Arezzo. The city in which Roberto Benigni filmed his Oscar winning film La Vita Bella is elegant and lined with great little osterias and trattorias where you can enjoy an exquisite Tuscan meal.

In the late afternoon we drove back to our fortress and turned on the fireplace more for the romantic effect then the actual heating. Rocca di Castagnoli has a very efficient heating system in which there are pipes running under the terracotta tiles making every apartment warm and cuddly throughout the winter.

For dinner we drove down to Gaiole in Chianti again and had dinner at the Osteria al Ponte, the restaurant owned by Rocca di Castagnoli. It was a wonderful culinary experience during which time we tasted all the specialties of the area and season: Tuscan "crostini" (pates) Ravioli with sage, home made Pici pasta with wild boar sauce, Chianti style Tripe (I admit, I skipped that and let my Italian husband Andrea enjoy that) all accompanied by a lovely Rocca di Castagnoli Chianti Classico, DOCG wine. What can I say, Rocca di Castagnoli simply has an excellent mix of quality and friendliness in all its products, whether they are offering you accommodation, wine or dinner.

Tuscany - Chianti,best food and wine - by Jill

Last weekend we had the good fortune of traveling to Tuscany to inspect one of our latest properties in the heart of Chianti - Rocca di Castagnoli. Possibly due to the fact that the Palio was on in Siena (only 30 minutes away) Chianti was a true paradise, hardly a soul to be found anywhere, and after a two week heatwave in Rome the signifcant drop in temperature in the countryside was a great relief. The point to this blog is that in a restaurant in Radda in Chianti, we found absolute perfection, its name - Chiasso dei Portici, Telephone 0577 739270, not only was the food ecceptional, the wine, the service and the ambiance in the beautiful garden terrace probably the best we've experienced in 5 years in Italy. Don't miss this restaurant if you're in the area. We also truly enjoyed the stay at Rocca di Castagnoli, a working vineyard that produces award winning wines (of which we sampled and purchased their chardonay and cab sav that were irresistable). The owners have recently renovated a medieval tower into rooms with ensuite bathrooms and the borgo (tiny town) into self catering apartments, they've done a great job, added a beautiful swimming pool and the prices are very very reasonable. This property has a level of privacy and tranquility not always found in this type of accommodation - highly recommended.