
They restore a thirteenth-century friary, tame a runaway tractor, while learning from famous vintner neighbor Angelo Gaja the secrets of growing the best grapes and making superb, excavate an Etruscan village, plant fifteen acres of vines, and battle volcanic fermenting vats, build a winery, award-winning wine.
A new york times book Review 2007 Notable Travel Book.
The Hills of Tuscany: A New Life in an Old Land Augustana Historical Society Publication

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The Wisdom of Tuscany: Simplicity, Security & the Good Life

This sun-drenched land has become synonymous with the ideal life. Máté—engaging, funny, and insightful—nudges us all to live like Tuscans. Since the etruscans, the independence-loving tuscans have treated their breathtaking countryside with sagacious respect and built hamlets and hill towns in which they perfected a culture of simplicity, neighborliness, good food, beauty, and love of daily life.
Ferenc máté has lived in Tuscany for twenty years. But it didn’t happen by chance. With our frantic world so storm-tossed and rudderless, this might just be the book for our times. Through personal experience and anecdotal history he explores the sources of this idyllic existence, which provides continuous economic stability, physical and emotional security, and a fortifying sense of belonging.
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A Thousand Days in Tuscany: A Bittersweet Adventure

In a cauldron set over a wood fire, they braise beans in red wine, and a stew of wild boar simmers overnight in the ashes of their hearth. The author’s own recipes are included. Barlozzo shares his knowledge of italian farming traditions and ancient health potions, but he has secrets he doesn’t share, and one of them concerns the beautiful Floriana, whose illness teaches Marlena that happiness is truly a choice.
Like the pleasurable tastes and textures of a fine meal, A Thousand Days in Tuscany is as satisfying as it is enticing. They dwell among two hundred villagers, ancient olive groves, and hot Etruscan springs. In this patch of earth where tuscany, and Lazio collide, Umbria, there is much to feed de Blasi’s two passions—food and love.
Together they visit sacred festivals and taste just-pressed olive oil, drizzled over roasted country bread. In a thousand days in tuscany, gather chestnuts, de Blasi brings us along as she and Fernando harvest grapes, and climb trees in the cold of December to pick olives, forage for wild mushrooms, one by one.
They befriend the mesmeric Barlozzo, a self-styled village chieftain whose stories lead de Blasi deeper into the soul of Tuscany.
A Real Life: Rediscovering the Roots of Our Happiness

He cautions us that as slaves to electronic devices and obsessed with material goods, we are becoming physically inert, intellectually blinkered, and devoid of deep emotion. With surprising statistics, neighborliness, the revitalizing effect of closeness to nature, the irreplaceable value of lifelong friendships, eye-opening observations, working with our hands, and engaging anecdotes he rekindles in us a love of simple daily life: the forgotten pride and joy of independence, and the enduring rewards of face-to-face conversation.
Our blind lust for gadgets and possessions has displaced true and lasting joys such as our health, self-reflection, creativity, and fulfillment. How has our unquestioned pursuit of the American dream left us? Financially insecure, helpless without our wireless toys, estranged from our families, overweight, pervasivelydepressed and increasingly isolated.
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Wines of Tuscany: Chianti, Montalcino, and Bolgheri Guides to Wines and Top Vineyards Book 16

Reference wines are recommended for each region. Reference wines are suggested for each producer, together with essential information for planning a visit, phone and email contact details, including address and map location, and whether appointments are needed. The first part of the guide discusses the regions, and explains the character and range of the wines.
The guide is divided into two parts. This guide discusses the wines of Tuscany, Montalcino, including Chianti Classico, and Bolgheri. More than 120 producera are profiled. Description of each area includes its geography, the grape varieties that are grown, how these relate to the styles of wines that are produced, wines from entry level to icons, currents trends and how styles are evolving.
Each estate profile describes the producer's aims for his wines, and the personality and philosophy behind them. Profiles range from producers who may dominate an appellation to small estates that define the cutting edge. The guide is illustrated with photographs of each area, road maps to identify the locations of estates, topological maps to show the terrain, and information on recent vintages.
Tuscany, Italy: Small-town Itineraries for the Foodie Traveler

This tuscany guide was named as a 2016 Finalist in Forewords "Indiefab" Book of the Year Award. The book also includes maps and dozens of our best photos of places and plates throughout Tuscany. Back cover blurbs touting the book from robert firpo-Cappiello Editor in Chief at Budget Travel, Catherine Marien founder of Slow Italy, and Dario Castagno author of Too Much Tuscan Sun.
. Winners will be announced in summer 2017little roads' previous travel guide to Emilia-Romagna was a Forewords "Indiefab" Book of the Year Award 2015 Finalist and "Honorable Mention"; and a Finalist in 2015's National Indie Excellence Award. From the creators of www. LittleRoadsEurope. Com - travel that is Authentic, Immersive, Memorable, and Affordable.
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See You in the Piazza: New Places to Discover in Italy

The new york times book review best travel books of the SummerThe Roman Forum, the Leaning Tower, the Piazza San Marco: these are the sights synonymous with Italy. But such landmarks only scratch the surface of this magical country's offerings. Along the way, she seeks out the cultural and historic gems not found in traditional guidebooks.
Frances conjures the enchantment of the backstreets, the hubbub of the markets, the dreamlike wonder of that space between lunch and dinner when a city cracks open to those who would wander or when a mind is drawn into the pages of a delicious book—and discloses to us the secrets that only someone who is on intimate terms with a place could find.
In see you in the piazza, ed, as she and her husband, Frances Mayes introduces us to the Italy only the locals know, eat and drink their way through thirteen regions—from Friuli to Sicily.
Brunello di Montalcino: Understanding and Appreciating One of Italy's Greatest Wines

Boom years and the Loss of Tipicità 6. Brunello, rosso, and Food Pairing Appendix A. Montalcino 9. Tavernelle 11. Leading Producers by Subzone8. With their earthy, top brunellos havethe body and finesse of the most prestigious world-class bottlings fromBordeaux, wild-cherrysensations and full structure yet smooth textures, Burgundy and Piedmont.
Expert wine writer kerin o'keefe has a deep personal knowledge of Tuscany and its extraordinary wine, andher account is both thoroughly researched and readable. Vintage guide to Brunello Appendix B. Temperamental Sangiovese: Location, Location, Location 3. Brunello: a modern-Day Phenomenon of Made in ItalyPart One.
Camigliano 12. Beyond brunello: Other Wines and Local Cuisine 14. Birth of a New Wine 4.
At Least You're in Tuscany: A Somewhat Disastrous Quest for the Sweet Life

Then she met reality: no work, constant struggles with Italian bureaucracy to claim citizenship through her ancestors, and perhaps worst of all, becoming the talk of the town after her torrid affair with a local fruit vendor. At least you're in tuscany is the intimate, honest, and often hilarious tale of Jennifer's first year in Montepulciano.
Through all her small-town bumblings, along with a healthy dose of enthusiasm and willingness to learn about Italian culture, though, Jennifer's mantra, helped her not only build a new, rewarding life in Italy but also find herself along the way. During that time, lonely, reminding her that if she were going to be homeless, and broke, Jennifer's internal optimist was forced to work overtime, at least she would be all those things - in Tuscany.
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Walking and Eating in Tuscany and Umbria: Revised Edition

. There are recommendations for restaurants, trattorias and pizzerias, as well as markets and other take-away options. From six or so "base towns, half day, and one, three, " the authors offer routes of one or two hours, and five days. It begins with a "practicalities" section and extend into the walks themselves.
There are also some extraordinary walks worth going out of the way for.