Family Reunions
Insider’s Italy is a family company run by three generations. My mother provides ideas, my husband Robert and I organize the day-to-day running of business, plan and enjoy research trips, undertake your villa and hotel bookings and keep up to date on events and openings. Our children’s role is not inconsequential : chief tasters for our annual “Pizza Bianca” prize in Rome, five-city “Gelato Awards” and more importantly still primary guinea pigs in our assessment of a hotel, villa and restaurant’s suitability for children.
Planning family Reunions is both one of our greatest delights and greatest strengths. This year we organized more than ever before, with participants ranging in age from 3 months to 86 years.
One favorite villa for a Reunion enjoys a superbly beautiful position in Chianti Classico. It is 19 miles south of Florence and 32 miles to Siena, an unsurpassed location for exploring both cities. Lucca is an hour to your northwest, while San Gimignano is 40 minutes to your southwest. The wine country around Montalcino is within a morning’s excursion and much of Umbria also accessible for a day trip. You can walk to a wonderful osteria, and 15 minutes away is Greve, one of Italy’s loveliest “Slow Cities”.
The property is 70 acres in size. Vineyards and hospitality here are taken equally seriously. The four wines produced are award-winning, with enviable reviews in Gambero Rosso/Slow Food and Wine Spectator (“I can’t recommend these wines highly enough” writes a recent Wine Spectator critic.) But there is no wine tourism here, no tour buses arriving for tastings, not a soul in fact to spoil the magical atmosphere or your tranquility.
The villa is in fact an inn, and run like a country home.
WOW, what a find…. [Upon arrival] all four of us were in awe at the beautiful sight before us. The service was wonderful, the staff very professional in a country way, which was charming. We had dinner there on Monday night and it was GREAT…. The Rosie wine is delicious… I would definitely return to this magical place. C. Jensen
[We] loved everything about it; wonderful room, wonderful grounds, wonderful view, terrific breakfast spread and warm and welcoming service; we could not have imagined a spot that better exemplifies the charm and beauty that is Tuscany. G. Butkus
THE BEST of all of them hands down!! We absolutely loved this place and the wonderful staff were so accommodating. The suite was beautiful as described with the wonderful terrace, great private tour of the estate vineyard with the wine maker, and the wine is quite amazing… if only we could have carried more than 3 bottles back!!! M. and A. Williams
The main farmhouse, with 15th century origins, has been tastefully restored to maintain many of the original architectural features, including handsome terra-cotta tiled floors and beamed ceilings, and is furnished in excellent taste with antiques and wonderful fabrics selected by the Milanese family matriarch, who was a gifted designer. An adjoining cottage with patio plus a family suite bring the total number of beds here to 18, with all guests delightfully accommodated in double rooms with private bathrooms.
In the morning a sumptuous breakfast including estate fruit, local cheeses, homemade jams and cakes is served on the open-air veranda in the jasmine garden.
The estate’s oenologist, a perfect English speaker, is delighted to organize tastings, vineyard walks and winemaker’s dinners where estate wines are paired with dishes prepared using the villa’s own ingredients – superb olive oil and fruits and vegetables from their own lush vegetable garden. What is not their own is nearly all produced by neighbors. While they are not yet certified, the vineyards, olive groves and vegetable garden/orchard are all fully organic.
Culinary and wine-oriented delights are a specialty : the owners plan not only gastronomic itineraries and wine tours to the Chianti and Brunello areas (often sending you to friends who will greet you as friends – and whose wines are as notable as their own) but will also plan lunches and dinners on request throughout your stay.
Olive groves and gardens are ideal for children’s play. Owing in some small measure to the fact that the owner has two small children herself, the estate is a particularly welcoming place for kids. The estate is fully fenced.
Our children love to play hide and go seek in the olives, and then visit the Etruscan tomb, discovered on the property during the 1970’s. The charming pool (open May through September), overlooking the herb garden, is well suited to children.
Open from early April through late October, the inn charges very reasonable rates for guests who take the entire villa. Most unusually, the owners are happy for guests to take the villa for just three nights (a villa experience for less than a week !) For a week, taking the entire property, the charge ranges from 10.800 Euro (low season) to 12.3000 Euro and includes a private concierge (the wonderful Cristina, an Insider’s treasure) plus full housekeeping and a marvelous breakfast.
Let us know if you would like further details.